The Jazz Singer (1980) Associated Film Distribution/Drama RT: 116 minutes Rated PG (language, a scene of sexuality, mature themes) Director: Richard Fleischer Screenplay: Herbert Baker Music: Leonard Rosenman Cinematography: Isidore Mankofsky Release date: December 19, 1980 (US) Cast: Neil Diamond, Laurence Olivier, Lucie Arnaz, Catlin Adams, Franklyn Ajaye, Paul Nicholas, Sully Boyar, Mike Kellin, James Booth, Luther Waters, Oren Waters, Rod Gist. Box Office: $27.1 million (US)
Rating: ****
I don’t care how many bad reviews The Jazz Singer got. I don’t care how many people tell me I’m wrong. I love this movie! I’m a big Neil Diamond fan and he gets to sing a lot in this movie. Who cares if he can’t act?
I went to see The Jazz Singer with my father one Sunday afternoon (February 8, 1981) at the City Line Theater. I really didn’t know what to expect. The movie received unanimous negative reviews and I wasn’t yet a fan of Neil. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the movie. I also learned a few things about Jewish culture.
It’s the second remake of the 1927 film starring Al Jolson, an unexceptional drama famous for being the first motion picture with sound (the first “talkie”). The second version came out in 1952 and starred Danny Thomas. I didn’t see it. The 1980 version stars Diamond as Jess Robin (birth name, Yussel Rabinovitch), a young cantor who writes and performs popular music on the side. He lives with his father Cantor Rabinovitch (Olivier, Marathon Man) and wife Rivka (Adams, The Jerk) in a Brooklyn apartment.
Seemingly resigned to a life of religious devotion, Jess longs for something more out of life. He gets his big break when his best friend Bubba (Ajaye, The Wrong Guys) informs him that superstar Keith Lennox (Nicholas, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) wants to record one of his songs. The only thing is that Jess would have to go to Los Angeles to oversee the recording session. Although his family is against it, he goes to L.A. to try and break into show business.
He’s met at the airport by music agent Molly Bell (Arnaz, Down to You) who takes him to the studio where Lennox wants to perform “Love on the Rocks” as a hard rock number instead of a ballad. Needless to say, things don’t work out and Jess gets fired along with Bubba and the other back-up singers (“The Four Brothers”). Molly also gets fired, but she manages to secure Jess a gig as the opening act for comedian Zany Gray. It’s a successful performance and the audience gives him a standing ovation.
Rivka shows up in time to catch some of the performance. She’s come to bring her husband back home at the behest of his demanding father. She confronts Molly about her relationship with Jess before telling her husband that he must choose between their marriage and a career in show business. He stays in L.A. and his career starts to take off. Jess and Molly begin to develop romantic feelings for each other and they move in together. Cantor Rabinovitch makes a surprise visit in order to convince his son to move back to New York, but when he discovers that Jess lives with another woman, he disowns him by tearing a piece of his clothing and saying “I hef no son!”. Troubled by his shattered relationship with his father, Jess takes off and hits the road for almost a year. He comes home after learning that Molly gave birth to his son (he didn’t even know she was pregnant!).
After Molly manages to get Jess a comeback gig opening for Zany Gray (again!), he learns that his father is too ill to sing the Kol Nidre on Yom Kippur. For five generations, a Rabinovitch has always sung the Kol Nidre at the synagogue on Yom Kippur. Given that it’s a time for atonement, it would be the perfect opportunity for Jess to reconnect with his father.
While I’m certain that can guess how this will play out, I’m not going to come out and say it. I don’t want to spoil the entire picture. The Jazz Singer is completely predictable, but that doesn’t really matter, it’s such an excellent movie you won’t even notice.
Even though I award this movie a four-star rating, I have to point out a very gaping flaw. It’s about the casting of Diamond. At almost 40 years old, he’s too old to be having these sorts of problems. The strained relationship with his father, the dissatisfaction with his life, his personal struggle for a sense of self-identity- aren’t these the problems of a young man in his late teens or early 20s?
I’m willing to overlook this as well as Diamond’s dubious acting talent. The Jazz Singer is his only acting credit to date. I don’t count the 2001 comedy Saving Silverman because he appears as himself in that movie. He’s an awesome singer though and gets to do plenty of that here, thank God! The movie has three hit singles- “Love on the Rocks”, “America” and “Hello Again”- to its credit as well as an incredible soundtrack. The concert sequences are especially well done. It’s fun to watch the audience react to him as he performs. It’s an infectious feeling that permeates the entire audience.
Olivier delivers another fantastic performance as Cantor Rabinovitch even if his accent borders on parody. He makes the father-son drama in The Jazz Singer quite touching. You can see heartbreak written all over his face when he discovers that Jess will not be following the family tradition of devoting his life to the synagogue. He points out that Jess’ incredible singing voice is to be used for God’s purposes, not his own. But when he stands in front of an audience, it’s like he’s found his true purpose in life.
It’s his love for singing to an audience that gets him into trouble near the beginning of the film. Director Richard Fleischer (Mr. Majestyk, Conan the Destroyer, Red Sonja) recreates the infamous blackface scene in his version of The Jazz Singer. That wouldn’t fly today in 2024, but audiences were less uptight in 1980. ANYWAY, Jess has to stand in for a member of the Four Brothers at an all-black nightclub. Because the patrons wouldn’t be very receptive of a white singer, he performs in blackface and wears a fake Afro. No, that’s not too racist! He forgets to do his hands and a patron notices this when Jess claps in the air at the end of the song (“You Baby”). The patron (Ernie Hudson in an early film appearance) incites a riot by yelling “No! No everybody! That ain’t no brother! That’s a white boy!” It’s both hilarious and offensive (yes, even in the pre-PC days of 1980!).
Lucie Arnaz also turns in a strong and energetic performance as Molly Bell. I’ve often wondered why she didn’t have more of a film career. In one hysterically funny scene, she serves Jess a ham dinner and it takes a minute before she realizes what’s wrong with this scenario. I didn’t know either. I had to ask Dad why everybody in the theater (located in a predominantly Jewish area of West Philly) was laughing.
I really love The Jazz Singer. It’s a very moving drama about a father and son trying to connect. Jess wants his father to understand him and grant his approval for what he wants to do with his life. It’s a sweet and funny love story too although the filmmakers downplay the religious differences between Jess and Molly. Yes, she’s a shiksa! That’s a non-Jewish girl for all you gentiles out there. The only time it’s even referenced is when she asks him whether “schmuck” is a Jewish word; she wants something to yell at the plane if he decides to return to New York.
For me, The Jazz Singer is about one thing …… the music! The music! THE MUSIC! The movie ends with Diamond performing the rousing “America”. When he finishes the song, he raises him arm in triumph and the scene shifts to a freeze frame of this image. It’s a powerful moment. I don’t care if the script is full of clichés, Fleischer sticks close to the formula and it works. It has a high repeat watchability quotient. I thoroughly enjoy it every time I watch it. Forget about all the negative reviews, it’s really a terrific movie! You’ll like it even better if you’re a Neil Diamond fan.
