THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)

The movie that is widely considered to be the first talkie. It wasn't really; aside from a background score, the only time synchronized sound occurs is during musical numbers (like "Toot, Toot, Tootsie" and "Mammy") some of which had a couple minutes worth of dialogue attached--the rest of the movie is silent, with title cards. However, it was the movie that proved to the Hollywood studios that talking pictures were not only feasible, but could be wildly popular. The plot concerns a Jewish boy, Jake Rabinowitz, whose father, a cantor at a synagogue, wants the boy to follow in his footsteps, but the boy, even at the young age of 13, knows he wants to sing "jazz" rather than sacred music--he already has a gig at a club under the name Ragtime Jakie. The cantor (Warner Oland) wants his son to sing "Kol Nidre" with him at a Yom Kippur service, but when the boy decides not to, the cantor gives him a whipping and the boy runs away. The adult Jakie (Al Jolson) ekes out a living singing in nightclubs (having changed his name to Jack Robin) and is discovered by singer May McAvoy. A romance keeps threatening to develop, but unless I missed something, it never really does. Jolson returns to New York years after his break with his family, about to make the big time as the star of a Broadway revue. His mother (Eugenie Besserer) is happy to see him, but Oland remains hard-hearted. The day of Jolson's Broadway opening also happens to be Yom Kippur, and with Oland on his deathbed, there's no one to sing "Kol Nidre" at the synagogue. Will Jolson stick with the show, or risk losing his big break in order to be reconciled with his father? The sentiment is piled on a bit thick, not just with the father, but also with the mother, who is torn between loyalty to her husband and wanting her son to have his wishes come true. Jolson was almost 40 when he made the movie, and looks way too old to be playing a young man getting his first break in show business. Oland is good as the cantor, and Jolson isn't bad, but Besserer engages in some of the most exaggerated silent acting I've ever seen. McAvoy, as the love interest, has little to do since the love story here is between Jolson and his parents. The best acting might be from teenager Bobby Gordon as the young Jakie. Don’t blink and you'll catch Myrna Loy in a one-line part as a chorus girl. Historically important, but not required viewing, except for die-hard Jolson fans. [TCM]