<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $422,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $3.9 million (US gross) $2.6 million (worldwide gross rental) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film . As the first feature - length motion picture with not only a synchronized recorded music score, but also lip - synchronous singing and speech in several isolated sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and ended the silent film era . Directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound - on - disc system, the film, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson, is based on a play of the same name by Samson Raphaelson, adapted from one of his short stories, "The Day of Atonement". </P> <P> The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family . After singing popular tunes in a beer garden he is punished by his father, a hazzan (cantor), prompting Jakie to run away from home . Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer . He attempts to build a career as an entertainer but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage . </P>

Was the jazz singer the first movie with sound