Thursday, May 21, 2009

Jolson Sings!...And Talks A Little

The Jazz Singer started the sound revolution, but it's not a complete talkie itself. In fact, it's really a silent film with a few musical interludes thrown in. The effect is sort of creepy, since you hear someone and then, suddenly, he can't make noise any more.

I was recently watching the film (thus this post) and it's basically a melodrama about assimilation--something that meant a lot to the studio moguls. (I've also been reading a bit about Darryl Zanuck, who was behind this film--he's one of the rare non-Jewish studio heads--and the theme was in the original Broadway play (starring George Jessel, who could have starred in the movie if he hadn't asked for too much money), but Warner Brothers changed its direction a bit to make it sting less.)

The film is nothing special, though to be fair, it's better than a lot of the earliest sound films, which are generally tough going. Still, I can see how an audience would get excited to hear someone singing and talking after years of silence.

Then there's Jolson. Contemporary accounts have him being an electrifying performer, but tastes change, and he seems way too hammy, and his movements way too jerky, today. The Jazz Singer made him a movie star--at a time when he wasn't the Broadway star he'd once been-- but that didn't last long. There were too many other actors far more interesting once films started talking in earnest. Ironically, the best stuff he does in the film are the small bits of talking in-between the songs, where he's still plenty corny, but also kind of charming.

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