Introduction
We’ve done shows on a classic noir drama and a classic musical, but this time, we thought we’d go for something with a bit more history behind it. We chose the very first “talkie” film, 1927’s “The Jazz Singer.” It was name-dropped a few times in last week’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” so we thought we’d go with it for this week since there was a connection.
Neither of us had seen it before, although Kevin had seen one of the more modern remakes. We both vaguely remembered that Al Jolson made a career out of singing in “blackface,” but neither of us connected that mentally to this film. It did, in fact, have some spoken dialog for a couple of minutes, and for all the songs, but we were surprised to find that it’s still mostly a silent film. We recognize the historical importance of the movie, but neither of us particularly enjoyed it.
We watched the version on Amazon, but it’s also available to stream in several other places. Naturally, there are DVD and BluRay editions out there as well.
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The Jazz Singer (1927)
● Directed by Alan Crosland
● Written by Samson Raphaelson, Alfred A. Cohn, Jack Jarmuth
● Stars Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland
● Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
● Watch it:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
In the beginning, movies had no sound. As the technology developed, Warner Brothers rolled the dice on making a talkie. There were doubters and a deeply entrenched industry of silent movie making, but the film and novelty of sound was such a hit with audiences that there was no putting the genie back in the bottle. The movie itself is good, and a product of the time. It had a statement at the beginning, installed by the modern movie industry, basically saying yes there are some problematic things about it, but they are leaving it intact because it’s a product of its time, and you are warned. It was interesting seeing it all the way through, and it was pretty entertaining. We’d recommend giving it a watch, and reading about some of the history and analysis from other people as well.
Awful one-sentence synopsis
A guy in blackface sings some songs.
Spoilery Synopsis
We are given a warning about featuring “depictions that are objectionable. We present this material for its historical value.” Oh my. The credits explain that the film was based on a play, and then it gives musical credit for the score– this was the first full-length film with sound!
We open on Cantor Rabinowitcz, an old Jew talks to his wife, Sara about their son, who might not want to become a cantor like his father. We cut to Jakie, their son who’s much more interested in modern music– they call him “Ragtime Jack.” We listen to a boy singing “My Gal Sal.” A man walks into the bar and sees this musical number and runs at top speed to tell Jakie’s father.
The old man rushes right down to the bar and grabs his son off the stage, literally dragging him home. Sara argues for Jakie’s side of things. It doesn’t help; Jakie gets his whipping. Jakie says he’s running away and never coming back. The adults go to the synagogue for services, but Jakie sneaks home and takes a few things– he really isn’t coming back.
Years later, and far from there, Jakie has grown up. He’s now known as Robin, a jazz singer. He sings “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face” for the crowd at the dinner club. “Toot Toot Tootsie” comes up next, and that involves some impressive whistling. A girl comes in during the act, and she’s enthralled. After the show, Jakie meets Miss Mary Dale, who says that he has a tear in his voice.
We cut back to the Jewish neighborhood, where Sara gets a letter from her son, who’s making very good money for the time and now has a girlfriend. The cantor yells at her that he ordered her not to open his letters!
Mary has been offered a leading role in a new musical, but that means she’ll be leaving town, and Jakie won’t be able to see her again. Jakie goes to see a Cantor, not his father, singing, and it makes him a little homesick.
Jakie gets the word from New York: his show has been canceled. No– that’s good news, now he can star in that Broadway review he’s been hoping for. New York– that’s where his mother lives!
Sara prepares for The Cantor’s sixtieth birthday. Family friend Moisha runs into Jakie on the street and recognizes him. He goes to the apartment and sees his mother, who is happy to see him. He gives her a diamond necklace, and she wonders if he’s a criminal now. He sings her “Blue Skies” and afterward, the two of them start actually talking.
As he performs for her, the old man comes in and– blows a gasket. Suddenly, we’re back to the silent film intertitles. The cantor and Jakie argue about respect and tradition. Jakie explains that it’s as honorable to sing in the theater as it is to sing in the synagogue, which is too much for the old man.
It turns out that Mary has used her influence to get Jakie his new job on Broadway. Back at home, Moisha Yudelson shows Sara a newspaper article about Jakie starring in the show; maybe they should tell him that his father is dying? Yudelson tells Jakie that tomorrow is the Day of Atonement, and Jakie should sing in the cantor’s place. Except that’s also opening night for his big show. Yudelson lays on the Jewish guilt, saying Jakie doesn’t want to spoil five generations of tradition, but Jakie is committed to Broadway.
The Day of Atonement approaches, and the old cantor cannot sing. He dreamt that Jakie sang “Kol Nidre” perfectly. Instead, we cut to Mary watching Jakie put on his blackface for the show. As he dresses, he has second and third thoughts about singing in the synagogue instead. Backstage, Moisha and Sara come for a visit. They’re shocked to see he’s black now, but after a few jokes, they get past it. They say the old cantor is calling for Jakie.
It’s time for Jakie to go out on stage, and he sings a song to his mother. When he’s done, his mother has gone.
After the show, Jakie comes home to see his father. The old man finally tells Jakie that he loves him. The doctor comes in and says he can’t do anymore for the old man, it’s all up to God now. “Maybe if you sing Papa will get well!” Mary and the show manager come in, and they remind him of the weight of not showing up for the show later– it’ll end his career.
He has to choose between breaking his mother’s heart and ruining his career, and there’s a lot of indecision involved. At the show, Harry, the stage manager, comes on and says Jakie will not be performing tonight.
Jakie sings at the synagogue next door to the old cantor’s room, and the old man wakes up and listens. He sings “Kol Nidre,” a song he hasn’t done since he was a boy. Mary and Harry listen from outside. Jakie’s father dies with a smile on his face.
We cut to another show, where Jakie sings “Mammy” for the audience.
Brian’s Commentary
We watched the version on Tubi, and it looks good and clear. Obviously, it’s been restored at some point.
We wondered what the “trigger warning” at the beginning of the film was about. We guessed it would be Al Jolson in blackface, as we know that was a thing in his repertoire– and we were right. That’s part of his show. Oh my. “Different times,” I get it, but I don’t see what the black face had to do with the musical number about his mother. Why sing it as a “black man?” It just seems unnecessary. The song “Mammy” may be just a bit out of date, but we’ve all seen it growing up, and it was really influential– until it got canceled.
Neither of us had seen it, but we were both expecting more. It’s essentially a silent film with songs, not actual spoken dialogue. However, intertitle cards still appear whenever someone speaks—until about the halfway point, when they shock us with actual recorded dialogue! It doesn’t last long, but there’s a point.
I also wouldn’t call Al Jolson’s songs “Jazz” in the modern sense– but I’m no musician. Still, this was the “first registered human voice put on film,” so it is historically important.
It’s paced well and doesn’t get boring, although it was fairly predictable, which is probably just a byproduct of it being so influential. The songs are really dated, even ignoring the blackface, but we thought it was still entertaining.
Kevin’s Commentary
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is only as famous as it is because it’s historically important as the first talking film. It’s good, and certainly well made for the time, but I’m not so sure it’s worthy of being a classic for the love of it. The blackface is of course a racist issue that’s not accepted by society today, but it was widely accepted back then, up through the 1950s at least.
The Wikipedia page about The Jazz Singer
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer) has an interesting analysis about how the use of blackface for Jakie was a tool to transition from his limitations as a Jew of the time to more mainstream acceptance into the American mainstream. It’s said that Jakie the character wasn’t primarily using it with the intention to mock and caricature people of color, as blackface usually did, he was just doing the best he could with what he had. It was an interesting watch, and I’m glad I saw it all the way through for the first time. I’d recommend it for anyone interested in film history and exposing themselves to a wide variety of movie experiences.
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Theme song, "Boogie Party" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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