Gina Bonazelli

Green Group October 8, 2018

The Jazz Singer

Almost every person on earth has someone that they consider family. One’s family is

commonly a “safe zone” or “place to fall back on” from the everyday stresses of the world.

Family comes first, right? Even when you’re choosing between a career you’ve dreamt of all

your life or satisfying your father who has been inexcusably awful to you. The decision seems

pretty clear right? But here’s the catch, your father is dying and this may be the last chance

you’ll ever get to win him over. Harder choice now isn’t it? This is the same choice that Jackie

Rabinowitz had to make.

From a young age Jakie is in love with Jazz and Ragtime. He dreams of being a

performer when he’s older. However, his father, Cantor Rabinowitz plans for Jackie to be the

next Cantor after 5 generations in the family. When young Jackie is discovered by Moisha

Yudelson singing for a small restaurant his father beats him for it. Jackie announces that he is

leaving and never coming back. So the Cantor pretends to have no son and sweeps poor Jackie

under the rug. A decade later Jackie has changed his name to Jack Robin. He has fallen in love

with performer Mary Dale who is astounded by Jacks performance and helps him climb up the

stairway to fame. Jack and Mary are offered starring parts in a exciting Broadway show (that

they enthusiastically accept) Since Jack is going back to New York where his family lives he

decides to visit them. His mother, Sara is amazed to see him and when Jack eagerly begins to

play his jazz piece for her, the Cantor comes in furious. Jack begins trying to make it up to him

by remembering hebrew phrases and giving birthday gifts but the Cantor banishes him. Soon
after the Cantor get exceedingly ill quickly but tells Sara that if Jack sings at the service he will

be forgiven. But Jack faces a problem. The service for his father is the same time as the opening

broadway show. Jack must choose between his career that he has been dreaming of all his life or

his one last attempt f winning over his father. After a lot of thinking Jack decides that family

comes first. He sings at the service while the ghost of his father stands merely behind him

satisfied. Jack is allowed to perform at the remaining Broadway shows and astounds people with

his jazz singing.

After everything that has happened between Jack and his father he knew that deep down

his father had always loved him and so Jack put his family first.

As the 1920s came rolling in, a few new social changes did as well. ​HISTORY​ states that

“1920s was an age of dramatic social changes. For the first time Americans lived in cities more

than farms. Also the nation's wealth more than doubled between 1920-1929. This economic

growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar consumer society.” Of course one

of the most significant aspects of the age and the movie was jazz. It was the new trend for the

younger generations who loved the freedom the music gave them while the older generations

objected. This was the reality during “The Jazz Singer” 1927. A great significance from the film

was anti semitism. Jews were discriminated, blamed and looked down on almost everywhere.

Henry FOrd launched a campaign against “The International Jew” which he accused of

threatening the capitalist system, undermining the moral values of the nation and even held them

responsible for World War I. In “The Jazz Singer” the Cantor is particularly close to his religion

and is infuriated when Jakie has no interest in it. The setting of 1927 could be the cause of both
the Cantor and Jakie thoughts on Judaism. The Cantor is aware that everything is being blamed

on the jews and is already hurt but to see his son not wanting to stand with it makes him so

emotional that he takes out all his anger through Jakie. Jakie could be ashamed of judaism

because of society's outlook on it. He understands that everyone hates jews and doesn’t want to

embrace judaism. But the most significant aspect from the movie is Blackface. Blackface was

started in the 1830s as a way to make fun of african americans and lower their social status as

much as possible. At the time of “The Jazz Singer” and when it was made, Blackface was

considered completely normal and would not have been considered out of ordinary or offensive.

But according to Blair Shiff on ​abcNews​ Al Jolson was not trying to get laughs or make fun. He

was trying to use Blackface as a way to express kinship between african americans and jews who

were both being discriminated during this time.

The last and most obvious significance was “The Jazz Singer” was the first film to have

audio. This was the biggest reason for why the movie was such a big hit, before this all movies

had been made in black and white.

On the surface of “The Jazz Singer” there doesn’t seem to be a lot of significance

between the film and the culture during the time. But scratching the surface of the 1920s can lead

to tons of conclusions between the time and the movie.

What is the significance of “The Jazz Singer” in the development of the film industry?

The main reason for “The Jazz Singer” being so popular is that it was the first

feature-length movie with spoken dialogue that ended the silent film era. According to Lee

Pfieffer “Studio executive Sam Warner, one of the founders of Warner Brothers and the creative
force behind the film, died one day before the movie’s premiere, which was intentionally set for

the day before Yom Kippur. One of Jolson’s first lines ‘You ain’t heard nothin’ yet’ came to

symbolize the arrival of the talking picture. The film’s financial success established Warner

Brothers as a major studio” “The Jazz Singer” needed to be a hit if Warner Brothers were going

to continue. This was their final chance. Warner Brothers spent $800,000 to lease the Vitaphone

system and $3 million to promote the show. But “The Jazz Singer” was not the first movie to

have pre-recorded sound. It was the first feature-length movie to have dialogue. Though if “The

Jazz Singer” hadn’t been the first talkie, another film would have been changing the future of

Warner Brothers (that still makes movies we know and love) would have been changed forever.

Bibliography

"Anti-Semitism in the 1920s and 1930s." ​Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives​, 2014,

www.alba-valb.org/resources/lessons/jewish-volunteers-in-the-spanish-civil-war/

anti-semitism-in-the-1920s-and-1930s. Accessed 8 Oct. 2018.

Editors, History.com. "The Roaring Twenties History." ​HISTORY​, A&E Television

Networks, 28 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/

roaring-twenties-history. Accessed 7 Oct. 2018

Rothman, Lily. "http://time.com/3457278/the-jazz-singer/." ​TIME​, 6 Oct. 2014,

time.com/3457278/the-jazz-singer/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2018\

Shiff, Blair. "Blackface 'Jazz Singer' still influencing modern cinema 90 years

after release." ​AbcNews​, 6 Oct. 2017, abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/

blackface-jazz-singer-influencing-modern-cinema-90-years/story?id=50236333.

Accessed 8 Oct. 2018.

Snider, Eric. "What's the Big Deal?: The Jazz Singer (1927)." ​MTV News​, 7 Sept.
2011, www.mtv.com/news/2767055/whats-the-big-deal-the-jazz-singer-1927/.