The Jazz Singer

Alan Crosland's The Jazz Singer (1927), named one of the 100 greatest American films by the American Film Institute, is significant as a 1920s cultural document for a number of reasons. A half-silent, half-"talkie" film (only the songs have sound), it represents a bridge between two eras of filmmaking. Since its plot surrounds vaudeville entertainment, it also shows Hollywood paying tribute to the entertainment medium it was replacing. More importantly, its representation of Jewish culture and its use of blackface minstrelsy collide near the film's end, highlighting issues of "Old World" tradition versus American self-making, the politics of racial "crossing," and the representation of ethnicity in American mass culture. It also gives us a chance to see one of the most popular performers of the early twentieth century, Al Jolson, in action.

HOST/Discussion leader: Dr. Scott Peeples, Department of English
DATE: Wednesday, January 29th
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: ECTR 118
ADMISSION: free and open to the public