The Jazz Singer
About The Jazz Singer
Cantor Rabinowitz expects his son Jakie to follow five generations of cantors. Moisha Yudelson tells him the boy is singing ragtime in a saloon. The cantor beats Jakie, and Jakie leaves home. Years later, as Jack Robin, he gets a Broadway chance through singer Mary Dale. His father falls ill. The night before April Follies opens, Jack is asked to sing Kol Nidre at the synagogue for Yom Kippur, which means missing the premiere.
Cast & crew
More about The Jazz Singer
Alan Crosland directed Alfred A. Cohn's adaptation of Samson Raphaelson's play, itself drawn from the short story The Day of Atonement. Hal Mohr photographed it. Louis Silvers directed the music. Vitaphone discs carry the score and six songs sung by Al Jolson, with a few spoken lines. The premiere was set for 6 October 1927, the day before Yom Kippur. Sam Warner died the day before that premiere.
Themes
Background
Warner Bros. opened the film on 6 October 1927. The studio's Vitaphone feature is the release usually dated as the commercial turn from silent programs to sound.
Making
Most of the picture is silent with a recorded score. Jolson's songs and a handful of speeches are synchronized on Vitaphone discs.
Look
Hal Mohr shot the synagogue, the saloon, and the Broadway rehearsal, with sound reserved for the musical sequences.
Technique
Vitaphone sound-on-disc supplied a recorded score plus lip-synced singing and a few lines of speech, the first feature to combine those.
Music
Louis Silvers supervised the score. Al Jolson sings six numbers on the Vitaphone discs, including the spoken break 'You ain't heard nothin' yet.'
Preservation
Prints and Vitaphone discs survive. The Internet Archive holds an item under the catalog id jazzsinger_Title_1. Wikimedia Commons has a trailer file, not the feature.
Notes
- Al Jolson plays the adult Jakie Rabinowitz, billed on stage as Jack Robin. Robert Gordon plays Jakie as a boy in the early scenes.
- Warner Oland plays Cantor Rabinowitz. Eugenie Besserer plays the mother. May McAvoy plays Mary Dale.
- Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt appears as himself. Myrna Loy has a small part.
- One of Jolson's first spoken lines is 'You ain't heard nothin' yet.'
- Wikidata also lists 2 July 1929 among the publication dates.
Awards
- Honorary Academy Award to Warner Bros. for producing The Jazz Singer, cited as the pioneer outstanding talking picture
Scenes
- The cantor beats Jakie for singing ragtime in a saloon.
- Jolson turns from the song and speaks.
- Jack is asked to sing Kol Nidre on the eve of April Follies.
Influenced by
- Samson Raphaelson's play The Jazz Singer
- Raphaelson's story The Day of Atonement
Also available
- Internet Archive (jazzsinger_Title_1)
Quotes
You ain't heard nothin' yet.
