The Jazz Singer Poster
MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 3,829 this week

The Jazz Singer (1980)

PG 115 min  -  Drama | Music | Romance  -   19 December 1980 (USA)
5.2
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 5.2/10 from 1,886 users  
Reviews: 51 user | 16 critic

The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy his father in order to pursue his dream of being a pop singer.

Writers:

Samson Raphaelson (play), Herbert Baker (screenplay), and 1 more credit »
Watch Trailer
 Loading+Watchlist

Watch it

Buy it from Amazon »

Related Lists

image of title
a list of 1,051 titles by nabes22 created 1 month ago
 
image of title
a list of 53 titles by amandafairweather1 created 1 week ago
 
image of title
a list of 846 titles by raisleygordon created 8 months ago
 
image of title
a list of 95 titles by SpeedyEric created 11 months ago
 
image of title
a list of 1,427 titles by aimalac91748 created 8 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Pre-Order the Kindle Fire
Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations See more awards »
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Neil Diamond ...
Laurence Olivier ...
Lucie Arnaz ...
Molly Bell
Catlin Adams Catlin Adams ...
Rivka Rabinovitch
Franklyn Ajaye Franklyn Ajaye ...
Bubba
Paul Nicholas ...
Keith Lennox
Sully Boyar Sully Boyar ...
Eddie Gibbs
Mike Kellin Mike Kellin ...
Leo
James Booth James Booth ...
Paul Rossini
Luther Waters Luther Waters ...
Teddy
Oren Waters Oren Waters ...
Mel
Rod Gist Rod Gist ...
Timmy
Walter Janovitz Walter Janovitz ...
Rabbi Birnbaum (as Walter Janowitz)
Janet Brandt Janet Brandt ...
Aunt Tillie
John Witherspoon ...
M.C. Cinderella Club
Edit

Storyline

Neil Diamond stars as Yussel in this tale of a young Jewish cantor who strives to make a career in music. Against the wishes of his rigid father and his loving wife, Yussel travels to California to play his music. Swept up by the excitement, he meets a woman who shares his dream. He grows apart from his family, and becomes confused about what he should ultimately do with his life. Written by Ted Kula <tkula@cs.wvu.edu>  

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Singer | Star | Pop Singer | Remake  | See more »

Taglines:

Sometimes you have to risk it all... See more »

Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

Edit

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

El cantor de Jazz See more »

Box Office

Gross:

$27,118,000 (USA)
See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films See more »
Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby  | DTS-ES (DVD version) | Dolby Digital EX (DVD version) | 70 mm 6-Track

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Near the end of the shoot, Neil Diamond was having trouble with the scene where he storms into the recording booth in a rage and has a heated argument with the Lucie Arnaz character. During a break, Richard Fleischer looked into the glass of the recording stage and saw Diamond going berserk, smashing everything in sight. Fleischer quickly yelled action, Diamond burst into the recording booth in an absolute fury, and pulled off the scene. After yelling cut, Fleischer asked him just what happened. Diamond explained that he felt so bad he wasn't able to pull off the scene, he asked his band to play something that would make him mad - which was a Barry Manilow number. See more »

Goofs

Continuity: When Jess' father comes to visit him in California and they walk into the apartment, Jess never shuts the door completely. Later when Molly comes home, we hear the sound of the door opening. See more »

Quotes

Bubba: Boom boom boom! I want more boom boom boom! I want more boom boom boom!
See more »


Soundtracks

"Adon Olom"
Traditional Adaptation by Neil Diamond and Uri Frenkel (as Uri Frenkel)
Adaptation © 1980 Stonebridge Music See more »