The Hollywood Musical - Part 1: "The Jazz Singer"

LW, I saw a fantastic show in Toronto, "Jolson," some years ago that was interactive. The guy that played Jolson sounded just like him. The Canadians knew almost every song, and they were able to sing their hearts out when they were encouraged to join in. That was one great show, and wondered why they never brought it into the US. It was my understanding that the cast was from London. c.i.

Sounds like a good time, ci. Since we've imported so much from Canada, could it be we all missed something?

One strange thing about The Jazz Singer is that Jolson doesn't actually sing any jazz songs. He sings Tin pan Alley tunes, quite another thing entirely...

Very true. His style was rather bluesy and there wasn't much to pick from in vocal jazz music at the time, at least that most of the public would recognize.

the year Jolson opened was also a landmark year for the American musical. It was Showboat, the single, most important musical in the history of musicals.

"When this Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics and libretto, based on Edna Ferber's novel) show premiered in 1927 it powerfully changed the course of musicals by being about something: the sweep of 40 years of American history, racial tensions and relations (including miscegenation), even spousal and parental abandonment. It also featured some of the most splendid songs ever written for the legitimate stage, both building on the operetta and music-hall past, and presaging plot-advancement and character-development numbers (which took another quantum leap in Oklahoma). "Make Believe," "Why Do I Love You?" and "Ol' Man River" became standards almost at first hearing, and the production was a hit in spite of the controversy surrounding it. Show Boat suffered only from the lack of sophisticated recording techniques to preserve the original performances, although Helen Morgan (who played the mulatto Julie) later recorded her signature song "Bill." Three movie versions and countless stage revivals kept Show Boat alive and popular--although bowdlerized--for almost 50 years without a definitive recording. (The 1971 production, with Cleo Laine as Julie, came closest.) But it's all here, in the 1994 Toronto recording whose cast transferred almost intact to Broadway. It's a glorious rendering from start to finish, with Rebecca Luker and Mark Jacoby as good as any Magnolia and Gaylord Ravenal we're ever likely to hear. And, I'm sorry Helen and Cleo, but Lonette McKee's "Bill" (with lyrics by P G. Wodehouse) is the most wrenching rendition I've ever heard". --Robert Windeler

We'll get to it, but James Whale's black-and-white version of "Showboat" is vastly superior to the later MGM glitzy Technicolor version. Howard Keel I can endorse but Kathryn Grayson's amplified, whispy soprano grates a bit. I liked her better in "Kiss Me Kate." I just saw the PBS taping of the revival of "Kiss Me Kate" and it was suberb -- the "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" number brought down the house.

As much as I love musicals, I must confess that I've never seen The Jazz Singer. I promise I'll have more to say on your future Hollywood Musical threads, LW!

Turner Classic Movies plays "The Jazz Singer" on their weekly silents series (check your local guide but it should be Sundays) about once a year but you can always rent the DVD or VHS. It's worth seeing once but isn't a film I'd feel I've wished to revisit more than once every ten or so years. I'm sure will find films you've seen as the topics go forward!

I guess I'm not that much of a critic. I enjoy all the musicals whether in movie form of live shows. When I visited London last month, I went to see three musicals, Bombay Dreams, Chicago, and We Will Rock You. c.i.

There were some 1950's musicals which were churned out by the studios that were mediocre fluff but Hollywood has done better by the musical throughout its history than it's given credit for. The older Betty Grable or Ester Williams films, for example, have to be a guilty pleasure and can't even come close to be compares to a film like "Chicago." This is why that film excelled to the degree it has, even against some good dramatic competition.

As to "The Jazz Singer," the content is a melo-drama with scarcely a few songs compared to what came after. "The Broadway Melody" is more of a precusor of things to come. That's the next film on the list so it appears this one will have had its course over the weekend. I think the next part will ccntain three films.