The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer, first released on October 6, 1927 by Warner Bros., is most notable for being the first 'talking motion picture' widely commercially released. It starred Al Jolson in blackface, and it was the first of a series of "talking pictures" starring Jolson; other films in the series included The Singing Fool (1928), Say It With Songs (1929), and Mammy (1930).
In fact, there is only a few minutes' worth of actual singing in The Jazz Singer. Jolson sings the song, "Mammy," twice during the film, with a couple of lines of dialogue. The rest of the film's soundtrack is instrumental musical accompaniment, and the standard caption cards prevalent in silent movies are used instead of recorded dialogue in most of the film. But that one song was enough to capture the imagination of moviegoing audiences of the day.
The movie was a sensational box-office hit, proving to Hollywood (and to the world) that "talking pictures" were profitable. It opened the door to the evolution of sound film, and it signaled the end of the era of the silent film.
This movie is one of those selected for preservation by the
American National Film Registry as culturally significant.
The Jazz Singer has been remade twice. A 1953 remake
starred Danny Thomas, and a 1980 remake starred Neil Diamond.
Referenced By
1927 | 1927 in film | 1927 in music | 1953 in music | 1981 Golden Raspberries | 1981 in music | 4 February | 4th February | 6 October | 6th October | Academy Award for Best Title Writing | Academy Award for Engineering Effects | Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay | Academy Awards/Writing Screenplay Adaptation | Academy Honorary Award | Al Jolson | Audio recording | Best Title Writing | Blackface | Charles Chaplin | CharlieChaplin | Charlie Chaplin | February 4 | February 4th | Fleicher Studios | Fleischer Studio | Fleischer Studios | Hyman Krustofski | Krusty the Clown | Krusty the Klown | Laurence Olivier | Leon Schlesinger | List of 'years in film' | List of films preserved in the United States National Film Registry | List of movies: J | List of movies: J-R | Lois Pennycandy | Mickey Mouse | Minstrel Show | Mr. Peepers | Musical Film | Musical movie | Neil Diamond | Nugent Slaughter | October 6 | October 6th | Rabbi Hyman Krustovsky | Recorded sound | Sideshow Mel | Sound film | Sound movie | Sound picture | Sound recording | Talkie | Talkies | Talking Pictures | Talking picture | The Simpsons/Krusty the Clown | The Simpsons/Krusty the Klown | The Simpsons/Sideshow Mel | Timeline of United States history (1900-1929) | Warner Bros | Warner Bros. | Warner Bros. Pictures | Warner Brothers | Warner Brothers Records | Warner Brothers Studios
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