The Jazz Singer (1927)

The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.

Director:

Alan Crosland

Writers:

Samson Raphaelson (play), Alfred A. Cohn (adaptation)

Stars:

Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Al Jolson	...	Jakie Rabinowitz
May McAvoy	...	Mary Dale
Warner Oland	...	The Cantor
Eugenie Besserer	...	Sara Rabinowitz
Otto Lederer	...	Moisha Yudelson
Robert Gordon	...	Jakie Rabinowitz - Age 13 (as Bobby Gordon)
Richard Tucker	...	Harry Lee
Yossele Rosenblatt	...	Cantor Rosenblatt - Concert Recital (as Cantor Joseff Rosenblatt)

Storyline

Cantor Rabinowitz is concerned and upset because his son Jakie shows so little interest in carrying on the family's traditions and heritage. For five generations, men in the family have been cantors in the synagogue, but Jakie is more interested in jazz and ragtime music. One day, they have such a bitter argument that Jakie leaves home for good. After a few years on his own, now calling himself Jack Robin, he gets an important opportunity through the help of well-known stage performer Mary Dale. But Jakie finds that in order to balance his career, his relationship with Mary, and his memories of his family, he will be forced to make some difficult choices.

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Plot Keywords:

blackface | national film registry | afi | 1920s | cantor | 

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Taglines:

New songs and old favourites sung by Mr Jolson during the action of the story on the Vitaphone!

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Jazzsänger

Filming Locations:

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$422,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,630,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Vitaphone)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Warner, the Warner Brother, that was nicknamed the "Father of the Talkies", because he insisted that Al Jolson's ad-libbed speech be included in the movie, died on Wednesday, October 5th, 1927, just one day before the film debuted, to the remaining cast and crew, on Thursday, October 6th, 1927.

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Goofs

Jack and his mother rise from the piano twice upon the Cantor's entry.

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Quotes

Jack Robin: [sings] I'll walk a million miles for one of your smiles, my Mammy.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies of the 1920s (2014)

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Soundtracks

Waiting for the Robert E. Lee
(1912) (uncredited)
Music by Lewis F. Muir
Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert
Sung by Robert Gordon (dubbed by an unidentified singer)

User Reviews

Four Angels, Poised

There's not much to say about this other than even today, for this viewer, it is emotionally effective. Yes you know you are being manipulated. Yes, the acting conventions of the silent screen are comically exaggerated. Yes, it is shameless in setting up the ultimate choice. But this is so well structured that even today it escapes cliché. That's so remarkable, because big movies are almost always turned into clichés as bits of them are digested and continuously re-served to us as our visual grammar.

The love interest here is so unusual. He does fall in love with a pretty dancer, but tells her plainly that his career is more important than she is. She later doesn't become part of the choice — as would be the case in nearly every other script — instead she becomes part of the audience, presenting the dramatic quandary: the stage or God.

The presentation of religion is unique in my experience. Everyone here is a Jew, except the performers. They are the "real" and everyone else is "pretend," performing. Though there are many opportunities to fall into obnoxious stereotypes, its avoided over and over. That's despite the dozens of examples they had before.

In fact, there's an amazing engineering of story here. As any viewer will know, this was the first talkie. It was new, and to emphasize its newness a story was created to emphasize the contrast between old and new.

This film is part silent, part "talkie." It shows a struggle between the old (obviously obsolete) and the vital young. It also depicts in a rather subtle but effective way the "old" god, and the new: there's plenty of talk about the performance hall being a modern church. The music as well: we have the implication that it is not only the setting, the performer and the calling, but the music itself that is something new.

Along the way we get street scenes of the Jewish area of New York. These are genuine street scenes and are absolutely phenomenal: there isn't anything I know that compares. There was an attempt of sorts in "The Pawnbroker," which by itself was strong. But nothing compared to this.

Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.