DramaMusic

The Jazz Singer

- Hear him sing Mammy, Toot Toot Tootsie, My Gal Sal, Mother I Still Have You.

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.

Release Date : 1927-10-06

Language :EnglishSpanishYiddish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Warner Bros. PicturesThe Vitaphone Corporation

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Jakie Rabinowitz

Original Name : Al Jolson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mary Dale

Original Name : May McAvoy

Gender : Female

Character Name : Cantor Rabinowitz

Original Name : Warner Oland

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sara Rabinowitz

Original Name : Eugenie Besserer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Moisha Yudelson

Original Name : Otto Lederer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Jakie Rabinowitz

Original Name : Robert Gordon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Harry Lee

Original Name : Richard Tucker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cantor Rosenblatt

Original Name : Yossele Rosenblatt

Gender : Male

Character Name : Buster Billings (uncredited)

Original Name : William Demarest

Gender : Male

Character Name : Host (uncredited)

Original Name : John Miljan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Agent (uncredited)

Original Name : Roscoe Karns

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dillings (uncredited)

Original Name : Anders Randolf

Gender : Male

Character Name : Make-Up Man (uncredited)

Original Name : Walter Rodgers

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor (uncredited)

Original Name : Will Walling

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Ena Gregory

Gender : Female

Character Name : Levi (uncredited)

Original Name : Nat Carr

Gender : Male

Character Name : Choreographer (uncredited)

Original Name : Ernest Belcher

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dance Director (uncredited)

Original Name : Neely Edwards

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Original Name : Audrey Ferris

Gender : Female

Character Name : Moey (uncredited)

Original Name : Leon Holmes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Original Name : Myrna Loy

Gender : Female

Character Name : Small Part (uncredited)

Original Name : Jane Arden

Gender : Female

Character Name : Boy Singer (uncredited)

Original Name : Ty Parvis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pianist (uncredited)

Original Name : Fred Warren

Gender : Male

Character Name : Backstage Maid (uncredited)

Original Name : Carolynne Snowden

Gender : Female

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Violet Bird

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Joseph Green

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Claire Delmar

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Seymour Kupper

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Mary Grace Larsen

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Margaret Oliver

Gender : Male

Character Name : (uncredited)

Original Name : Marie Stapleton

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-03-27

Al Jolson's "Jakie" is to be the sixth in a line of cantors from the Rabinowitz family. He has a fine voice and some musical talent - he just wants to take them to Broadway instead of to the synagogue. His father (Warner Oland) is horrified, his mother (Eugenie Besserer) disappointed but he still decides to follow his star! He loves the music of the 1920s - jazz, ragtime, swing - and changing his name to "Jack Robin" and after a decade of slogging, and travelling the world, manages to enlist the help of established star "Mary Dale" (May McAvoy) and look set to get his very own "Follies" show on stage. With less than 24 hours to go, his father's rather malevolent friend "Moisha" (Otto Lederer) shows up to tell him that his dad is poorly and that there is nothing the old man would like better than for his son to sing at the Day of Atonement - the same day as the show! Now we know that the last encounter between the father and son had led to the latter banishing the former from their home, so what might the younger man do now? Much is made of the last few scenes from this film, but I think this story is more interesting when we consider that the real thrust of it has nothing at all to do with colour, but with a sort of cultural evolution. Of a rebellion against a religiosity that older, often themselves from persecuted generations, people are desperate to see continue despite it being something that their offspring cared far less about preserving. "Jakie" has been brought up by two loving and caring people, yet he has chosen a path that creates an insurmountable barrier - but need it be. Is it just belligerence? Intolerance? Ignorance? The acting, writing and the singing, unfortunately, don't really do it any favours - the sound quality and the production limitations render the numbers a bit wooden and sterile, but as a technical example of where films are heading - and of the freedoms of expression that they were soon to provide - it's worth a watch.