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Alan Crosland, the JAZZ SINGER (1927, 88 Min)

Alan Crosland, the JAZZ SINGER (1927, 88 Min)

August 27, 2013 (XXVII:1) , THE SINGER (1927, 88 min)

Academy Awards—1929—Honorary Award (Warner Bros.) for producing , the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry.

National Registry—1996

Directed by Alan Crosland Adapted for film by Alfred A. Cohn Based on the short story by (“The Day of Atonement”) Original music by Cinematography by Hal Mohr Edited by Harold McCord

Al Jolson...Jakie Rabinowitz May McAvoy...Mary Dale ...The Cantor Eugenie Besserer...Sara Rabinowitz Otto Lederer...Moisha Yudelson Crossland directed in Don Juan, which had sync Richard Tucker...Harry Lee sound effects and music, but no dialogue, using . Cantor Joseff Rosenblatt…Cantor Rosenblatt - Concert Recital SAMSON RAPHAELSON (b. March 30, 1894, City, ALAN CROSLAND (b. August 10, 1894, , New New York—d. July 16, 1983, New York City, New York) has 45 York—d. July 16, 1936, , California, car accident) writing credits, among them 1988 “American Playhouse,” 1980 directed 68 , among them 1936 The Case of the Black Cat, The Jazz Singer (play), 1965 “Wolken am Himmel,” 1959 1935 The Great Impersonation, 1935 King Solomon of “Startime,” 1956 Hilda Crane (play), 1955 “Lux Video Theatre,” Broadway, 1935 It Happened in New York, 1935 The White 1952 “Broadway Television Theatre,” 1949 “The Ford Theatre Cockatoo, 1934 The Case of the Howling Dog, 1934 Massacre, Hour” 1949 In the Good Old Summertime, 1947 Green Dolphin 1933 Hello, Sister!, 1932 Week Ends Only, 1930 Captain Street, 1946 , 1943 Heaven Can Wait, 1941 Thunder, 1930 , 1930 Big Boy, 1930 General Skylark (play and novel), 1941 Suspicion, 1940 The Shop Around Crack, 1929 On with the Show!, 1928 The Scarlet Lady, 1928 the Corner, 1935 Dressed to Thrill, 1935 La veuve joyeuse, 1934 , 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1927 , Caravane 1934 The Merry Widow, 1934 Caravan, 1934 1927 , 1927 , 1926 Don Runaway Queen, 1932 Trouble in Paradise, 1932 One Hour with Juan, 1925 Bobbed Hair, 1924 , 1924 You, 1931 The Smiling Lieutenant, and 1927 The Jazz Singer. , 1923 , 1922 The Face in the Fog, 1922 The Prophet's Paradise, 1922 Why Announce Your ALFRED A. COHN (b. March 26, 1880, Freeport, Illinois—d. Marriage?, 1922 , 1920 Everybody's February 3, 1951 in , California) has 41 writing Sweetheart, 1920 The Point of View, 1920 , 1920 credits, some of which are 1934 Harold Teen, 1932 Me and My Jennie, 1919 The Country Cousin, 1918 The Whirlpool, 1917 The Gal, 1931 The Cisco Kid, 1929 Divorce Made Easy, 1929 Her Apple-Tree Girl, 1917 The Little Chevalier, 1917 Knights of the Husband's Women, 1929 The Carnation Kid, 1929 The Last Square Table, 1917 The Light in Darkness, 1917/II Kidnapped, Warning, 1928 We Americans (adaptation / screenplay), 1928 and 1916 The Fear Market. A year before The Jazz Singer, The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris, 1927 The Gorilla, 1927 The Jazz Singer (adaptation), 1927 The Cat and the Canary Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—2

(adaptation), 1927 Frisco Sally Levy, 1926 The Midnight Kiss Sawdust, 1924 Isn't Life Wonderful, 1921 Dream Street, 1920 (adaptation / screenplay), 1925 His People (adaptation / . screenplay / titles), 1925 Private Affairs, 1924 Half-a-Dollar Bill (titles), 1923 Fashion Row (titles), 1923 The Drums of Jeopardy HAL MOHR (b: August 2, 1894, San Francisco, California—d. (titles), 1923 The Unknown Purple (titles), and 1923 Jazzmania May 10, 1974, Santa Monica, California) won two Academy (titles). Awards, his first in 1936 for Best Cinematography for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), for which he was the first and LOUIS SILVERS (b. September 6, 1889, New York City, New only write-in nominee to actually win, and again in 1944 for Best York—d. March 26, 1954 in Hollywood, California) contributed Cinematography, Color, for Phantom of the Opera (1943), which to the music departments on 240 films, including 1939 Swanee he shared with W. Howard Greene. He has been the River, 1939 Drums Along the Mohawk, 1939 Hollywood cinematographer for 144 films, among them 1968 The Bamboo Cavalcade (composer: stock music), 1939 , Saucer, 1965 Invisible Diplomats (director of photography), 1939 Stanley and 1962 The Creation of the Livingstone, 1939 Second Humanoids, 1961 “Father of the Fiddle, 1939 Susannah of the Bride” (TV series), 1961 Mounties, 1939 Rose of Underworld U.S.A. (director of Washington Square, 1939 photography), 1958 The Gun The Little Princess, 1939 Runners, 1958 The Lineup (composer: stock (director of photography), 1957 music), 1939 Jesse James Baby Face Nelson, 1956 The Boss, (composer: stock music), 1953-1954 “I Married Joan” (7 1939 Three Little Sew and episodes), 1953 The Wild One Sews (composer: stock (director of photography), 1952 music), 1938 Kentucky, 1938 The Member of the Wedding, 1952 Just Around the Corne, 1938 The Four Poster, 1952 Rancho I'll Give a Million, 1938 Notorious (director of , 1938 photography), 1951 The Big Night, , 1938 1950 Woman on the Run (director Four Men and a Prayer, of photography), 1949 Johnny 1938 Happy Landing, 1938 Holiday, 1948 Another Part of the Termites of 1938 (composer: Forest, 1947 Song of stock music), 1937 Ali Baba Scheherazade, 1945 Salome Goes to Town, 1937 Life Begins in College, 1937 Thin Ice, 1937 Where She Danced, 1944 Enter Arsene Lupin, 1944 The Climax, , 1937 Café Metropole, 1937 Seventh Heaven, 1943 Top Man, 1943 Watch on the Rhine (director of 1937 , 1936 One in a Million, 1936 Stowaway, photography), 1943 Phantom of the Opera, 1940 When the 1936 Legion of Terror (composer: stock music), 1936 End of the Daltons Rode (director of photography), 1939 Destry Rides Trail (composer: stock music), 1936 Sing, Baby, Sing, 1936 Sins Again (director of photography), 1936 The Green Pastures of Man, 1936 Private Number, 1936 Under Two Flags, 1936 (photography), 1936 Bullets or Ballots (photography), 1935 Captain January, 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (composer: Captain Blood (photographed by), 1935 A Midsummer Night's stock music), 1936 A Message to Garcia (composer: stock Dream (photography), 1934 's Courage, 1934 music),1936 The Country Doctor, 1936 The Prisoner of Shark David Harum, 1934 Carolina, 1934 As Husbands Go, 1933 The Island, 1935 , 1935 Crime and Punishment, Devil's in Love (photographed by), 1933 State Fair 1935 The Black Room, 1935 Love Me Forever, 1934 No Greater (photographed by), 1932 Lady with a Past (photographed by), Glory, 1934 It Happened One Night (composer: stock music), 1931 The Common Law (photography), 1931 A Woman of 1930 Captain Thunder (conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra), 1930 Experience (photography), 1931 , 1930 Free Scarlet Pages (conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra), 1930 Outward Love, 1930 Outward Bound (photography), 1930 Czar of Bound (conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra), 1930 Moby Dick Broadway, 1930 , 1929 Shanghai Lady, 1929 (conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra), 1929 So Long Letty, 1929 Broadway, 1928 Noah's Ark (photography), 1928 Tenderloin, (conductor), 1929 No Defense, 1928 1928 The Honeymoon, 1927 The Girl from Chicago, 1927 The The Terror, and 1927 The Jazz Singer. In addition, he has Last Performance, 1927 The Jazz Singer (photography), 1927 composed music for 26 films, including 1943 The Powers Girl, , 1927 The Heart of Maryland, 1927 Old San 1939 , 1936 Fibbing Fibbers , 1936 Francisco (photography), 1927 , 1927 Bitter Ladies in Love, 1935 Crime and Punishment, 1935 The Black Apples, 1926 The Third Degree, 1926 Sparrows (photography), Room, 1934 , 1934 Black Moon, 1933 Dancing 1925 Little Annie Rooney (photography), 1925 He Who Laughs Lady, 1933 Stage Mother, 1930 Mammy, 1929 Madonna of Last, 1924 A Woman Who Sinned, 1920 The Deceiver, 1920 The Avenue A, 1929 Frozen River, 1929/I Sonny Boy, 1929 The Golden Trail, 1914 Salomy Jane, and 1912 Panama-Pacific Redeeming Sin, 1929 Weary River, 1928 The Barker, 1928 The International Groundbreaking Ceremony (documentary short), Singing Fool, 1928 The Terror, 1928 , 1927 and has directed 6 films, which are 1943 Watch on the Rhine, , 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1925 Sally of the 1937 When Love Is Young, 1917 The Big Idea , 1917 Perils of Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—3 the Secret Service, 1914 Pan's Mountain , and 1913 Last Night of MAY MCAVOY (b. September 8, 1899, New York City, New the Barbary Coast (documentary short). York—d. April 26, 1984, Los Angeles, California) has appeared in 89 films, including 1959 Ben-Hur, 1957 Gun Glory, 1957 The HAROLD MCCORD (b. July 30, 1893, New York—d. November Wings of Eagles, 1954 Executive Suite, 1952 The Bad and the 3, 1957, Hollywood, California) edited 8 films, including 1928 Beautiful, 1942 Born to Sing, 1940 Dulcy, 1929 No Defense, Noah's Ark, 1928 , 1928 The Lion and the 1929 Stolen Kisses, 1928 The Terror, 1928 The Lion and the Mouse, 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1927 Old San Francisco, 1927 Mouse, 1928/II Sunny California , 1928 The Little Snob, 1927 If I When a Man Loves, 1926 Don Juan, and 1921 I Do . Were Single, 1927 A Reno Divorce, 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1927 Slightly Used, 1927 Irish Hearts, 1927 Matinee Ladies, 1926 The Fire Brigade, 1926 The Savage, 1926 The Road to Glory, 1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, 1925 Lady Windermere's Fan, 1925 Tessie, 1924 The Bedroom Window, 1923 Her Reputation, 1923 Grumpy, 1922 The Top of New York, 1922 Through a Glass Window, 1921 Morals, 1921 Everything for Sale, 1920 The Truth About Husbands, 1920 The Forbidden Valley, 1920 Man and His Woman, 1920 My Husband's Other Wife, 1919 Love Wins, 1919 The Way of a Woman, 1918 A Perfect Lady, and 1918 To Hell with the Kaiser!

WARNER OLAND (b. Johan Verner Öhlund, October 3, 1879, Nyby, Västerbottens län, Sweden—d. , 1938, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden) acted in 96 films, among them 1937 Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo, 1937 Charlie Chan on Broadway, 1937 Charlie Chan at the Olympics, 1936 Charlie Chan at the Opera, 1936 Charlie Chan at the Race Track, 1936 Charlie Chan at the Circus, 1936 Charlie Chan's Secret, 1935 Charlie Chan in Shanghai, 1935 Shanghai, 1935 Charlie Chan (b. Asa Yoelson, May 26, 1886, Srednik, Kovno in Egypt, 1935 Werewolf of London, 1935 Charlie Chan in Paris, Governorate, Russian Empire [now Seredzius, Lithuania]—d. 1934 The Painted Veil, 1934 Charlie Chan in London, 1934 October 23, 1950, San Francisco, California) has contributed to Strikes Back, 1934 Charlie Chan's Courage, 175 soundtracks, among them 2010-2011 Boardwalk Empire 1933 Charlie Chan's Greatest Case, 1932 Shanghai Express, (TV series), 2010 “Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of 1932 Charlie Chan's Chance, 1931 Charlie Chan Carries On, Hollywood” (TV mini-series documentary), 2009 Hollywood 1931 The Drums of Jeopardy, 1930 The Return of Dr. Fu Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Manchu, 1929 The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, 1928 The Scarlet Away the Great Depression (video documentary), 2008 Lady, 1928 Stand and Deliver, 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1927 What Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The Happened to Father?, 1927 Old San Francisco, 1926 Man of the : The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical (video Forest, 1926 Tell It to the Marines, 1926 Don Juan, 1925 Riders documentary), 2005 King Kong, 2004 The Aviator, 1995 Richard of the Purple Sage, 1924 One Night in Rome, 1921 Hurricane III, 1994 Bullets Over Broadway, 1990/I Jacob's Ladder, 1990 Hutch, 1920 The Phantom Foe, 1919 The Witness for the Avalon, 1986 “The Singing Detective” (TV mini-series), 1981 Defense, 1919 Mandarin's Gold, 1919 The Lightning Raider, Time Bandits, 1980 Falling in Love Again, 1977-1978 “All in the 1918 The Naulahka, 1918 Convict 993, 1916 The Rise of Susan, Family” (TV series), 1975 “Upstairs, Downstairs” (TV series), 1916 The Eternal Sappho, 1915 Destruction, 1915 The 1975 Brother Can You Spare a Dime (documentary), 1974 “The Unfaithful Wife, 1915 Sin, and 1912 Pilgrim's Progress. Waltons” (TV series), 1960 The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, 1952 The Story of , 1952 With a Song in My Heart, EUGENIE BESSERER (b. December 25, 1868, Watertown, New 1950 Chain Lightning, 1949 , 1949 The Great York—d. May 28, 1934, Los Angeles, California) appeared in Gatsby, 1947 Blondie's Anniversary, 1947 The Egg and I, 1946 209 films, including 1933 To the Last Man, 1932 6 Hours to , 1945 Rhapsody in Blue, 1939 Hollywood Live, 1932 Scarface, 1929 Mister Antonio, 1929 Illusion, 1929 Cavalcade, 1939 Rose of Washington Square, 1938 Swing Your Madame X, 1928 Yellow Lily, 1928 , 1927 The Lady, 1937 You're Only Young Once, 1936 After the Thin Man, Jazz Singer, 1927 Slightly Used, 1927 Captain Salvation, 1927 1935 Here Comes the Band, 1930 Mammy, 1929 Blackmail, When a Man Loves, 1926 , 1925 Friendly 1928 The Singing Fool, 1927 The Jazz Singer, and 1926 A Enemies, 1925 A Fool and His Money, 1923 Anna Christie, 1921 Plantation Act . He has acted in 15 films, including 1945 The Light in the Clearing, 1921 The Sin of Martha Queed, 1920 Rhapsody in Blue, 1939 Swanee River, 1939 Hollywood Seeds of Vengeance, 1919 , 1918 Little Orphant Cavalcade, 1939 Rose of Washington Square, 1936 The Singing Annie, 1918 The City of Purple Dreams, 1917 Beware of Kid, 1935 , 1934 , 1933 Strangers, 1916 The Garden of Allah, 1916/I Thou Shalt Not Hallelujah I'm a Bum, 1930 Big Boy, 1930 Show Girl in Covet, 1915 I'm Glad My Boy Grew Up to Be a Soldier, 1915 Hollywood, 1930 Mammy, 1929 , 1928 The The Circular Staircase, 1915 The Carpet from Bagdad, 1914 Singing Fool, 1927 The Jazz Singer, and 1923 Mammy's Boy. When the Night Call Came , 1914 The Game of Life , 1914 Elizabeth's Prayer, 1913 Destiny of the Sea , 1913 Sissybelle , Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—4

1913 The Fighting Lieutenant , 1913 Lieutenant Jones , 1913 In song (“”) to its soundtrack. the Days of Witchcraft , 1912 Sammy Orpheus; or, The Pied Piper of the Jungle , 1912 The Millionaire Vagabonds , 1912 His Wedding Eve , 1912 Monte Cristo , 1912 Sergeant Byrne of the Northwest Mounted Police , 1912 The Little Indian Martyr , 1912 The Captain of the 'Nancy Lee' , 1912 Me an' Bill , 1912 Bunkie , 1912 The Cowboy's Adopted Child , 1911 George Warrington's Escape , 1911 The Regeneration of Apache Kid , 1911 It Happened in the West , and 1910 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .

OTTO LEDERER (b. April 17, 1886, Prague, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]—d. September 3, 1965, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California) appeared in 125 films, among them 1933 Gun Law, 1933 Forgotten, 1932 , 1932 The Sign of the Cross, 1932 Two Lips and Juleps; or, Southern Love and Northern Exposure , 1927 Chicago, 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1927 The Trunk Mystery, 1927 The King of Kings, 1926 Sweet Rosie O'Grady, 1925 The Wizard of Oz, 1924 A Fighting Heart, 1924 Fight and Win, 1923 Souls in Bondage, 1923 Vanity Fair, 1921 Without Benefit of Clergy, 1921 , 1919 The Little Boss, 1919 The Enchanted Al Jolson From the Al Jolson website Barn, 1919 Man of Might, 1918 By the World Forgot, 1918 The http://www.musicals101.com/jolsonbio.htm#Beginnings: Woman in the Web, 1918 Cavanaugh of the Forest Rangers, 1917 Dead Shot Baker, 1917 The Fighting Trail, 1917 Captain of Asa Yoelson was born in Seredzius (a.k.a. Srednike), a Jewish the Gray Horse Troop, 1917 Aladdin from Broadway, 1916 Miss village ("schtetle") in the Lithuanian region of Imperial Russia. Adventure , 1916 Some Chicken , 1916 Sin's Penalty , 1915 The Although he would claim Mar. 26, 1886 as his birth date, no Ebony Casket , 1915 Willie Stayed Single , 1915 The Man from documentation exists to verify it – it may have been anytime the Desert , 1915 A Child of the North , 1915 The Chalice of from 1884 onwards. The openly anti-Semitic authorities were not Courage, 1915 The Black Wallet , 1915 The Girl at Nolan's , interested in recording the arrival of another Jew. Asa was the 1915 The Legend of the Lone Tree , 1914 Anne of the Golden fourth surviving child of cantor Moshe Yoelson and his wife Heart , 1914 Quantrell's Son , and 1914/II The Brute . Naomi, after daughters Rose and Etta, and their son Hirsh. The Yoelsons raised their family according to strict orthodox RICHARD TUCKER (b. June 4, 1884, Brooklyn, New York—d. tradition, and Moshe expected his sons would one day become December 5, 1942, Woodland Hills, California) acted in 290 cantors too. He trained both boys to sing, propping open their films, including 1940 Road to Singapore, 1939 The Great Victor mouths with matchsticks to encourage them to sing loud and Herbert, 1939 Girl from Rio, 1939 While America Sleeps , 1938 clear. Sons of the Legion, 1938 The Texans, 1937 Trapped by G-Men, Moshe Yoelson wanted to get his family away from the 1937 Headline Crasher, 1937 We Who Are About to Die, 1936 ongoing threat of Tsarist oppression. Soon after Moshe's studies Special Agent K-7, 1936/I Flash Gordon, 1935 Dante's , brought him the title of rabbi in 1890, he traveled to America, 1934 Take the Stand, 1934 The Back Page, 1934 The Countess of promising to send for his wife and children at the earliest Monte Cristo, 1933 The Women in His Life, 1932 Guilty as Hell, opportunity. The emotionally strong but physically ailing Naomi 1932 The Stoker, 1932 Symphony of Six Million, 1931 The held the family together, becoming the center of young Asa's Deceiver, 1931 Convicted, 1931 Graft, 1930 Madonna of the world. When Moshe became head of a Washington D.C. Streets, 1929 Daughters of Desire, 1928 The Border Patrol, 1928 congregation in 1894, Naomi and the children made the long The Grain of Dust, 1928 A Bit of Heaven, 1928 Beware of journey to join him there. Any hopes the Yoelsons had of Married Men, 1927 The Jazz Singer, 1927 Women's Wares, 1927 resuming a normal family life were dashed when Naomi died in Wings, 1926 Devil's Island, 1925 The Air Mail, 1925 The Man 1895. Eight year old Asa was in the next room, his world Without a Country, 1924 Beau Brummel, 1922 A Self-Made Man, shattered…. 1922 When the Devil Drives, 1922 Grand Larceny, 1917 The Asa and his brother Hirsh soon immersed themselves in Little Chevalier, 1915 Vanity Fair, 1914 The Midnight Ride of American culture, learning the ragtime songs performed on the Paul Revere , 1914 The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of , 1913 streets and in the saloons of Washington. Moshe did what he Caste , 1913 A Mutual Understanding , 1913 The Mystery of could to keep his sons in line. To restore some semblance of a West Sedgwick , 1913 The Pied Piper of Hamelin , 1913 The happy home, he married Cheysa Yoels (a.k.a. "Hessi"), an old Treasure of Captain Kidd , 1911 Mae's Suitors , and 1911 No neighbor from Seredzius who had genuine affection for the Cooking Allowed . children. But nothing could keep the Yoelson boys from embracing a new way of life. Hirsh changed his name to Harry, Cantor Joseff Rosenblatt (b. May 9, 1882, New York City, and Asa became Al. Both boys ran away from home several New York—d. June 19, 1933, Jerusalem, Palestine [now Israel]) times. At one point, Al spent several weeks at St. Mary's appeared in one film, 1927 The Jazz Singer, and contributed a Industrial School for orphaned boys in Baltimore. Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—5

The Yoelson brothers distant shot, Jolson appears as both became obsessed with himself dancing to "Swanee" – breaking into show business. Al even the Columbia bigwigs sang in a traveling circus agreed that no one else could (1899), then toured in burlesque capture his physical style. and vaudeville beginning in At sixty-one, Jolson was 1901. As part of an "illustrated back on top. The Jolson Story singing act," he performed introduced him to a new popular favorites while a series generation of fans and sent his of lantern slides were projected record sales soaring. Because he on a sheet. Al and Harry was entitled to a percentage of managed to get bookings with a the film and recording profits, crude ethnic comedy act called Jolson raked in a fortune. On "The Hebrew and the Cadet." radio, his presence now They also changed their last guaranteed high ratings. Several name to "Joelson," and then the guest appearances with Bing even less ethnic "Jolson." Crosby (who was a longtime fan Wheelchair-bound comic Joe of Jolson) remain classic Palmer recruited the Jolsons for a three-man vaudeville comedy examples of network radio at its best. In 1947, Jolson returned to act that showed promise, but Al's self-conscious performances hosting the Kraft Music Hall, a series he helped initiate back in were holding them back. 1933. After years of being dismissed as a "has been," this job In 1904, while playing an engagement at Keeney's was particularly satisfying. Theatre in Brooklyn, Al started performing in , Al's new stardom restored his zest for life. He and Erle supposedly at the suggestion of veteran blackface comedian adopted two infants, naming them Asa Jr. and Alicia. Jolson also James Francis Dooley. Working behind a burnt cork mask gave started to dye his hair and put away his glasses when friends Al a sense of freedom and spontaneity he had never known were on hand. His recordings of "Is It True What They Say before. The act became a surefire laugh-getter, and was soon About Dixie?" and "Baby Face" made the hit parade, and his booked on vaudeville's Orpheum circuit. version of the Israeli national anthem raised over $100,000 for Blackface was not considered racially offensive in the the United Jewish Appeal. early 1900s. White men smearing their faces black and imitating filmed a sequel to The Jolson Story. African Americans had been common on American stages since This time, Jolson's thinly veiled displeasure with the 1830s, and was just one form of the coarse, humor that all erupted into a sound stage tirade, and Jolson was barred from the racial and ethnic groups were subjected to at that time. We have set. Jolson Sings Again (1949) took as many liberties with Al's no reason to believe Al Jolson's use of blackface was motivated life as the first film had. Jolson's singing voice sounded by anything other than a desire to entertain. He was never known sensational in sixteen numbers – fewer than the first film but still to express racist attitudes, and often went out of his way to far more than the average musical. Jolson toured the country to befriend black performers who were subjected to segregation in promote the film and soak up the kind of audience acclaim he theatres, hotels and restaurants. I am not defending blackface, a had always relished. convention most people consider unthinkable today. However, I Offers poured in, and Jolson signed up for a new film am suggesting Jolson's use of blackface is best understood in the and a series television specials. But he put everything on hold to context of his era. He was not making a statement; he was hiding go entertain soldiers fighting in Korea. When the Defense behind a mask – a mask that gave him an extraordinary sense of Department said it had no budget for entertainers, Jolson paid all confidence while on stage. expenses himself. During seven days in September 1950, he gave 42 concerts, carrying on despite a cold that would have silenced … Columbia Pictures began work on a film version of anyone else. Jolson's life. Al recorded the songs, but was not allowed to play On his return to California, Jolson looked tired and himself – that honor went to the relatively unknown Larry Parks. admitted to reporters that the trip had been difficult. On October Parks lip-synched to Jolson's vocals and used many of his 23, 1950, he was in San Francisco preparing for another performing mannerisms, not so much imitating Jolson as creating appearance on 's radio show. While playing cards a characterization of his own. with friends in his hotel room, he complained of indigestion. The Jolson Story (1946) became a sensation, thanks in When two doctors arrived, Jolson was in bed. He joked with large part to Jolson's electrifying renditions of two dozen of his them and belittled his symptoms. Suddenly, he felt for his own hits. The score included one new number, the sentimental pulse, said, "Oh, I'm going," and went limp. The "World's "Anniversary Song" ("Oh, how we danced on the night we were Greatest Entertainer" was dead. wed . . ."), which became an immediate standard. The plot was a At Jolson's funeral days later, his friend (and sometime heavily revised version of Jolson's life story. Serving up schmaltz nemesis) gave a eulogy that remains a show with style, it added up to extraordinary entertainment. In just one business legend in its own right: Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—6

And not only has the entertainment world lost its king, but we cannot cry, "The king is dead, long live the king!" For there is no one to hold his scepter. Those of us who tarry behind are but pale imitators, mere princelings." . . . Jolson was synonymous with victory – at the race track, at the ball game, at anything that he participated in, he would say, "I had the winner, ha, ha, why didn't you ask me?" This was not in bravado alone: this was the quintessence of optimism. Whatever game you're in, whatever game you play, feel like you are the winner.

Blackface (Wikipedia) Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon". In 1848, blackface minstrel shows were an American national art of the time, translating formal art such as opera into popular terms for a general audience. Early in the , blackface branched off from the and became a form in its own right, until it ended in the with the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Blackface was an important performance tradition in the American theater for roughly 100 years beginning around 1830. It quickly became popular elsewhere, particularly so in Britain, where the tradition lasted longer than in the US, occurring on Alan Crosland (Wikipedia) primetime TV as late as 1978 (The Black and White Minstrel Born in New York City, New York to a well-to-do family, Alan Show) and 1981. In both the United States and Britain, blackface Crosland attended Dartmouth College. After graduation he took a was most commonly used in the minstrel performance tradition, job as a writer with the New York Globe magazine. Interested in but it predates that tradition, and it survived long past the heyday the theatre, he began acting on stage, appearing in several of the minstrel show. White blackface performers in the past productions with Shakespearian actress Annie Russell. used burnt cork and later greasepaint or shoe polish to blacken Crosland began his career in the motion picture industry their skin and exaggerate their lips, often wearing woolly wigs, in 1912 at in , New York, where he gloves, tailcoats, or ragged clothes to complete the worked at various jobs for two years until he had learned the transformation. Later, black artists also performed in blackface. business sufficiently well to begin directing short films. By 1917 Stereotypes embodied in the stock characters of he was directing feature-length films and in 1920 directed Olive blackface minstrels not only played a significant role in Thomas in The Flapper, one of her final films before her death in cementing and proliferating racist images, attitudes and September of that year. perceptions worldwide, but also in popularizing black culture. In In 1925, Crosland was working for Jesse L. Lasky's film some quarters, the caricatures that were the legacy of blackface production company Famous Players-Lasky (later Paramount persist to the present day and are a cause of ongoing controversy. Pictures) when he was hired by Warner Bros. to work at their Another view is that "blackface is a form of cross-dressing in Hollywood studios. He had directed several silent films for which one puts on the insignias of a sex, class, or race that stands Warner's including directing Don Juan starring John Barrymore in binary opposition to one's own." in 1926. It was the first feature-length film with synchronized By the mid-20th century, changing attitudes about race Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack, though it has and racism effectively ended the prominence of blackface no spoken dialogue. He was chosen to direct Al Jolson in 1927's makeup used in performance in the U.S. and elsewhere. It The Jazz Singer. The film would make him famous as the first of remains in relatively limited use as a theatrical device and is the new talkies that changed the course of motion pictures. more commonly used today as social commentary or satire. Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—7

Perhaps the most enduring effect of blackface is the precedent it The typical minstrel performance followed a three-act established in the introduction of African-American culture to an structure. The troupe first danced onto stage then exchanged international audience, albeit through a distorted lens. wisecracks and sang songs. The second part featured a variety of Blackface's groundbreaking appropriation, exploitation, and entertainments, including the pun-filled stump speech. The final assimilation of African-American culture—as well as the inter- act consisted of a slapstick musical plantation skit or a send-up of ethnic artistic collaborations that stemmed from it—were but a a popular play. Minstrel songs and sketches featured several prologue to the lucrative packaging, marketing, and stock characters, most popularly the slave and the dandy. These dissemination of African-American cultural expression and its were further divided into sub-archetypes such as the mammy, her myriad derivative forms in today's world popular culture. counterpart the old darky, the provocative mulatto wench, and the black soldier. Minstrels claimed that their songs and dances were authentically black, although the extent of the black influence remains debated. Spirituals (known as jubilees) entered MINSTRELCY (WIKIPEDIA) the repertoire in the 1870s, marking the first undeniably black music to be used in minstrelsy. The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American Blackface minstrelsy was the first distinctly American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, theatrical form. In the 1830s and 1840s, it was at the core of the and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially rise of an American music industry, and for several decades it after the Civil War, black people in blackface. provided the lens through which white America saw black Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, America. On the one hand, it had strong racist aspects; on the lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, happy-go-lucky, and musical. The other, it afforded white Americans a singular and broad minstrel show began with brief burlesques and comic entr'actes awareness of what some whites considered significant aspects of in the early 1830s and emerged as a full-fledged form in the next black-American culture to be. decade. In 1848, blackface minstrel shows were the national art Although the minstrel shows were extremely popular, of the time, translating formal art such as opera into popular being "consistently packed with families from all walks of life terms for a general audience. and every ethnic group", they were also controversial. Racial By the turn of the 20th century, the minstrel show integrationists decried them as falsely showing happy slaves enjoyed but a shadow of its former popularity, having been while at the same time making fun of them; segregationists replaced for the most part by vaudeville. It survived as thought such shows were "disrespectful" of social norms, professional entertainment until about 1910; amateur portrayed runaway slaves with sympathy and would undermine performances continued until the 1960s in high schools, and local the southerners' "peculiar institution". theaters. As the civil rights movement progressed and gained acceptance, minstrels lost popularity.

Crosland—THE JAZZ SINGER—8

COMING UP IN THE FALL 2013 BUFFALO FILM SEMINARS XXVII: September 3 It Happened One Night 1934 September 10 Jean Renoir The Grand Illusion 1937 September 17 Billy Wilder Double Indemnity 1944 September 24 Delmer Daves 3:10 to Yuma 1957 October 1 Kon Ichikawa Fires on the Plain 1959 October 8 Peter Bogdanovich The Last Picture Show 1971 October 15 Sidney Lumet Network 1976 October 22 Bruce Jackson & Diane Christian Death Row 1979 October 29 Jim Jarmusch Dead Man 1995 November 5 Pedro Almodóvar Talk to Her 2002 November 12 Charlie Kaufman Synecdoche, New York 2008 November 19 Wim Wenders Pina 2011 November 26 Baz Luhrmann The Great Gatsby 2013

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