The Jazz Singer
Produced by Warner Bros Pictures, Inc.; black
and white, 35mm, silent with synchronized musical numbers; running time: 89
minutes. Released October 1927, New York.
The film depicts the fictional
story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout
Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden he is punished by
his father, a cantor, prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later,
now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer. He
attempts to build a career as an entertainer but his professional ambitions
ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.This film became very popular due to the fact that it was one of the films that came out of the silent era and was a ‘talkie’, it was also produced by the Warner Bro’s. When the film was first aired the reaction from the public was very positive they enjoyed the singing and speech during the film, the marketing team really helped produce the film into a really big hit. This film soon began to turn into one of the Warner Bro’s biggest blockbuster for the very first ‘talkies’. It engrossed $3.9 million (US$126 million in 2005 dollars) at the domestic box office. The film The Jazz Singer helped end the silent film era.
The Jazz Singer, has ‘blackfaced’ imagery and this is one of the films core themes, it touches on the exploration of the ethnic culture during the American identity. Lots of other 1920’s films have this theme in their films, but The Jazz Singer was more powerful because it’s central to narrative and development and expression. This was to show that the character ‘Jakie’ was trying to find himself in the mass American culture and become a famous singer, the film was trying to that the Jewish Immigrant still has the same rights and privileges as any other American. It also won a Special Academy Award to Warner Bros. production Chief Darryl F. Zanuck "for producing The Jazz Singer, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry".
Great information about the film. What I would like to see is you incorporating that fab clip into your response to why the audience may have enjoyed it so much. What about that clip is so fantastic?
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