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The Jazz Singer

1927 · US

Directed by Alan Crosland

Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet, Jolson says, to the audience in the film and the one outside it. A cantor's son becomes a jazz singer, and the film is silent with a Vitaphone score until he sings, and then talks. The Kol Nidre scene is the one to watch, and the blackface finale is the fact you do not get to skip. The talkies start with this picture whether or not they should have. Alan Crosland for Warner Bros., 1927.

Music · Drama

Watch now

Watch The Jazz Singer

1927 · Source: Wikimedia Commons

Public domain presentation

Public Domain Source

Wikimedia Commons · FM-54; File:The Jazz Singer (1927).webm; 1440x1080

Video: Alfred A. Cohn (1880–1951), Alan Crosland (1894–1936), Samson Raphaelson (1894–1983), Louis Silvers (1889–1954) · Credit: The Jazz Singer ( Blu-ray ) Warner Home Video · Public domain · Source: File page

Cast & Crew

Alan Crosland · DirectorAl Jolson · Jakie RabinowitzMay McAvoy · Mary Dale

Available Subtitles

No subtitle tracks are currently listed.

Other sources: DonaldPBorchersOG

From the Reading Room

Article
The Jazz Singer By Ron Hutchinson — Library of Congress

Library of Congress essay on the first feature-length talkie.

Where to Watch

Streaming data by JustWatch

Cast

Principal players
A

Al Jolson

Jakie Rabinowitz

May McAvoy

May McAvoy

Mary Dale

W

Warner Oland

Cantor Rabinowitz

E

Eugenie Besserer

Sara Rabinowitz

Otto Lederer

Otto Lederer

Moisha Yudelson

Robert Gordon

Robert Gordon

Young Jakie Rabinowitz

R

Richard Tucker

Harry Lee

Y

Yossele Rosenblatt

Cantor Rosenblatt

William Demarest

William Demarest

Buster Billings (uncredited)

J

John Miljan

Host (uncredited)

Roscoe Karns

Roscoe Karns

Agent (uncredited)

A

Anders Randolf

Dillings (uncredited)

Walter Rodgers

Walter Rodgers

Make-Up Man (uncredited)

Will Walling

Will Walling

Doctor (uncredited)

Ena Gregory

Ena Gregory

(uncredited)

Crew

Alfred A. Cohn

writer

Louis Silvers

composer

Hal Mohr

cinematographer

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