35. The Jazz Singer (1927)

Directed By Alan Crosland

Synopsis

Jewish boy likes jazz. Jewish Cantor father doesn't. Father beats son, son runs away. Son becomes big Jazz Singer. Father is near death. Son sings at synagogue. Father dies forgiving son. Son wears blackface and sings Jazz for a living, while being a bit gay and Jewish.

Review

Wow, probably the first film with a Black, Gay and Jewish main character... well, he wears blackface anyway, and is not openly gay but has an unhealthy mother obssession who he addresses as dahling, and when he speaks you get a huge spike on the old gaydar. There's always the excuse that that is how "show business" people speak. Jolson was actually married for 12 years, but he ain't fooling me. Darling.

All that aside and the fact that blackface is quite a repugnant practice, this is not a bad film, and although it's main value is the fact that it is the first talkie, there is something to be said about the story. The talkie part can be overemphasised, in fact most of the film is silent with only the bits sorrounding the songs and the songs themselves being in actual speech.

The story itself is not that bad, Jack Rabinowitz or Jack Robin is a character caught between two worlds, that of Jazz and of a traditional Jewish family, as well as the seedy underbelly of Gay bondage and S&M in 1920's New York (I might be making up the last part, you'll just have to watch it and find out), and the film actually presents some interesting questions in terms of cultural identity for second generation Jewish immigrants. So, not a totally brainless experience, also worth watching for Al Jolsons completely over the top camp speech. Buy it at Amazon UK or US

Final Grade

6/10

Trivia

From Screenplays for you:

After an emotional reunion with his mother, Jack tells her about his big
break and sings and plays for her Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," the song
he's going to do in the show. After one chorus, Jack turns from the piano
and speaks to his mother. Throughout this exchange her replies and
protestations are heard very faintly and indistinctly.

JACK
Did you like that, Mama?

MOTHER
Yes.

JACK
I'm glad of it. I'd rather please you than
anybody I know of. Oh, darlin', will you give
me something?

MOTHER
What?

JACK
You'll never guess. Shut your eyes, Mama. Shut
'em for little Jakie. Ha. I'm gonna steal
something.
(Kisses her. She titters.)
Ha, ha, ha, ha. I'll give it back to you some
day, too, you see if I don't. Mama, darlin',
if I'm a success in this show, well, we're
gonna move from here. Oh yes, we're gonna move
up in the Bronx. A lot of nice green grass up
there and a whole lot of people you know.
There's the Ginsbergs, the Guttenbergs, and the
Goldbergs. Oh, a whole lotta Bergs; I don't
know 'em all. And I'm gonna buy you a nice
black silk dress, Mama. You see Mrs. Friedman,
the butcher's wife, she'll be jealous of you.

MOTHER
Oh no--

JACK
Yes, she will. You see if she isn't. And I'm
gonna get you a nice pink dress that'll go
with your brown eyes.

MOTHER
No, Jakie, no. I-I-I-

JACK
What? Whatta you mean, no? Who is -- who is
telling you? Whatta you mean, no? Yes, you'll
wear pink or else. Or else you'll wear pink.
(He laughs.)
And, darlin', oh, I'm gonna take you to Coney
Island.

MOTHER
Yeah?

JACK
Yes, I'm gonna ride on the Shoot-the-Chutes.
An' you know in the Dark Mill? Ever been in
the Dark Mill?

MOTHER
Oh, no. I wouldn't go ...

JACK
Well, with me, it's all right. I'll kiss you
and hug you. You see if I don't.
(Mother starts blushing.)
Now Mama, Mama, stop now. You're gettin'
kittenish. Mama, listen, I'm gonna sing this
like I will if I go on the stage. You know,
with this show. I'm gonna sing it jazzy. Now
get this ...

Jack launches into a few more lines of the song. He bangs at the
keyboard with his right hand and turns to his mother.

JACK
Do you like that slappin' business?