The Jazz Singer

No self-respecting film buff can go without having seen this iconic movie made by the fledgeling Warner Brothers studio.  Whilst there had been films with sound which preceded it, largely thanks to the casting of the immensely popular Al Jolson, it was a huge success and is widely regarded as the first "talking" picture.

The technology, using separate audio discs synchronized to the visuals was still in its infancy however and although  there are some songs and a few lines of dialogue, the bulk of the film is silent. Aside from the Jolson numbers it is hokey melodrama about a nice Jewish boy who rebels against his father and becomes a star in vaudeville and was adapted from a successful stage play. George Jessel who played the lead in the stage production was originally cast but pulled out in part because Warners changed the ending of the film (the stage production  has the central character returning to a religious life). Eddie Cantor was a contender but eventually the role went to Jolson, and the rest is, as they say, history

 

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