有声电影是指有声音同步播映的电影，和无声电影相对。1900年，第一部有声电影在巴黎放映，十年之后可靠的同步声音技术才逐渐成熟并可以商用。1923年4月，第一部同步有声电影在纽约公映。1927年10月，第一部有声故事片爵士歌手发行，这部影片使歌舞喜剧演员乔尔森大享盛名。

1930年代早期，有声电影成为一个全球现象。美国，有声电影使好莱坞成为全球最有影响力的文化和商业中心之一。欧洲，很多电影制作人和批评家对新的技术持怀疑态度，他们担心过多的对白会削弱无声电影特殊的美感。日本，流行电影通常是无声电影加现场表演，因此有声电影发展缓慢。印度，声音成为该国电影工业快速发展的重要因素。

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before sound motion pictures were made commercially practical. Reliable synchronization was difficult to achieve with the early sound-on-disc systems, and amplification and recording quality were also inadequate. Innovations in sound-on-film led to the first commercial screening of short motion pictures using the technology, which took place in 1923.