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The standard origin myth of sound cinema is elegant in its simplicity: in 1927, Al Jolson spoke a few lines in The Jazz Singer, audiences gasped, and the silent era vanished overnight. Studios scrambled, stars with squeaky voices saw their careers crumble, and cinema was reborn, fully formed, as the talkies. It’s a compelling story of disruptive innovation, but it is a profound historical oversimplification. The transition to synchronized sound was not a revolution but a protracted and chaotic evolution, a decades-long process of technological experimentation, industrial resistance, and cultural negotiation. The true story is not one of a sudden…