The Jazz Singer (1927)
Directed by: Alan Crosland
Starring: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland
Length: 88 min.
Genre: Musical
Based On: The Play "Day of Atonement" by Samson Raphaelson
1927-1928 Honorary Award
1927-1928 Nominated for Best Writing, Adaptation
1927-1928 Nominated for Best Effects, Engineering Effects
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet.
Jackie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) grows up dreaming of being a jazz singer, but his father, Cantor Rabinowitz (Warner Oland), Eventually, Jackie refuses to follow in his father's footsteps and leaves home. He changes his name of Jack Robin and tries to make it as a jazz singer.
After performing a few songs at a caberat, he is introduced to Mary Dale (May McAvoy). She helps him get a job with her and he starts to make a name for himself. He ends up getting a gig on Broadway, and he heads to New York for the first time since he left home.
He visits his mother, sings a song for her, but his father interrupts and kicks Jack out of the house. Shortly before Jack is to perform on Broadway, his father takes ill. Torn between his faith and his dream, Jack eventually chooses to sing at his father's synagogue in his place and misses his first performance.
It would seem that the importance of this movie has been downplayed a bit. No, it was not the first movie with sychronized sound. That had been in several films for over a year. No, it wasn't even the first film with sychronized speech. The very first one was a short called A Plantation Act, starring Al Jolson.
However, it was the first feature length movie with sychronized speech, and while his speaking lines were improvised, Jolson's contract included him speaking lines in the movie, so the studio fulliy planned to have Jolson speak lines. Perhaps they were even counting on Jolson's love of improv to provide them the lines.
Al Jolson was the biggest star on Broadway in the 1920s, and having him sing in the first feature length movie with sychronized voice did more for the advancement of sound in film that any other singular event. Audiences could not get enough of hearing Jolson sing, and the Jazz Singer was one of the biggest movies of the year.
The transition from silent to sound movies would not be instant, and that was mostly from a technical standpoint. A lot of theaters were not equipped for it, and the art of movie making had advanced quite a bit with silent technology. Many movie makers could almost do anything with a camera by this time, but to use a camera and the sound recording equipment was like going back 20 years. The camera had to stay stationary. The freedom and artistry that silent movie makers had enjoyed was thrown out the window if they tried to use the new equipment.
It would take awhile for the technology to catch up to the art. However, Al Jolson the The Jazz Singer were the cause. The effect was that demand for sound became infinite, and the studios responded. In 1928, the first all sound movies were being released, and by 1929, most major studios were producing exclusively sound pictures.
And for a bit of triva. Warner Oland, who plays the father and has the last sychronized speech in the film, goes on to be best known as Charlie Chan.
Entertainment Rating: 7/10
Historical Rating: 10/10