The Jazz Singer (1927)

Directed by Alan Crosland

Starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy and Warner Oland

Produced by Warner Bros. 



Cantor Rabinowitz is the latest of five generations of cantors at his synagogue.  His dream is that his 13 year old son Jakie will follow in his footsteps, singing God's praises at the house of worship.  



Jakie wants to sing all right, but he's not interested in chanting Kol Nidre.  He prefers entertaining men at the local saloon by belting jazz standards.  Unfortunately for Jakie, a family friend named Moisha sees him and tells the boy's father.  The man retrieves his son and begins removing his belt to teach him a lesson.  Jakie announces that if his father beats him, he will run away from home.  The elder Rabinowitz drags the boy into a bedroom and, moments later, a teary-eyed boy emerges, kisses his mother goodbye and leaves.



Fast forward ten years, Jakie has changed his name to Jack Robin and earns a living as a singer.  In a club one night, he is called up on stage and performs a rousing edition of "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face."  Mary Dale, a dance in a theater company, hears his voice and offers to help advance his career.  



Jack begins traveling the country as a performer, earning a decent wage and writing home to his loving mother.  His father still won't acknowledge he even has a son.



Soon, Mary receives her big break: a featured role in a Broadway show.  Soon after Jack gets his own shot at stardom: a Broadway show of his own.  The show brings him home to his mother and close to Mary.



Jack visits his mom and performs for her, but his father arrives and forces his son out.  As Jack prepares for his dress rehearsal, his mother and Moisha arrive to tell him his father is gravely ill.  Jack proceeds with the dress rehearsal and is mother realizes that his place is at the theater, not the synagogue.



Still, Jack is troubled.  Should he go ahead with his opening night on Broadway, forsaking his heritage?  Or should he stand in his father's place as cantor, sacrificing his chance to fulfill hi won dreams?





It's impossible to review The Jazz Singer without talking about its major innovation: sound.  Specifically, the movie features Al Jolson singing and speaking and conversing with his mother in key sequences.  It also features the traditional silent film title cards, but when Jolson finishes singing "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face," he declares "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet."  Not on a card, but with the actor's voice.



Having spent the fourteen months feasting on silent films, this is a kick in the teeth.  It feels anachronistic and exhilarating.  Even knowing it's coming, I couldn't anticipate the way it would sound when Jolson utters some of the most famous lines in history.



And, after another song, the movie reverts back to the silent film tradition for a time.  Silently moving lips, followed by words on the screen.  But as you watch it, the possibility remains that at any point, the characters may begin singing or speaking again.



It seems a silly thing, but the possibility of the leap forward still feels enticing.  I know how the history turns out and I'm still giddy with anticipation for the next recorded lines.



The story itself is relatively timeless, but with a confused ending.  A boy struggles to become his own man to tear free from what his heritage, only to discover that perhaps there is strength in his lineage.  Hell, Pixar as made millions off the idea (Cars and Finding Nemo).  



The ending is to me a misstep.  We are told Jack must choose: sing in the synagogue and never work in this town again, or have his opening night and deny all he is.  He chooses... both.  His opening night is canceled when he chooses to sing at the synagogue, but then, inexplicably, he still gets his own show afterward.  The choice he makes creates drama that is sucked from the room when he has his cake and eats it too.  The virtue in the ending is of course that Jack makes the right choice and we still get to hear him sing one last tune.



There is one other potential misstep that needs to be addressed: Jolson's Jack performing his later numbers in blackface.  In most films, it is a repugnant practice, a further degrading of a race.  Here, it seems informed by the themes of the movie.  Jakie changes his name to Jack and spends the entire movie sublimating his Jewish heritage.  The move to use blackface is a further attempt to deny who he really is.  The theme would have been more powerfully realized if Jolson performed at the conclusion sans makeup, but watching Jack apply the blackface makeup and don the wig plays into his character in a way that white actors playing black characters in films don't even contemplate.



Is The Jazz Singer dated?  Yup.  Does it have a simple, see-it-coming-a-mile-away story?  Affirmitive.  Still, it's more than just a film; it's an experience.  Jolson's voice and those words will reverberate in my head for a long time to come.



***** out of *****