"The Jazz Singer" (1927).

[Shangas]

"Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet!"

Today I went to the flea-market.

I bought a miniature screwdriver set (for all those little things that need tightening up).

I bought a 1918 Elgin pocket watch.

I bought a DVD of The Jazz Singer, from 1927.

I've never seen this movie. Ever. But I did hear the 1940s Lux Radio Theatre production with Al Jolson. What are peoples' views on this film? I want to watch it tonight, if possible.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet!"

Today I went to the flea-market.

I bought a miniature screwdriver set (for all those little things that need tightening up).

I bought a 1918 Elgin pocket watch.

I bought a DVD of The Jazz Singer, from 1927.

I've never seen this movie. Ever. But I did hear the 1940s Lux Radio Theatre production with Al Jolson. What are peoples' views on this film? I want to watch it tonight, if possible.

It's basically a silent melodrama -- of the fist-shaking, beard-tugging, eye-rolling style, crude and manipulative by 1927 standards -- interspersed with absolutely, transfixingly dynamic musical performances by Jolson. While it's impossible to fully capture his charisma in any film, the numbers in "The Jazz Singer" come pretty darn close.

 

[59Lark]

first film projectionist.

A dear late friend of mine was bill, his dad was the projectionist at our local bijou and his first film was the jazz singer and his last film was nine to five with dolly parton, what a span and career behind the projector and 3 other jobs during the war years. The projector operators name was len, and he didnt let his son drive his 67 chevelle until the son was sixty years old and dad couldnt drive anymore.59LARK. fftopic:

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

A bit of Trivia

My Mammy, Al Jolson's iconic signature tune, was first performed in 1921 by William Frawley -- Fred Mertz of I Love Lucy fame.

Jolson's estranged cantor father in The Jazz Singer was played by Swedish-born Warner Oland who would later become best known for his portrayal of Charlie Chan.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And Mrs. Rabinowitz, the cantor's long-suffering wife, is Eugenie Besserer, a woman as Irish as the fields of Killarney. "The Jazz Singer" is nothing if not a festival of pan-ethnic casting.

Speaking of 60s TV icons, look for William "Uncle Charley" Demarest in a fleeting appearance as well. Rumor has it he invested some money in the picture.

 

[Dated Guy]

I inherited this as a vhs from my father-in-law, I watched it a couple of times way back, the bit with him playing the piano and singing to his mother strikes me as a bit gushing, but, was it really like that in them thar' days, I don't know, I accept it for what it was, a timely piece of hokum for the new cinema age...then we got the Neil Diamond version, no comparison, I prefer the olden one.......enjoy it..