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Two clips related to The Jazz Singer

This morning in lecture I promised I’d post these: Info here. And, from Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (1997), the montage he has suggested should be shown at the Academy Awards (alongside the montage of dead industry folks): As I mentioned at the end of lecture,...

Jakie Sings Kol Nidre

Normally when I lecture on The Jazz Singer, I spend some time near the end talking about the film’s final two vocal performances, especially Jack/Jakie’s decision to return to the synagogue to sing Kol Nidre in his dying father’s place. (The final...

Al Jolson’s Own Story

I mentioned in lecture this morning that the recent DVD repackaging of The Jazz Singer — which I highly recommend — comes with a copy of the original souvenir book sold in theaters for a quarter, a sort of playbill for the movie. The studio really pushes...