This is it, folks. This is when the movies learned to talk. Though often dismissed nowadays as a technical innovation without any significant artistic merit, I was pleased to find that Alan Crosland's 'The Jazz Singer (1927)' employed the newfangled technology of synchronised soundtracks as a storytelling device rather than a gimmick. There's a wonderful scene early in the film when young Jakie Rabinowitz (Bobby Gordon, later Al Jolson) briefly returns home while his father, a Jewish cantor, sings in the nearby synagogue. The father's somber, passionate voice is heard by Jakie as he prepares to abandon his family, and the new technology enables Crosland to easily communicate the boy's (dwindling) proximity to his estranged father, using only the film's soundtrack. It's a simple but effective technique that allows extra detail to be imparted without crowding the viewer with visual information.
Of course, though touted as cinema's first feature-length "talkie," most of 'The Jazz Singer' unfolds as a typical silent film, with intertitles intact. Yet the director knew when the addition of sound would prove most effective. Apart from the excellent musical numbers, which show Jolson – perhaps the most popular entertainer of his time – at his musical peak, Crosland also shoots a single dialogue scene with a soundtrack, as an enthusiastic Jakie (now known as Jack Robin) teases his adoring mother with some rag-time hits (including Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies"). Appropriately, the soundtrack ceases from the moment Jack's father (Warner Oland) enters the room. The elderly cantor, firmly set in his traditional ways, is analogous to the old silent film technology, whereas Jolson's lively stage performer is the mouthpiece for an art form that is moving forward, evolving for the better.
Today, the use of blackface is generally frowned upon as racist, or simply unnecessary. Al Jolson himself frequently employed the costume in his stage performances, and its usage in 'The Jazz Singer' is actually quite important. Made up as an African American before a dress rehearsal, Jack Robin peers into a mirror and glimpses the fading vestiges of his Jewish cultural roots, now almost entirely hidden by the uniform of his trade. This clever sequence highlights how far Jack has strayed from family origins, and he is ultimately persuaded to embrace both his past and future values. Two of Jolson's songs – ""Mother of Mine, I Still Have You" and "My Mammy" – directly address the importance of family – in both cases, via his loving and accepting mother (Eugenie Besserer). Interestingly, Jack's romance with beautiful dancer Mary (May McAvoy) is uncharacteristically underplayed; Jack even admits to her that she runs second to the progress of his career!
Of course, though touted as cinema's first feature-length "talkie," most of 'The Jazz Singer' unfolds as a typical silent film, with intertitles intact. Yet the director knew when the addition of sound would prove most effective. Apart from the excellent musical numbers, which show Jolson – perhaps the most popular entertainer of his time – at his musical peak, Crosland also shoots a single dialogue scene with a soundtrack, as an enthusiastic Jakie (now known as Jack Robin) teases his adoring mother with some rag-time hits (including Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies"). Appropriately, the soundtrack ceases from the moment Jack's father (Warner Oland) enters the room. The elderly cantor, firmly set in his traditional ways, is analogous to the old silent film technology, whereas Jolson's lively stage performer is the mouthpiece for an art form that is moving forward, evolving for the better.
Today, the use of blackface is generally frowned upon as racist, or simply unnecessary. Al Jolson himself frequently employed the costume in his stage performances, and its usage in 'The Jazz Singer' is actually quite important. Made up as an African American before a dress rehearsal, Jack Robin peers into a mirror and glimpses the fading vestiges of his Jewish cultural roots, now almost entirely hidden by the uniform of his trade. This clever sequence highlights how far Jack has strayed from family origins, and he is ultimately persuaded to embrace both his past and future values. Two of Jolson's songs – ""Mother of Mine, I Still Have You" and "My Mammy" – directly address the importance of family – in both cases, via his loving and accepting mother (Eugenie Besserer). Interestingly, Jack's romance with beautiful dancer Mary (May McAvoy) is uncharacteristically underplayed; Jack even admits to her that she runs second to the progress of his career!