From Far Seville

'Billy Merson, the great Nottingham-born music hall performer, presents one of his signature numbers. The film clearly captures Merson's comic brilliance - he not only sings, but dances, skips and indulges in a lot of creative business with a lyre. Merson had been making films since 1915 and Desdemonia is often cited as Britain's first sound film.' (Robin Baker, BFI)

Blake plays his "Fantasy on Swanee River" (two takes of same piece, in different styles). The highest notes failed to record in this seminal experiment with synchronized sound.

Follow the bouncing ball sing-along

The first presidential film with sound recording.

In his career, De Wolf Hopper recited Ernest Lawrence Thayer's "Casey at the Bat" thousands of times. Here, wearing a tuxedo, he emerges from behind a curtain as if at a theater, gives a short introduction, and launches into the poem. The camera is stationary, and although Hopper stands in one place, his hands and arms, his face, and his voice are animated throughout. In delivery, it's a minstrel performance.

A dog gets ready for dinner as the story takes us into a sing-a-long with "My Old Kentucky Home". The first sound cartoon ever produced.

Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake sing snappy songs.