Louis Silvers

Louis Silvers (1889–1954), born Louis Silberstein in New York, was an American Jewish composer, conductor and musical director who helped shape the transition from silent cinema to sound film. He began his career as a pianist in vaudeville and worked in Broadway entertainment before becoming an important figure in Hollywood music. He composed “April Showers,” a song associated with Al Jolson, and contributed music to D. W. Griffith’s early sound experiments. Silvers later worked on The Jazz Singer (1927), a landmark in the development of talking pictures, and served as a musical director for major film studios. At Columbia Pictures, he headed the studio music department credited with the Academy Award for Music (Scoring) for One Night of Love at the ceremony of 27 February 1935. The film’s thematic music was credited to Victor Schertzinger and Gus Kahn. Silvers continued composing and directing music for films, including further Academy Award-nominated productions. His career illustrates the formative role of Jewish musicians in early American sound cinema.