#18: The Jazz Singer (1927)

I have to admit I was a little surprised by this film. This movie is famous for being the catalyst to the talkie revolution - the first feature film to ever use synchronized dialogue. I guess that depends on what your definition of dialogue is. I only observed synchronized singing with a tiny bit of dialogue in a couple scenes before or after Al Jolson sang. The rest of the film is title cards and orchestral music. The story was slightly interesting - a young Jewish cantor runs away to become a jazz singer. Okay? Supposedly it's autobiographical, based on Al Jolson's real-life experience as a performer singing in blackface. Oh, yeah. There's that. I'm going to give Jolson the benefit of the doubt. This movie was filmed in the mid-1920s. This is pre-civil rights America. The practice of blackface performance gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon". It's definitely offensive by today's standards, but this film takes place during an era before anyone cared about offending black people. Hell, this film was praised by black publications as well as "mainstream" publications. It is what it is.