The Jazz Singer : Alan Crosland

I sat with my Lenovo Chromo laptop to watch my favorite Alan Crosland's The Jazz Singer (1927 ), groundbreaking cinema that used lip-synchronized songs and dialogues;  but I was so much immersed with the narrative and acting that I almost forget to hear the first dialogue in the cinema history. I thought only song synchronization had been added, there might be no real dialogue in the Lights of New York (1928).

When Jackie/Jack was singing a song in cabaret and all of a sudden he uttered, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothing yet, do you wanna hear Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!)". I startled as if I are listening a human speaking first time in the movie. Following that I got the dialogue as one of the most symbolic dialogues in films. It's true we ain't hear anything like before. Alan Crosland, Warner Bros. and Vitaphone Crop. bid the goo' bye to silent era. I am grieving in remembrance of Crosland death only when he was just 41 years old. It's one of the biggest loss in cinema history.

Alfred A. Cohn's screen adaptation of Samson Raphaelson's play The Jazz Singer (1925) is just seminal and original in it's own cinematic creatively.

The representation of racism using blackface in entertainment industry in the golden era and the existential conflicts of religious traditions upholding the Jews identity in emerging Americanism are dealt evenly. The free will for deciding new way of life and being with the societal expectations and norms are shown in a balanced ways. The happiness and suffering of being a musical celebrity  in America is always a tough road to walk. I got a similar sense of Elvis (2022) with The Jazz Singer (1927).

I am getting a big fan of Alan Crosland (1894-1936) who lived a very short life and left the Sunset Boulevard. I am damn sure the night was tender and the ice was melting somewhere.

🎬The Jazz Singer (1927 )

Alan Crosland,

English, USA

🗣First Feature Film [ Sound with Dialogue] : The Jazz Singer (1927 )