The Jazz Singer (1927)

* * ½

A pioneering feature film which is the first of its length to feature perfectly synchronised sound and throughout the film you can see how there is a hierarchy between the sound performances and the more traditional silent film sequences.  The novelty of this technology is being promoted and this then creates a silent film with odd musical interludes. The film makers are clearly struggling to seamlessly incorporate sound with cinema (a problem which could have been solved by simply making the entire film sound).

The story is somewhat lacking as although it grapples with some quite poignant issues, about parental love and the importance of ones heritage, the message in this film is lost due to the constant need to show off the star of the film, Al Jolson. There is an unnecessary use of cliché characters, a devoted mother, oppressive father, rebellious son and transfixed love interest. The narrative is over simplified so that the focal point (of performances and sound) can be fully appreciated.  

A point in history that needs to be recognised for the momentous leap from silent to sound feature films, however it is not the best example of how this technology can be used. The Jazz Singer actually displays the naivety and confused manner in which the industry tackled sound originally. It seems that ‘the talkies’ were originally going to be ‘the singies’.