| Review:
|
This movie is a seminal point in movie and entertainment
presentation… the addition of sound to a presented image.
The Jazz Singer was not the first sound tracked movie presentation,
but it was the first successful one. The Jazz Singer was
a big Broadway hit featuring Jessel in the lead, but Al
Jolson an even bigger, star was selected for the part. Today,
black face makeup is condescending and too much for my tastes
but that is not the point. While many such shows portrayed
blacks negatively, Jolson's scenes are free of social commentary.
The only thing noticeable about these moments is the blackface
makeup. There is no overt racism here, it just looks rude.
Though the movie was well received in its day, today, the
movie's notoriety I suspect is its place in "moving image"
entertainment history as the first successful use of synchronized
picture and audio, our modern concept of a conventional
movie. With the successful release of this picture, there
was no looking back for the movie industry. The three disc
set of course has the movie as it centerpiece, but actually
showcases the introduction of sound to the movie experience
with its many featurettes on Sam Goldwyn's championing of
this novel type of presentation. The synchronization with
sound is not through the whole film -- only when Jolson
sings. The title cards vanish when Al starts singing his
first diddy... finishing it up with "You ain't heard nuthin'
yet!" I watched all of the extras and found them to be quite
entertaining. Some of the third disc's presentations were
more of a Vitaphone showcase of the vaudeville act's they
came from. Many were "yawners," however, one, a singing
duo was downright great. Realizing that the act was over
seventy years old was a sobering thought. "…I'd go a million
miles for one of your smiles, my mammy," sums up the tone
of the movie. Enjoy the movie for what it is a piece of
history and a good movie. ***
A brief synopsis of the film A young man's parents
want him to be a Cantor in the Jewish Temple, but he wants
to be an entertainer, a jazz singer. Jakie Rabinowitz, played
by Al Jolson, does not want to follow in his father's footsteps,
which are four generations deep and become a Cantor. As
self named Jack Robin, he falls in love with Mary (May McAvoy).
When he becomes famous, he thinks of home. Trying to go
home again is the basis of the movie. Its the Jewish dream
in conflict with American reality. The characters exemplify
the clash between Old World values and New World ambition.
Perhaps this is why Sam Goldwyn loved the story so much
and tried to develop it using this new technology, sound
sync that he was trying to introduce to the industry.
Image & Sound:
The print is nicely cleaned up and the sound is what
it is, an eighty year old recording improved with modern
technology.
|
| Special
Features: |
Disc One
The Movie with a digital transfer, refurbished soundtrack
from the original Vitaphone-Sound-On-Disc-recordings
Commentary by Ron Hutchison, Founder of the Vitaphone
Projects. The historical commentary track is on the feature
itself.
Vintage Al Jolson shorts.
Classic cartoon I Love To Singa, parodying this movie.
Disc Two
The Early Sound Era Feature length documentary "The
Dawn of Sound: How the Movies Learned to Talk" For film
buffs a very interesting commentary on sound development
as part of the movie presentation experience.
Surviving Sound Excerpts from 1929'a Gold Diggers of
Broadway Studio Shorts from or Celebrating the Early sound
Era
Disc Three
Astonishing Rarities 3 ½ hours of rare, historic Vitaphone
comedy and music shorts.
Some of the Entertainers of the latter days of Vaudeville
and early sound era are presented. Many shorts recently
recovered and restored after being thought of as lost forever.
***
|
