JAZZ SINGER, THE,

JAZZ SINGER, THE, a motion picture released by Warner Brothers in October 1927, was the first successful feature-length production to include sound, ushering in the end of the silent film era. Audiences thrilled when Al Jolson, in the title role, broke into song and proclaimed, "You ain't heard nothing yet!" Directed by Alan Crosland (filming Alfred A. Cohn's screen adaptation of Samson Raphaelson's play Day of Atonement), The Jazz Singer tells the tale of Jakie Rabinowitz, the young Jewish son of a New York City cantor who would rather "sing jazzy" than follow five generations of cantors. Jakie runs away from home to pursue his dreams of stardom; years later, under the name Jack Robin, Jakie returns to New York City. Conflict arises when Jakie must decide between singing "Kol Nidre" in place of his sick father on Yom Kippur and opening his Broadway show. Jakie decides to chant "Kol Nidre" for his father in the synagogue, postponing his debut. This decision does not hamper Jakie. The film ends with Jolson crooning "My Mammy" in blackface to his mother in the audience of his Broadway show. The film suggests that in America one can be both hugely successful and remain true to one's roots while also suggesting interesting connections between African American traditions and Jewish American identity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carringer, Robert L. ed. The Jazz Singer. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1979.

Crafton, Donald. "The Jazz Singer's Reception in the Media and at the Box Office." In Post Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies. Edited by David Bordwell and Noël Carroll. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.

Saposnik, Irv. "Jolson, the Jazz Singer, and the Jewish Mother: Or, How My Yiddishe Momme Became My Mammy." Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought 43 (1994): 432–442.

Matthew R.Davis

See alsoFilm .