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The Jazz Singer

101 statements
18 feature instances
13 referencing feature instances

The Jazz Singer	type	TVTItem
The Jazz Singer	label	The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer	page	TheJazzSinger
The Jazz Singer	comment	The Jazz Singer, a 1927 musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and released by Warner Bros., tells the story of Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson), the son of a Jewish cantor, who declines to follow in his father's footsteps. Instead, he dissembles his Jewish identity while trying to make it in the world of popular music. Just as he's about to hit the big time, his father falls ill, forcing Jakie to choose between his family and his show-biz dreams.While popular legend has given it a reputation as the first "talkie", The Jazz Singer is fundamentally a silent film, with an atmospheric musical backdrop, no sound effects, and dialogue on title cards. It does, however, have several prerecorded songs which are lip-synced (with variable success), and during the filming and recording of one of these songs, Jolson ad-libbed a spoken intro: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet! Wait a minute, I tell ya! You ain't heard nothin'!" (Additionally, the film has one short synchronized dialogue scene where Jakie talks to his mother.)Audiences at the time definitely heard something in that.Experiments in recorded film sound were nothing new; as far back as 1894, an Edison film of a violin player was paired with a recording of the instrument. In 1926, the Warner Bros. film Don Juan was released with a prerecorded, instrumental soundtrack, eliminating the need for live accompaniment. Sunrise, a critically adored experimental melodrama released the same year as The Jazz Singer featured a line or two of background chatter as part of the soundtrack. What The Jazz Singer brought to the table was an ambitious use of synchronization (or, as Warner dubbed it, the "Vitaphone" process). Even that, if confined to the songs, might have remained a sterile gimmick. But speech — that was something else. The first "all-talking" picture was The Lights of New York, a gangster film released in 1928.Oh, yeah — the blackface scene. The redeeming element may be that the song — "My Mammy" — reflects Jakie's reconciliation with his own mother; in a way, Jakie is identifying very deeply with the stereotyped "darkie" character he portrays. It was also 1927.The film was adapted from the 1925 play of the same name by Samson Raphaelson, which was based in turn on Raphaelson's own 1922 short story "The Day of Atonement". Warner Oland (who would soon become well known for playing Charlie Chan onscreen) and Eugenie Besserer portray Jakie's father and mother respectively, while May McAvoy plays Mary Dale, a dancer who becomes his girlfriend and showbiz mentor. Real-life cantor Yoselle Rosenblatt appears briefly as himself performing at a concert Jakie attends. And future star Myrna Loy has an uncredited bit part as a chorus girl.There were three remakes of this film, one in 1952 starring Danny Thomas, one as an episode of NBC's Ford Startime anthology series in 1959 starring Jerry Lewis, and one in 1980 starring Neil Diamond (with Laurence Olivier as his father).As of 2023, the movie is now in the Public Domain.
The Jazz Singer	fetched	2023-12-01T04:44:59Z
The Jazz Singer	parsed	2023-12-01T04:44:59Z
The Jazz Singer	processingComment	Dropped link to SCTV: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Jazz Singer	processingComment	Dropped link to TheSimpsons: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Jazz Singer	processingComment	Dropped link to looneytunes: Not a Feature - ITEM
The Jazz Singer	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Jazz Singer / int_1779f10e	type	"Well Done, Son" Guy
The Jazz Singer / int_1779f10e	comment	"Well Done, Son" Guy: All the Jazz Singer wants is his father's approval.
The Jazz Singer / int_1779f10e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_1779f10e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_1779f10e
The Jazz Singer / int_26ac510e	type	Mythology Gag
The Jazz Singer / int_26ac510e	comment	Mythology Gag: Neil Diamond wearing blackface so he can sing with an R&B group is a nod to Al Jolson's blackface routine in the original.
The Jazz Singer / int_26ac510e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_26ac510e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_26ac510e
The Jazz Singer / int_2b7d29e1	type	Artifact Title
The Jazz Singer / int_2b7d29e1	comment	Artifact Title: Neil Diamond's character does not sing jazz. Also applies to the original film, by modern standards. Al Jolson's character never sings "jazz" as modern audiences expect - aside from the "blackface" scene (which is in the "Traveling Minstrel" tradition) - all of the music would be what we would today identify as "ragtime." "Jazz" in this context is more synonymous with "ruckus" or "noise," actually bringing it in line with its use in the Neil Diamond remake.
The Jazz Singer / int_2b7d29e1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_2b7d29e1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_2b7d29e1
The Jazz Singer / int_308ac24f	type	Fantasy-Forbidding Father
The Jazz Singer / int_308ac24f	comment	Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Cantor Rabinowitz. Possibly the Trope Codifier, considering how often later instances of this trope have been assumed to be using The Jazz Singer as their model.
The Jazz Singer / int_308ac24f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_308ac24f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_308ac24f
The Jazz Singer / int_311bcac6	type	Beard of Sorrow
The Jazz Singer / int_311bcac6	comment	Beard of Sorrow: Neil Diamond version, after his Heroic BSoD.
The Jazz Singer / int_311bcac6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_311bcac6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_311bcac6
The Jazz Singer / int_33029735	type	Dies Wide Open
The Jazz Singer / int_33029735	comment	Dies Wide Open: Cantor Rabinowitz in the original, oddly enough, closes his eyes first, slumps, and then opens them again after he dies.
The Jazz Singer / int_33029735	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_33029735	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_33029735
The Jazz Singer / int_49180a5f	type	Non-Actor Vehicle
The Jazz Singer / int_49180a5f	comment	Non-Actor Vehicle: The 1980 version was this for Neil Diamond. While his performance "won" the first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor, the soundtrack was a big hit so his career held up.
The Jazz Singer / int_49180a5f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_49180a5f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_49180a5f
The Jazz Singer / int_4e7c4536	type	Wham Line
The Jazz Singer / int_4e7c4536	comment	Wham Line: In the era of silent film, hearing Jakie actually speak the line "You ain't heard nothing yet!" came as a shock to a number of viewers at the time.
The Jazz Singer / int_4e7c4536	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_4e7c4536	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_4e7c4536
The Jazz Singer / int_51a12a6f	type	Hong Kong Dub
The Jazz Singer / int_51a12a6f	comment	Hong Kong Dub: Jolson's singing appears to have been recorded live. But the first song, the scene where a child Jakie is singing in a club, is dubbed very very badly.
The Jazz Singer / int_51a12a6f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_51a12a6f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_51a12a6f
The Jazz Singer / int_7453bc5b	type	Spared by the Adaptation
The Jazz Singer / int_7453bc5b	comment	Spared by the Adaptation: Cantor Rabinowitz in the 1980 remake.
The Jazz Singer / int_7453bc5b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_7453bc5b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_7453bc5b
The Jazz Singer / int_81a1960f	type	Silence Is Golden
The Jazz Singer / int_81a1960f	comment	Silence Is Golden: Oddly, for a film that is rightly remembered as ushering in talking pictures, the bulk of the original is silent. The use of sound is confined to 1) Jolson's songs and 2) one four-minute dialogue scene (when Jack comes home to see his mother).
The Jazz Singer / int_81a1960f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_81a1960f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_81a1960f
The Jazz Singer / int_b9a22821	type	Jive Turkey
The Jazz Singer / int_b9a22821	comment	Jive Turkey: In the 1980 version, when the black nightclub audience discovers the blackface ruse, one guy angrily shouts "That ain't no brotha! That's a white boy!"
The Jazz Singer / int_b9a22821	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_b9a22821	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_b9a22821
The Jazz Singer / int_c132c0c5	type	I Have No Son!
The Jazz Singer / int_c132c0c5	comment	I Have No Son!: In both versions, but much sillier in the remake.
The Jazz Singer / int_c132c0c5	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_c132c0c5	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_c132c0c5
The Jazz Singer / int_e796ce97	type	Blackface
The Jazz Singer / int_e796ce97	comment	Blackface: One of the most famous examples in film in the 1927 version, and one of the most infamous examples in the 1980 version! The other two versions did not use it, though the 1959 TV version substitutes it with clown makeup.
The Jazz Singer / int_e796ce97	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_e796ce97	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_e796ce97
The Jazz Singer / int_e9a3a1ed	type	Never Learned to Read
The Jazz Singer / int_e9a3a1ed	comment	Never Learned to Read: In the 1927 film, Jakie's mother has to have a neighbor read the letters Jakie sends home.
The Jazz Singer / int_e9a3a1ed	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_e9a3a1ed	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_e9a3a1ed
The Jazz Singer / int_f1492605	type	Redemption Equals Death
The Jazz Singer / int_f1492605	comment	Redemption Equals Death: Inverted in the original; Cantor Rabinowitz dies after Jack returns to the synagogue and sings, thus earning his father's forgiveness.
The Jazz Singer / int_f1492605	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_f1492605	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_f1492605
The Jazz Singer / int_fa6bfde9	type	Have a Gay Old Time
The Jazz Singer / int_fa6bfde9	comment	Have a Gay Old Time: In the original, Jakie's producer warns him that he'll "queer (him)self on Broadway" if he skips the show to sing Kol Nidre.
The Jazz Singer / int_fa6bfde9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_fa6bfde9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_fa6bfde9
The Jazz Singer / int_name	type	ItemName
The Jazz Singer / int_name	comment
The Jazz Singer / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Jazz Singer / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Jazz Singer / int_name
The Jazz Singer / int_name	itemName	The Jazz Singer

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Lonesome	seeAlso	The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Blackface / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Briefer Than They Think / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Condemned by History / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	I Have No Son! / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Judaism and Jewish Culture in Media / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Minstrel Shows / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Naturalized Name / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Scylla and Charybdis / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	The Roaring '20s / int_7d57932a
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	Ur-Example / int_7d57932a
RomeoAndJuliet	seeAlso	The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer	hasFeature	AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies / int_7d57932a

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