Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

JohnHowardReid Assistant director: Gordon Hollingshead. Sound recording: George R. Groves. Vitaphone Sound System. Sound technician: William A. Mueller. Sound supervisor: Nathan Levinson.Copyright 6 October 1927 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Warners' Theatre, 6 October 1927. U.S. release: 4 February 1928. 9 reels. 8,117 feet. 90 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Young man wants to be a jazz singer, but dad wants him to follow in his footsteps as cantor in the local synagogue.NOTES: Special Academy Award, Warner Bros.: "for producing The Jazz Singer, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry." Also nominated for Writing Adaptation (Seventh Heaven) and Special Engineering Effects (Wings).Domestic rental gross: $3½ million. Re-made as The Jolson Story (1946), The Jazz Singer (1953), The Jazz Singer (1980).Although this was the first feature film in which spoken dialogue was heard from the screen, that dialogue was limited. The Jazz Singer is primarily a silent movie with a synchronized music score, plus songs.The original Broadway play opened at the Fulton on 14 September 1925 and ran a highly successful 315 performances. Albert Lewis directed Howard Lane, Sam Jaffe and star, George Jessel, who was contracted to do the movie but balked when the studio decided to add sound to four songs. He demanded more money. The studio refused and Jolson was engaged instead.COMMENT: The story set the pattern for talkies — sentimental, synthetic, a bit of manufactured drama carelessly tossed away to cater for box office demand — and nowhere is this more evident than at the conclusion where a title card glibly explains that time heals all wounds and allows Jolson to go into his concluding number Mammy.Jolson's last two numbers in blackface are infinitely more acceptable than his others owing to his exaggerated mannerisms which even by silent standards (and in contrast to most of the other players — Besserer and Lederer even are not this bad) are exceedingly hammy. Jolson and Besserer are the only players that have any dialogue and then only in one stretch. Jolson has a few other lines between numbers and Oland has one word, "Stop!" The other players are completely speechless, though Cantor Josef Rosenblatt has a song and young Bobbie Gordon has a couple of numbers (though we suspect his are dubbed). There is very little use of sound effects — applause only — even obvious effects like knocking on doors being underscored only by music — and that too is kitsch. Still, May McAvoy makes a charming heroine, Myrna Loy is effective in a bit as a sneaky-eyed gossiping chorus girl. And even without his voice Roscoe Karns' personality comes across in his single scene at the railroad station. Demarest has a tiny part as a ravenous diner. The film is rather slow and the direction (aside from a rapid tracking shot through the street on Jolson's return home) is undistinguished — although I like the way he solves the problem of keeping the story going at the climax during the songs, by intercutting them with sub-titles!

evening1 Beautifully depicted drama about the struggle to be an individual amidst the conflicting influences of one's culture and society.Al Jolson is stellar as Jaky Rabinowitz, who has been called from a young age to sing the jazz songs of his time. But his father, a fourth-generation cantor, would rather disown Jaky than watch him assimilate."Would you be the first Rabinowitz in five generations to fail his God?" "I'd love to sing for my people but I belong here," Jaky says of the theater. His mother, who loves her husband as deeply as her only child, believes God wishes Jaky to follow his heart.One feels deeply for the struggle of the protagonist, even as we see him apply black-face makeup, a convention of the time, and warble songs like "Mammy" that seem dated and campy now.The film affectionately depicts Jewish domestic life, employing Yiddish intonation through the card titles. The traditional Jewish liturgy finds sensitive portrayal in the movie's climactic Kol Nidre scene.The performances here are uniformly strong. Jolson is believable in his classic struggle to find his true self. Eugenie Besserer and Warner Oland, neither of whom was Jewish, are convincing as Jaky's pious parents. Otto Lederer is warmly endearing as the "kibitzer" Yudelson. And beautiful May McAvoy is a joy as Jaky's inspiring love interest.Everything about this movie rings true for me."Remember, a son's a son no matter if his papa throws him out a hundred times."

jwvongoethe1800 This movie was responsible for the end of the silent era of cinema in 1927, and the destruction of the careers of hundreds of actors who couldn't talk. Does this movie hold up after 87 years? Well, it still did.First an note: This film is known as the first sound film (or "talkies" as they where called in the 20s), but most of the film is still the same as the movies from the silent era. Only the singing parts are with sound. But the jazz singer has made his chapter in the history of cinema and soon actors had two choices. 1: Look for a new job. 2: Learn to talk. The movie stars Al Jolson as the son of a Jewish priest (don't really know how they are called) who wants to be a jazz singer, even when his father hated that idea. Without spoiling to many things, he became a jazz singer and we than see the famous black-face scene the movie is known for. people now will see that as racist and I am agree with that, but it was part of the time period. And it became one of the most iconic scenes in the history of cinema.I will recommend this film to people who are curious about cinema history. To the others: Give it a watch. It is not that racist at all and the black-face scene is only 3% of the film.

Ryan Ellis Take away The Jazz Singer's gimmick and it would be remembered as just another movie from the 1920's. This film, however, is widely acknowledged as the first talking picture. It stars Al Jolson. It's a universal story of dogged pursuit of career and Daddy Issues. Those are legit reasons (particularly the sound thing) to keep it somewhat relevant, but it's also pretty dumb. Had it been made a few years into the sound era, it certainly wouldn't have been recognized by the American Film Institute on their 1998 Top 100 list.Even at that, the talking scenes are mostly just Jolson singing and doing his jazz act. When they give him and his mother (Eugenie Besserer) a scene that isn't about music, he's stiff and you can hardly hear what she's saying. Sure, this was all new to people who'd been making movies for years without having to worry about dialogue. They were infants in the land of audio. You gotta cut them a little slack.Okay, slack cut. Back to beefing. This is one more in a long line of movies that rely on the "you perform tonight even though your father is on his death bed or you're through" crutch. Nothing like a good guilt trip dealt out by show biz types who've OFTEN put their career goals over the needs of their family. As for whether not Jack Robin (Jolson) puts his father's dreams of the son becoming a Jewish cantor over the son's jazz career...that shall not be spoiled here. There IS much hand-wringing over it though, often literal hand-wringing.And then there's the blackface! Arguments could be made that this movie was just paying homage to the racist staple of vaudeville days of yore and weren't trying to make fun of black people. Still, we can't just forgive them in their ignorance. It's great that the movies finally got to speak in 1927 and The Jazz Singer was sound's godfather. They might have looked a little harder for a more worthy story. And they could've found a way to avoid that blackface.If this snapshot review made you yearn for more, check out the website I share with my wife (www.top100project.com) and go to the "Podcasts" section for our 32-minute Jazz Singer 'cast...and many others. Or find us on Itunes under "The Top 100 Project".