1921 Premiere
The original 1921 version of Dream Street is notable for a brief sequence when Griffith steps out in front of a curtain at the beginning of the movie and talks to the audience about the film, using Photokinema, an early sound-on-disc process developed by Orlando Kellum. Some films made in the Photokinema process, including Dream Street, are preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
The silent version premiered on April 12, 1921 at the Central Theatre in New York City. On April 27, Griffith and Ralph Graves recorded their respective sound segments at Orlando Kellum's Photokinema office at 203 West 40th Street.
The premiere engagement of the sound version of Dream Street took place on May 2, 1921 at Town Hall in New York City with Griffith's introduction. On May 15, the film reopened, now also with two other short sound sequences — Ralph Graves singing, and background noise in a scene showing a craps game. Unfortunately, no other theaters could show the sound version of the film, since no other theaters had the Photokinema sound system installed.
On Sunday, May 29, Dream Street opened at the Schubert-Crescent Theater in Brooklyn with a program of short films made in Phonokinema. However, business was poor, and the program soon closed.
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