The Jazz Singer

source: The Jazz Singer

An historic film, billed as "the first talkie," this was a surprise because many of the lines are not verbalized, only when Al Jolson sings or just before or just after his songs. Otherwise, most of it is still a silent film with the words shown on the screen as in the other silent films. This is a powerful story with interesting characters and good songs, to boot. It was different to see Warner Oland as somebody else besides Charlie Chan. He played Jolson's father and I never would have recognized him had I not read the credits. Nor would I have recognized William Demarest. Jolson, however, is the man who dominates the film. Some of this songs wound up being classics, ones played for years and years, such as "Toot, Toot Toosie" and "Mammy." Faced with a very tough decision on what to do with his life, Jolson's character does the right thing in the end, which was nice to see. Overall, it's entertaining.

An interesting piece of film history but not a very entertaining one. The novelty of being the first sound film having worn off, this movie truly doesn't have much to offer. Al Jolson stars as Jack Robin, the son of a Jewish Cantor, who leaves home to become a Broadway entertainer. This storyline was not much more than an excuse to fill the picture with musical numbers, and even most of those seem bland by today's standards. There are a few good moments, thanks for the most part to Jolson's performance. In one touching scene, Robin serenades his mother with the song "Blue Skies." This scene contains the only real dialogue in the movie, which just makes the rest of the film seem that much more flat. Jolson definitely has the charm and acting chops of a leading man. He could carry a film if it was worth carrying. Unfortunately, this one wasn't.

In New York, the thirteen year-old Jewish Jakie is the son of the cantor Rabinowitz (Warner Oland). When Rabinowitz is informed by Moisha Yudelson (Otto Lederer) that Jakie is singing ragtime in a club, he beats his son. The traditional cantor expects that Jakie sings in the synagogue like his previous generations did, but the boy dreams on becoming a jazz singer. Jakie leaves home pursuing his dreams. Years later, Jakie (Al Jolson) is in London where his artistic name is Jack Robin. When he meets the famous stage performer Mary Dale (May McAvoy), she helps him in his career. Sooner he travels to New York for the greatest chance of his life in an important show on Broadway and he visits his parents. However, his father expels him from home. On the opening day, the manipulative Moisha Yudelson invites him to sing in the Atonement Day since his father is very ill, but the emotional blackmail of the Jewish leader does not work. When Jakie is ready to the rehearsal, Moisha brings Jakie's beloved mother to press him to sing in the synagogue. Now Jakie shall choose between his career and Mary Dale and the bonds with his family and religion. "The Jazz Singer" is the first "post-silent movie" of cinema history, meaning the first film with sound. I was curious to see this film and now I am very disappointed with the corny plot that uses a selfish emotional blackmail of the leader of the Jewish congregation and the mother of the lead character to force Jakie to forget his dreams and his love for a lovely woman. The story is totally absurd, considering that Jakie left home years ago pursuing his dream and is in love with Mary Dale. The forty-one year-old Al Jolson is totally miscast in the role of a young man and May McAvoy has a lovely face. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "O Cantor de Jazz" ("The Jazz Singer")

I've read several comments here that say "The Jazz Singer" seems biographical about Jolson but that's probably coincidence. No, it's not. Samson Raphelson, who wrote "The Day of Atonement", the short story that "The Jazz Singer" is based on, was inspired to write it by seeing Al Jolson perform on stage in Chicago in the early 1920s. The story is contained in a collection called "No, But I Saw The Movie" edited by David Wheeler ISBN 0140110909. I get totally into the movie each time I see it and I've seen it dozens of times, sometimes re-winding it and watching it again in the same sitting. I first watched it 40 plus years ago when it shown on the afternoon slot of a local Los Angeles TV station along with commercials. KTTV didn't give it special treatment. It is kind of fun to look for familiar faces. Roscoe Karns (he played "Believe you me" Shapely in "It Happened One Night") comes to the train station to tell Jakie about his big break and gives him his train tickets. Jolson was a Broadway star and, from what I've read, had people eating out of his hand. He'd sing encore after encore and audiences would lap it up. Plus he took the time to make a lot of records when most stage stars left that to singers who worked for the recording studios. His recordings (even the acoustic era--pre 1925) are terrific. So people were familiar with him even in the boonies. "The Jazz Singer" came with a ready-made audience, not just to hear sound on film--there had been experimental short films that did that, in addition to the sound track of John Barrymore's "Don Juan"--but to hear JOLSON! I really don't think the film would have been the success it was with anyone else. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the title role (and that includes remakes). I try to picture George Jessel in the part, even though he played it on Broadway, and I can't. I adore Yudelson the kibitzer. When the men are gathered trying figure who should sing Kol Nidre since the cantor is unable, is a hoot, each, including Yudelson, thinking *he* should be the one to sing, implying the others couldn't carry a tune in a hand-basket. The scene where each person brings an identical prayer shawl for Papa's birthday is funny, too. Even Jakie, though his is different looking, brings one. Mama, who receives the gifts for Papa, looks as if she could be saying "Oy vey!" I like the change the movie made over the short story. He comes to his Papa before the old man's death. They're estranged but are reconciled before it's too late. In the short story he's summoned after his father's death.

1st watched 8/20/2005 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Crosland, Alan): Sappy introduction to sound from Warner Brothers and Al Jolson. The movie made a lot of money for the studio and gave people the first opportunity to see what sound could be like in the movies. There was actually only one talking scene with sound but also a few musical performances by Jolson and Cantor Josef Rosenblatt. These scenes in itself were monumental to film and the movie has a part in the world of cinema because of this. As for the movie, it's very heavy-laden with sappiness and schmaltz as the son of the Cantor has to decide between singing for the church or taking his show on the road to Broadway. It takes a long long time for him to make a decision and the viewers can't help but yell back at the screen, "Come on just make up your mind one way or the other, PLEASE!!." The religious family lays on the guilt as his father becomes ill, and the girlfriend and Broadway show director lay their side of the argument on heavy as well. As an entertainment piece, it's nice to see Jolson especially doing his classic "Mamy" near the end but the entire movie would have been better as a video collection. Oops, I guess we'd have to wait another half a decade or so for that and by then both of the singers from this movie were long gone, too bad it would have at least been interesting.. The movie made a lot of money for the studio and gave people the first opportunity to see what sound could be like in the movies. There was actually only one talking scene with sound but also a few musical performances by Jolson and Cantor Josef Rosenblatt. These scenes in itself were monumental to film and the movie has a part in the world of cinema because of this. As for the movie, it's very heavy-laden with sappiness and schmaltz as the son of the Cantor has to decide between singing for the church or taking his show on the road to Broadway. It takes a long long time for him to make a decision and the viewers can't help but yell back at the screen, "Come on just make up your mind one way or the other, PLEASE!!." The religious family lays on the guilt as his father becomes ill, and the girlfriend and Broadway show director lay their side of the argument on heavy as well. As an entertainment piece, it's nice to see Jolson especially doing his classic "Mamy" near the end but the entire movie would have been better as a video collection. Oops, I guess we'd have to wait another half a decade or so for that and by then both of the singers from this movie were long gone, too bad it would have at least been interesting.

Whatever might be the shortcomings of this famous film, it is an uncanny experience to visit it from time to time. As we know, although it's the first 'talki' it's mostly a silent movie with all that entails. Nevertheless, those moments when sound and image are synchronised, often just for one side of the disc used for the soundtrack, are electrifying. The heat is turned up by the fact that Al Jolson improvised some of his lines, much to the horror of his stage mother. And besides, the tale of the errant son making good in the big lights is affecting. The music is superb, and we are rewarded by some haunintg evocations of the Jewish cantor tradition. I love the film.

I rate the movie a "10" for its historical significance. "The Jazz Singer" is the answer to the perennial trivia question, "What was the first sound motion picture?" Certainly there were other talkies before this, but this one, the first feature-length talkie in the world -- is the one that turned Hollywood and the movie-going public on its ear. It's fascinating. We think of "The Jazz Singer" as a talkie, but most of the picture is in typical "silent pictures" style -- with intertitles (title cards) to convey character dialog. Only with Jolson's vocal numbers and two other scenes is the new sound technology is used, and we hear the voice of the man many have called the world's greatest entertainer.

I have seen the Jazz Singer several times over my 60 years. I became interested in 1920 entertainers when I was in my mid teens. My grandfather had seen Jolson in a few Broadway shows and actually met him on a few occasions. Jolson was, as he claimed, "The Worlds Greatest Entertainer". He wasn't the greatest talent, such as Sammy Davis Jr. was, but his dynamic extroverted personality and the way he could capture an audience in his live Broadway Performances was never captured on screen. I know it may sound strange, but the movie producers just couldn't contain all of his energy and exuberance in front of a camera. His dialog delivery,singing and acting was quite good in this movie. Let us not forget that in 1927, black and white silent films were still the standard. That standard brought over dramatization,dark make up, etc. They were not going to take a chance on giving up the tried and proved silent ways completely. They weren't sure on how sound would go over with the movie attendees. How can that be? Silents were a technology that the audiences accepted. The use of all sound was taking a big risk, and difficult to produce using Vitaphone, which was basically synchronizing large recorded discs to the film. Nearly all of the movie houses were not set up for any type of sound at that time. In my opinion, the sound technology and the performance of Jolson carried the film. I have great difficulty in understanding the comments listed in the posts of how today's human rights standards can be applied to a film that was created 80 years ago. We are talking about 1927,and it is hard for me to understand how today's negative comments are made about the Black-face and other racial comments. This was a convention of the time 80 years ago. I do not for a moment agree that the way minorities were treated was correct, but that was 1927, not now! You cannot erase history to make it fit today's standards. I thought Al Jolson did a superb job in his singing,dialog,and acting in this film for the era. One would need to review and compare the singing and acting styles,that of other performers of the era and make comparisons. Crosby, Sinatra, Eddie Fisher, even Elvis Presley & Jackie Wilson said that Al Jolson was a great influence on their careers. To say he could not sing as in some posts here, is absurd.

For a mawkishly sentimental play that was outdated even when it first was presented on Broadway, The Jazz Singer has had a remarkable life with now three movie versions and possibly more to come. Of course it being considered the first sound film probably has a whole lot to do with it. I doubt it would have been remade twice already if it wasn't a historical moment. But for trying to hold up the Brothers Warner for some extra salary for doing that first sound feature, Georgie Jessel might have been able to repeat the role he created on Broadway as Jakie Rabinowitz aka Jack Robin, cantor's son who runs away from home as a juvenile and comes back home in time to sing Kol Nidre at Yom Kippur services in place of his dying father. Jessel's greed was Al Jolson's gain as America's greatest live entertainer at the time got to inaugurate the era of movie sound. As Al Jolson was wont to do in his stage shows, he interpolated material from all sources in his first film that he felt was suitable for him. Toot Toot Tootsie and interestingly enough My Mammy were songs he'd done on stage before and were proved material his audience would respond to. The first song he actually does sing is Dirty Hands, Dirty Face which was something he had not done before. Blue Skies which he sings to his mother after returning home as a Broadway star was in fact a current hit on Broadway at the time Jolson was singing it. People from that era say that you cannot appreciate Jolson on the screen, that to really get the full impact of his dynamic stage presence you had to see him live. Maybe so, but since that isn't possible, there's enough of him in The Jazz Singer and other of his films to realize what a great entertainer he was, black-face or not. Warner Oland, later to be the first Charlie Chan, plays Cantor Rabinowitz and Eugenie Besserer is touching as Jolson's mother caught hopelessly between her husband and son. In that first scene of a grownup Jolson in a café before he sings Dirty Hands, Dirty Face you will note that is William Demarest who he's dining with. Myrna Loy has a small role as a chorus girl. Still both the play and the personality dictate that this film is owned exclusively by Al Jolson. Despite later versions with Danny Thomas and Neil Diamond in the lead, the story will always be identified with the man who said we ain't heard nothing yet. Though The Jazz Singer is exponentially sentimental and mawkish, it does have a very nice depiction of Jewish life and neighborhood in the Teens and Twenties of the last century. And of course The Jazz Singer is a historic first.