A TIMELESS PIECE OF HISTORY : "THE JAZZ SINGER"

Now,  the reason I took this film up in the first place was the fact that it has historical significance. This film, ladies and gents, is the first feature-length film with synchronised sound sequences in it. The year was 1927 and this was not the first attempt at sound film, in fact many shorts already exited, but the whole “talkies” thing didn’t catch on. I know, very hard to believe, but true. When the Warner brothers first agreed to take on this film in their studio, everyone was pretty sure they were heading for rack and ruin. Instead, they went down in history as some of the great innovators. Because The Jazz Singer (a film that has, incidentally, spawned many remakes) did not flop and vanish. It went down in history.

The story is that of Jack Robin (portrayed by Al Jolson) , a young man with a passion for jazz who was born to a very conservative Jewish family. Our hero is given a choice between his home and his passion for jazz by his stern father – the cantor for his local community and thus thoroughly disapproving of Jack’s taste in music. Jack chooses jazz. And his career takes a meteoric rise. However, just as he is about to reach the pinnacle of his career, the fork in the road presents itself again. With a chance to redeem himself and patch things up with his father on one hand and the “big break” he has been working so hard towards on the other, what will Jack choose? You will have to watch and find out…

Now, the particular version of the film I watched was the 80^th year anniversary version that includes a lot of documentaries, extras and comments on the film and generally sound and film. As a side note, find this version if you can, because the extras are so good –and there are SO many – that if you have the choice, it would be a shame to miss them. One of the comments in the documentary was the fact that it was amazing that Al Jolson, from all that time ago, was right there, on stage, entertaining people from the 21^st century. Now, you may be prejudiced by the fact that the film is quite old fashioned in many ways. Not least in that it is still, mostly a silent film. The musical numbers and snippets of dialogue are in synchronised sound but the rest is silent. And then you might think, well, the topic is all very quaint and nice. You might think it’s going to be old fashioned. And boring. And then you might just leave it on the shelf. That would be a mistake in my view. I mean, the musical numbers alone are just so brilliant, despite the almost 90 years time difference you cannot help but enjoy Jolson singing numbers like Blue Skies and, on the other end of the spectrum, Kol Nidre is a sight to be seen. And when we watch him on the scene, he truly entertains us. I mean honestly, I love it. If he had a live show somewhere I would go see it. True, there are some slightly racist quips in there in the shape as a performance as a black and white minstrel. But I think this should be taken in the spirit of the time and as pure entertainment value with nothing too serious attached.

In short, I personally think, as a movie  buff, you should watch it. It’s film history. It’s one of those films you simply have to have seen. And do you know something? I can almost guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you enjoy it…