The Jazz Singer DVD Review

The Jazz Singer is one of the few films in which the actual content of it is entirely insignificant. What makes it a film of unbalanced importance is the way in which is was made, rather than the content of the narrative, because The Jazz Singer was the first sound film ever made. Although it was a gradual shift to sound, and many of the scenes still adopt the usual title cards in order to tell the story, but the musical numbers employ the first scenes of sound, making this the first musical as well as the first “talkie”. The new Vitaphone technology made this mostly silent film the first step towards complete sound, and this set is dedicated to bringing more than just the movie to consumers. There are nearly four hours of extremely rare short films from this time period included in the last disc of the three-disc set, all of which are made with the Vitaphone.

Watching these scenes is still a thrill, not only because Al Jolson is an immensely entertaining performer, but because of how much of his personality immediately jumps from the screen with the inclusion of sound as opposed to his silent scenes. I can imagine what it must have been like to see these sequences for the first time and it makes any advances in film recently seem miniscule and insignificant in the grand picture. It is a film worthy of every ounce of attention given to bringing this wonderful box set together. There is an obvious collection of archive material that has been compiled and duplicated just for this box set, making it a complete piece of film history for anyone to take home.

Other than the historical importance of the film and these breathtaking sequences, The Jazz Singer is a very straight-forward and ordinary film. It is the classic tale of the underdog, reaching for your dreams, heartwarming and inspirational. A young Jewish boy has no longing to be a Cantor as his father wants for him. Instead Jakie Rabinowitz changes his name to Jack Robin and sets out to become an entertainer at his father’s disgust. He leaves his mother weeping for her lost boy, and after years he still hasn’t made it big in show business even though he has turned his back on his past. It takes a chance encounter for Robin to get his big break, but eventually he must face his true identity and come to terms with his past.

The first disc contains the film which has been restored to near immaculate quality, and the film can also be watched with a commentary track by Ron Hutchinson, the founder of the Vitaphone Project, and band leader Vince Giordano. There are also four vintage shorts with Jolson as well as a radio show adaptation of the film featuring Jolson as well. The trailer gallery is also focused on Jolson more than anything else, giving him the first disc whereas the second is reserved for a new feature-length documentary about the film and advent of sound. The third disc contains a plethora of shorts from the Warner Bros. vaults, all made between 1926 and 1936.

Along with three discs of special features for the DVD player, there are also numerous special features included in the box set. There are ten behind-the-scenes photo cards, mostly of Jolson and others on set. There are also duplications of several vintage documents for the film. There is a vintage Vitaphone program, which explains the product that made this and several other sound films possible at this time. Also included is a duplication of the theater herald and a telegraph Al Jolson sent Jack Warner on the night of the premiere, but the most impressive is the 20-page souvenir program reprinted exactly despite the underlying racism in the literature. This program has a written story for Jack Robin as well as a biography of the actor who plays him. There are several great nuggets to find in this old document.