The Museum of Modern Art/Film Stills Archive
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The 1927 Warner Bros. movie is based on a short story, subsequently dramatized on Broadway, by Samson Raphaelson, which was itself inspired by the life of the film's star, Al Jolson (1886-1950). Like Raphaelson's protagonist, Jack Robin (né Jakie Rabinowitz), Jolson was the son of an immigrant cantor who ran away from home to become an extraordinarily popular, quintessentially American entertainer.
A story of appropriation, loss, nostalgia, obligation, and betrayal, The Jazz Singer spoke directly to a generation of immigrants' children looking to find their place in a new world. But it has also proved remarkably resilient. The Jazz Singer was remade twice, transposed to radio and television, and alluded to in numerous other works. In this way, the story — inspired by Jolson, yet also predating, as well as outliving, him — became the stuff of myth. The film had its world premiere — a day before Yom Kippur — at the Warners' Theatre in New York, running there for twenty-three weeks.
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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
