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The Jazz Singer
Sign in to save1927 film by Alan Crosland
Film · TMDB
6.1A 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.
Cast
- Al Jolson as Jakie Rabinowitz
- May McAvoy as Mary Dale
- Warner Oland as Cantor Rabinowitz
- Eugenie Besserer as Sara Rabinowitz
- Otto Lederer as Moisha Yudelson
- Robert Gordon as Young Jakie Rabinowitz
Themes
- new york city
- dancer
- parent child relationship
- san francisco, california
- jewish ghetto
- generations conflict
- jewish life
- black and white
- blackface
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Key facts
- Directed by
- Alan Crosland
- Screenplay by
- Alfred A. Cohn
- Based on
- The Jazz Singer , by Samson Raphaelson
- Produced by
- Darryl F. Zanuck
- Starring
- Al Jolson , May McAvoy , Warner Oland , Eugenie Besserer
- Cinematography
- Hal Mohr
- Edited by
- Harold McCord
- Music by
- Louis Silvers
- Production companies
- Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation
- Distributed by
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Release date
- October 6, 1927 ( 1927-10-06 )
- Running time
- 89 minutes, 96 minutes (with overture and exit music)
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $422,000
- Box office
- $2.6 million ( gross rental )
via Wikipedia infobox
~36 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated sequences). Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement".
The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden, he is punished by his father, a hazzan (cantor), prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer, performing in blackface. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer, but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Jazz Singer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.