Saw this "landmark" film, finally. I wasn't expecting The General, and I wasn't disappointed, but the plot - with enough clichés to sink Solomon's Temple - would make the good folks at Hallmark puke!
Where do I begin? A 13 year old kid is in a saloon, and none of the adults there find it strange, much less, call the cops. The kid's parents don't bother wondering where he is until their friend tells them where the kid is (why the "deeply religious" friend is at the saloon wetting his whistle at the same time the kid is there is not for us lesser minds to ponder). Papa drags the kid out of the saloon, and no one reacts. The kid declares that he will run away from home if Papa gives him another trashing, and he nor Mama don't so much as bother to go to the cops when the kid makes good on his promise. When we next see the the kid, he is 41 year old Al Jolson! NO explanation as to what he has been doing or how he survived on his own for 28 years -- he is now 41 year old Al Jolson! Just accept it.
"Jazz Singer" Jolson doesn't so much as sings as he tears through his repertoire like he's on crack! He utterly-butchers "Blue Skies", a song which demands that each word be delivered slowly and fully; I could just imagine Irving Berlin pounding his head against a wall in mortification.
Anyhoo, Jolson's love interest (a "shiksa" Mama bemoans in horror!) is a rising star who helps him bag his big break, and is happy to learn his career means more to him than Mama or Papa or her (weird!). As Jolson agonizes over subbing for Papa at the synagogue or going on with the show that night, the show's director warns him not to "queer yourself". I found that interesting as it showed how meanings of words can deviate over time. Ironically, the word "queer" is used today by men who identify as homosexual as the insult it was originally intended! Anyhoo, Show Director tells the Opening Night audience (who paid beau-coup bucks and dressed up to the nines) that there won't be a show, Jolson performs the Kol Nidre at the synagogue, is reconciled with Papa, who croaks as he hears Sonny Boy sing, and NOBODY except Mama notices! We then jump forward a few years: Shiksa is nowhere to be found, but Mama is front-row-center as her black-faced Sonny Boy serenades her. Freud would have had a field day with these two!
For the record: the blackface IS disgusting - more so because it's unnecessary, song-wise - but what I found truly-insulting is the film builds up a moral dilemma, only to allow Sonny Boy to have his Lekach and eat it, too.
Where do I begin? A 13 year old kid is in a saloon, and none of the adults there find it strange, much less, call the cops. The kid's parents don't bother wondering where he is until their friend tells them where the kid is (why the "deeply religious" friend is at the saloon wetting his whistle at the same time the kid is there is not for us lesser minds to ponder). Papa drags the kid out of the saloon, and no one reacts. The kid declares that he will run away from home if Papa gives him another trashing, and he nor Mama don't so much as bother to go to the cops when the kid makes good on his promise. When we next see the the kid, he is 41 year old Al Jolson! NO explanation as to what he has been doing or how he survived on his own for 28 years -- he is now 41 year old Al Jolson! Just accept it.
"Jazz Singer" Jolson doesn't so much as sings as he tears through his repertoire like he's on crack! He utterly-butchers "Blue Skies", a song which demands that each word be delivered slowly and fully; I could just imagine Irving Berlin pounding his head against a wall in mortification.
Anyhoo, Jolson's love interest (a "shiksa" Mama bemoans in horror!) is a rising star who helps him bag his big break, and is happy to learn his career means more to him than Mama or Papa or her (weird!). As Jolson agonizes over subbing for Papa at the synagogue or going on with the show that night, the show's director warns him not to "queer yourself". I found that interesting as it showed how meanings of words can deviate over time. Ironically, the word "queer" is used today by men who identify as homosexual as the insult it was originally intended! Anyhoo, Show Director tells the Opening Night audience (who paid beau-coup bucks and dressed up to the nines) that there won't be a show, Jolson performs the Kol Nidre at the synagogue, is reconciled with Papa, who croaks as he hears Sonny Boy sing, and NOBODY except Mama notices! We then jump forward a few years: Shiksa is nowhere to be found, but Mama is front-row-center as her black-faced Sonny Boy serenades her. Freud would have had a field day with these two!
For the record: the blackface IS disgusting - more so because it's unnecessary, song-wise - but what I found truly-insulting is the film builds up a moral dilemma, only to allow Sonny Boy to have his Lekach and eat it, too.