Analysis Of The Jazz Singer

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This scene from The Jazz Singer (1927) starts with Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) talking to the audience in the nightclub he is preforming in that night. To get them excited, he tells them “you ain’t heard nothin’!”and he then begins to animatedly sing and dance around the stage. The camera cuts back and forth between the audience and Jackie as he preforms. The audience claps along as he sings and at the end of the song it cuts to a long shot of the crowd. They clap as Jackie stands on the stage looking down appreciatively at them. This scene is important to note because it contains the elements of a musical and, importantly, it is where the musical genre began.
This film was revolutionary for many reasons, but the most important reason to mention is a statement that film historian Edwin M. Bradley wrote in his book about Hollywood musicals. He states that The Jazz …show more content…

This film follows the story of an English schoolteacher, Anna, portrayed by Deborah Kerr, as she accepts a job as the private teacher to the King of Siam’s, portrayed by Yul Brynner, children. In the beginning, Anna does not like the King or how he leads his life but she soon comes to love his children. Over the course of the film it is clear that the King and Anna are developing feelings for each other but their love is never given the chance to be explored because the King dies at the end of the story. The 1956 was based on the 1951 Broadway musical, the story has some basis in history; however as scholar Anne Fliotosos explains, “the Rogers and Hammerstein classic is so removed from historical accuracy” The Broadway musical did win many awards, so it was a safe bet monetarily for Hollywood to transform it into a film. There are many musical numbers during the film but one in particular stands out as an example of the musical

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