George Groves
Encyclopedia
George Robert Groves was a film sound pioneer who played a significant role in developing the technology that brought sound to the silent screen. He is also credited as being Hollywood’s first ‘sound man’; he was the recording engineer on the seminal Al Jolson picture, The Jazz Singer
(1927), as well as many other early talkies. In a career with Warner Brothers that spanned 46 years, he rose to become their Director of Sound and won two Academy Awards
.
, Lancashire
, England
. His father, George Alfred Groves, was a master barber and talented musician who founded the first brass band
in St.Helens. His son George Jnr. was proficient in a number of instruments and regularly played the cornet
in the town’s Theatre Royal. He was also a lather boy in his father's two barber shops in Duke Street and Owen Street.
George was educated at Nutgrove Junior School and Cowley Grammar School in St.Helens. After gaining a scholarship to Liverpool University, he graduated in 1922 with an honours degree in Engineering and Telephony. He spent a year in Coventry working for GEC developing early wireless receivers and then applied for employment in the USA. On December 1, 1923 George sailed to New York
on the SS Laconia for what he thought would be a two year engagement.
process. In 1925 Warner Brothers bought the Bell system and created the Vitaphone Corporation
. In 1926 George Groves was assigned to Vitaphone and was charged with recording the soundtrack to the John Barrymore picture, Don Juan
(1926). This was the first full-length film to have a synchronized soundtrack, provided by the New York Philharmonic
. Groves devised an innovative, multi-microphone technique and performed a live mix of the 107-strong orchestra. In doing so he became the first music mixer in film history.
George Groves then recorded the sound for The Jazz Singer
(1927) a ground-breaking motion picture which revolutionized the film industry. The star of the film, Al Jolson
, dubbed George The Quiet Little Englishman and insisted that he alone record his pictures. In recording the sound for The Jazz Singer, Groves became the first ever production recordist.
In his lengthy Warner Brothers career, George Groves pioneered numerous other sound techniques and practices that the film and television industries take for granted today, including ADR
and the use of radio microphones. He won two Oscars for Best Sound for his work on the films Sayonara
(1957) and My Fair Lady
(1964). His Oscar for the latter was presented to him on stage at the Academy Awards of 1965 by Steve McQueen
and Claudia Cardinale
. In total Groves worked on thirty-two films that received Academy Award nominations for best sound.
In 1957 George Groves became Director of Sound at Warner Brothers and in 1972, the year of his retirement, he was awarded the prestigious Samuel L. Warner
memorial award by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers
. George died of a heart attack on September 4, 1976.
Won
Nominated
, began a campaign for official recognition in the UK of her brother’s pioneering work. As a result in 1996 two British Film Industry plaques were unveiled to commemorate his achievements. One was at Groves' birthplace in Duke Street, St.Helens. The other was in a prestigious Warners Cinema in London’s West End.
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
(1927), as well as many other early talkies. In a career with Warner Brothers that spanned 46 years, he rose to become their Director of Sound and won two Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
.
Early life
George was born on 13 December, 1901 over a barber’s shop at 57 Duke Street, St HelensSt Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His father, George Alfred Groves, was a master barber and talented musician who founded the first brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
in St.Helens. His son George Jnr. was proficient in a number of instruments and regularly played the cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
in the town’s Theatre Royal. He was also a lather boy in his father's two barber shops in Duke Street and Owen Street.
George was educated at Nutgrove Junior School and Cowley Grammar School in St.Helens. After gaining a scholarship to Liverpool University, he graduated in 1922 with an honours degree in Engineering and Telephony. He spent a year in Coventry working for GEC developing early wireless receivers and then applied for employment in the USA. On December 1, 1923 George sailed to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on the SS Laconia for what he thought would be a two year engagement.
Career
He obtained a position with the research team at Bell Laboratories who were developing film sound technology using the sound-on-discSound-on-disc
The term Sound-on-disc refers to a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or playback sound in sync with a motion picture...
process. In 1925 Warner Brothers bought the Bell system and created the Vitaphone Corporation
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
. In 1926 George Groves was assigned to Vitaphone and was charged with recording the soundtrack to the John Barrymore picture, Don Juan
Don Juan (1926 film)
Don Juan is a Warner Brothers film, directed by Alan Crosland. It was the first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack, though it has no spoken dialogue...
(1926). This was the first full-length film to have a synchronized soundtrack, provided by the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
. Groves devised an innovative, multi-microphone technique and performed a live mix of the 107-strong orchestra. In doing so he became the first music mixer in film history.
George Groves then recorded the sound for The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
(1927) a ground-breaking motion picture which revolutionized the film industry. The star of the film, Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, dubbed George The Quiet Little Englishman and insisted that he alone record his pictures. In recording the sound for The Jazz Singer, Groves became the first ever production recordist.
In his lengthy Warner Brothers career, George Groves pioneered numerous other sound techniques and practices that the film and television industries take for granted today, including ADR
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
and the use of radio microphones. He won two Oscars for Best Sound for his work on the films Sayonara
Sayonara
Sayonara is a 1957 color American film starring Marlon Brando. It tells the story of an American Air Force flier who was an "ace" fighter pilot during the Korean War....
(1957) and My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
(1964). His Oscar for the latter was presented to him on stage at the Academy Awards of 1965 by Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
and Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...
. In total Groves worked on thirty-two films that received Academy Award nominations for best sound.
In 1957 George Groves became Director of Sound at Warner Brothers and in 1972, the year of his retirement, he was awarded the prestigious Samuel L. Warner
Sam Warner
Samuel Louis "Sam" Warner was an American film producer who was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Studios. He established the studio along with his brothers Harry, Albert, and Jack Warner. Sam Warner is credited with procuring the technology that enabled Warner Bros...
memorial award by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE , founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is an international professional association, based in...
. George died of a heart attack on September 4, 1976.
Academy Awards
Groves won two Academy Awards and was nominated for six more in the category Best SoundWon
- SayonaraSayonaraSayonara is a 1957 color American film starring Marlon Brando. It tells the story of an American Air Force flier who was an "ace" fighter pilot during the Korean War....
(1957) - My Fair LadyMy Fair Lady (film)My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
(1964)
Nominated
- The Song of the Flame (1930)
- The Nun's StoryThe Nun's Story (film)The Nun's Story is a 1959 Warner Brothers film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Audrey Hepburn. Based upon the 1956 novel of the same title by Kathryn Hulme, the story tells of the life of Sister Luke , a young Belgian woman who decides to enter a convent and make the many sacrifices...
(1959) - Sunrise at CampobelloSunrise at CampobelloSunrise at Campobello is a 1960 American biographical film made by Dore Schary Productions and Warner Bros. It tells the story of the initial struggle by future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family when he was stricken with paralysis at the age of 39 in August...
(1960) - The Music ManThe Music Man (1962 film)The Music Man is a 1962 musical film starring Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo. The film is based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name by Meredith Willson...
(1962) - The Great RaceThe Great RaceThe Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
(1965) - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
(1966)
Campaign for recognition
In 1993 George Groves' 92 year-old sister, Hilda Barrow from LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, began a campaign for official recognition in the UK of her brother’s pioneering work. As a result in 1996 two British Film Industry plaques were unveiled to commemorate his achievements. One was at Groves' birthplace in Duke Street, St.Helens. The other was in a prestigious Warners Cinema in London’s West End.