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Rating: *** Genre: The Original Talkie Review #: 10 MPAA: NR (should be G) Cast: Directed by...Alan Crosland (I) Writen by...Alfred A. Cohn Written by...Jack Jarmuth (titles) Written by...Samson Raphaelson (play) Al Jolson...Jakie Rabinowitz (Jack Robin) May McAvoy...Mary Dale Warner Oland...The Cantor Eugenie Besserer...Sara Rabinowitz Otto Lederer...Moisha Yudelson Bobby Gordon (I)...Jakie Rabinowitz (age 13) Richard Tucker (I)...Harry Lee Cantor Joseff Rosenblatt...Concert Recital (Himself) |
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Review:
This movie is a part of history. It's the first movie in which people actually *gasp* talked! Despite this fact, it's a silent film. The talking scenes are few and far between, and tend to be only when Al Jolson is singing. In this movie, a young jewish man leaves home to become a jazz singer, even though his father wants hime to become a Rabbi. When he does this, his father disownes him. Sound familiar? Well, this movie is such a part of american culture that even the Simpsons have done and episode based on it, but this is the original. Oddly enough, when you watch this movie, you're watching a silent movie, and when it gets to one of the talking parts, you actually feel surprised, and a strange sense of wonder. It gives you an feeling of what it was like to see this back in the 20s, when there were no talkies. |
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| NON-PC alert! It's fun to watch an 80 year old movie, because the main character can dress up like a black man while performing. You know that they could never do that now. Remember what happened to Ted Danson? 'Nuff Said. Even though you know the movie's plot, and know the ending, you really start to wonder about what Jack will do. He is torn between the old world values of his father and his race, and the new world values of fame and fortune. I wonder if a talkie could have portrayed the difficulty of the decision as well as this silent movie does. Al Jolsons's face is worth a thousand words in these scenes. FYI, There are only about 200 words in this movie, and most of them are sung. So, if you like Silent movies, get this one, because, despite the spoken words, this is a silent movie. |
| This movie was even voted one of the Top 100 American movies of all time by the AFI (American Film Institute) I don't know if I fully agree with that. Although I really liked this movie, I felt that it was quite average and a bit pedestrian. Of couse, to me, a pedestrian silent film tends to equal out to an above average talkie. Maybe I just love all the plot that is packed in to such a small number of words, and that they don't insult my intelligence like so many newer movies (*cough*Romeo+Juliet*cough*), and I appreciate the incredible difficulty of these actors slaving under hot lamps and pounds of makeup while miming their way through complex plots dependant entirely on their body language and facial expressions. The real reason why the AFI voted it into the top 100 was because it was a historical landmark: The first talkie. If this movie were never made, the first talkie would've premiered a few weeks later, and history wouldn't've been hurt any. Still, it deserves to be remembered, and seen! |
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