"Aldous Huxley, the famous author and clearly not a Jolson fan said of The Jazz Singer, "The film concludes with a scene in the theatre with Mammy mine in the stalls and the son warbling down at her the most penetratingly vulgar mammy song that it has ever been my lot to hear - my flesh crept as the loudspeaker poured out his sodden words, that greasy sagging melody. I felt ashamed of myself for listening to such a thing, for even being a member of the species to which such things are addressed."
Yowza, Yowza, Yowza. This is Brian Marcus Decker, for the Jolson and Friends Blog located on the web at www.JolsonBlog.com, which is the first tech-nostalgic blog dedicated to the musical influences of Al Jolson and Friends.
Well folks, it's now time to start anew with another insightful journey down memory lane. Today I am fortunate enough to be in the home of Ron Hutchinson, one of the co-founders of the Vitaphone Project. Due to their extensive efforts working with private collectors, university film archives, the Library of Congress, Warner Bros. and Turner Entertainment they have successfully preserved hundreds of early Vitaphone and Vitaphone Variety film performances. Included in this illustrious Vitaphone catalog include performances by the legendary Al Jolson, Burns & Allen, Baby Rose Marie, Ruth Etting, Weber & Fields, The Seven Little Foys, Georgie Price, George Jessel, Joe E. Brown, Sissle & Blake, Jack Benny, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, William Demarest, Joe Frisco, Jack Norworth, Molly Picon, Rudy Vallee and many, many more.
We will also have an opportunity to discuss with Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project the overall involvement with the recent Commemorative 80th Anniversary Edition of the legendary film, The Jazz Singer: This three-disc deluxe DVD EDITION is nothing short of fantastic. For Jolson fans and anyone interested in early 20th century performing arts, music, film and nostalgia, this is a must buy. This incredible three-disc collection includes more than several hours of digital transferred and immaculately refurbished soundtracks from the original Vitaphone Sound on Disc recordings. This special collection also includes behind the scene Jazz Singer photo cards, souvenir programs that include reviews, news articles, a Vitaphone brochure, replicas of postcards that even Al Jolson sent to Jack Warner following the death of his brother and more.
Perfect Mothers or Fathers Day Gift: 80th Anniversary DVD Edition of THE JAZZ SINGER
Click here to shop for this three-disc DVD from Amazon
Free Jolson and Friends Podcasts
You can listen to the entire series of interviews including my current eight-part interview with Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project, Rich Conaty of the Big Broadcast radio show, Asa the Magnificent Minstrel, the Vaudeville series with author Trav S.D. and our favorite child actress, Sybil Jason.
To listen to the free Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast published audio files,
just click on the listen to podcast icon on the top of this post.
International Al Jolson Society 2008 Jolson Festival in Orlando
Thursday, May 22, 2008 through Sunday, May 25, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Select
This exciting annual Jolson event will take place on Friday, May 22nd through Sunday, May 25th in Orlando, Florida. Featured performers include Richard Halpern (Mr. Tin Pan Alley), Tony Babino (The heart of Jolson), William Campbell (Scotland's Own Jolson) and a special tribute to the late Rudy Wissler (The voice of the young Asa in The Jolson Story).
The admission price for this complete weekend package is $175 per person, including dinners and shows, access to the memorabilia rooms, showings of Jolson films, Jolson material for sale, auction, and raffle, and the chance to mingle with others who are helping perpetuate and proclaim the fame of the World's Greatest Entertainer: Al Jolson.
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For more information on this great event, go to www.Jolson.org .
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Sherlock Improbable Limited Edition T-shirt: Vintage Sherlock, black and white illustrated profile, on t-shirt with famous quote, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
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Here's the Deal: Mothers and Fathers Day Specials: Save up to 25%
White or Natural T-Shirt: $15.00 with FREE U.S Shipping (25% off regular price of $20.00)
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Pack of 5 gift cards: with envelopes is $8.50 with FREE U.S Shipping (15% off regular price of $10.00)
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For additional information, special orders, discounted shipping outside the U.S., payments through Pay Pal, please contact: brian@... .
To order please specify style (Jolson, Cantor, Moon, Jolie, Houdini King of Cards, World's Greatest Mystery Man, History of Old Time Baseball, Amusing Boardwalk, Sherlock Double Profile, Sherlock Improbable, Sudoku), quantity, size, t-shirt color (white/natural or black), type (t-shirts or gift cards) and your shipping address. Please send checks to:
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Jolson Blog: Breaking the Sound Barrier, Vitaphone Interview with Ron Hutchinson Part II
"Contrary to many of the myths, it was not a huge hit initially. It got some scathing reviews. But, a lot of that didn't matter, because it was like it didn't matter what the critics said. It mattered what the audiences and what the public said and felt. So, what happened was, this thing built. As theaters were wired across the country, the first film usually that the theater played was The Jazz Singer. And people who had seen it silent wanted to come back and see the sound version. So, this thing was in release really for almost two years, kind of building on itself. "
Brian Marcus Decker: There were many critics in 1927 who were not impressed (at all) with The Jazz Singer. For example, Aldous Huxley, the famous author and clearly not a Jolson fan said of The Jazz Singer, "The film concludes with a scene in the theatre with Mammy mine in the stalls and the son warbling down at her the most penetratingly vulgar mammy song that it has ever been my lot to hear - my flesh crept as the loudspeaker poured out his sodden words, that greasy sagging melody. I felt ashamed of myself for listening to such a thing, for even being a member of the species to which such things are addressed."
It is also interesting to note another director who worked and successfully sued Jolson on a film, which was never released, was also a strong advocate against talking pictures. This is of course, D.W. Griffith who said, "We don't want and never shall the human voice in our movies".
I find these quotes very polarizing and disturbing, but at the same time fascinating. I find it hard to separate Jolson from the sound portion of the overall experience. Can you provide us with any context for this type of negative sentiment for The Jazz Singer and other early Vitaphone sound films?
Ron Hutchinson: Well, first of all, and one of the things, Brian, that people forget is, most people who first saw The Jazz Singer, saw it as a completely silent film. Now, why was that? Well, when it came out in October of 1927, do you know how many theaters could show it in sound? Two. So, you think of the United States and then I think in 1927, there were still only 200 or 300 theaters in the entire country, mainly on the east and west coasts. So, first of all, people forget that most people the first time; because this was one of these films that came back over and over again, saw it as a silent.
Contrary to many of the myths, it was not a huge hit initially. It got some scathing reviews. But, a lot of that didn't matter, because it was like it didn't matter what the critics said. It mattered what the audiences and what the public said and felt. So, what happened was, this thing built. As theaters were wired across the country, the first film usually that the theater played was The Jazz Singer. And people who had seen it silent wanted to come back and see the sound version. So, this thing was in release really for almost two years, kind of building on itself.
And the reviews didn't matter. People knew what they were getting. They expected it. His records always sold well, from The Jazz Singer. People forget that. It was the first film, because it was one of the first sound films where commercial 78's for the home, the home recordings, had some of the songs from the feature. So, there was already this cross-marketing.
So, yeah, if you look back, this was not like every review was, this is awesome. The times have changed. People generally said that the sound quality was the best they had ever heard. It was very realistic. But, they certainly would criticize Jolson's acting skills. And I think The Herald Tribune said something about how it was maudlin, dripping in maudlin sentiment or something like that. Didn't matter, didn't matter. The public had spoken, when they saw this film.
Brian Marcus Decker: It also seems there were many film luminaries who continued to make silent movies based on their belief that talkies might be, in fact, a short lived fad. For example, I consider Modern Times to be absolutely a perfect film and certainly one of Charlie Chaplin's best. While the film has a recorded musical score, composed by Chaplin, there is only one instance of dialogue in which a salesman puts on a recorded disk for his spoken dialog. This seemed to really poke fun at the film industry, especially since Chaplin himself was a managing partner at United Artists. But, what I find so amazing is that the film was released in the United States on February 5, 1936 (approximately nine years after the release of The Jazz Singer).
Are there other examples of important silent movies being released after The Jazz Singer in 1927?
Ron Hutchinson: Well, The Jazz Singer, of course, was made during the late spring and summer of 1927 and released October 6th, as we know, and the effects of The Jazz Singer started to be felt for the following, let's say, six or eight months. So, it debuts in October. What happened was, keep in mind, all the other studios, nobody else other than Warner Bros. is making any sound films. Fox is starting to do their newsreel, but really wasn't getting into any talking shorts or features and so on. So, the rest of the industry is still silent in January of 1928.
January 1928, all the other producers, Universal, Paramount, not Fox, but all the other ones, got together and they had a screening of The Jazz Singer. And Sam Goldwyn was there and his daughter relates that when the lights went up after, there was dead silence and extreme panic. And they basically knew that they were looking at wiring studios, wiring theaters, changing their entire industry completely. So, they all bonded together, hating the Warner brothers for doing this, resenting their success and said, "We're not going to go into talking pictures individually unless all of us go in together." And they had an agreement, where for the next year they would make nothing but silent pictures and if they all agreed, they'd decide on a system, not to be Vitaphone, in other words to get back at the Warner brothers, and then they would go in.
So, in fact, during 1928, the first half, it was business as usual, making silent pictures with all of the top stars of the period. Only Warner Bros. and then First National, which they bought, were making any films with either music and sound effects synchronized or occasional talking sequences. However, by the end of 1929, every film from every studio is sound. So, obviously, in that very short window, you can see that they kind of saw that there was no turning back. They had to do it. They went on the sound-on-film system, what was known as Movietone, that we still use today.
There were really only a few stars that held out. Chaplin owned his studio, owned his films, basically could take all the time he wanted. But, nobody else really held out after 1929. I think Lon Chaney and Greta Garbo were the last two American stars to make talking films in 1930, The Unholy Three, and he died, ironically, of throat cancer in August of 1930. So, he only made one talking picture, and then Anna Christie with Greta Garbo. But, all the others, by late '29 or '30, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton in the early 30's and so on, all were making talking pictures. So, you weren't going to be in the film business if you weren't making talkies by 1930.
Jolson Blog: Vitaphone Project Interview Part III: May 25, 2008
- Prior to the release of The Jazz Singer, it was rumored that Warner Bros. was having severe financial difficulty and was potentially even facing bankruptcy. How risky was that Warner Bros.' investment in Vitaphone and is that story even true?
- Can you give us a context of exactly how financially successful The Jazz Singer was?
- In 1926 Charles Divine from the Evening Telegraph called "Vitaphone-the miracle of sound." Another contemporary journalist at the time referred to Vitaphone as "the eighth wonder of the world". Do you consider the technology behind Vitaphone revolutionary or evolutionary?
- What factors drove that mass adoption of sound-on-disc technology and that evolution to sound-on-film?
- What role did George Groves play with Vitaphone and what were some of his award winning achievements and contributions to the overall film industry?
Wait a Minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Looking for great Mothers and Fathers Day Gifts: Jolson and Friends Blog Required Viewing and Reading List
80th Anniversary DVD Edition of THE JAZZ SINGER
This three-disc deluxe DVD EDITION is nothing short of fantastic. For Jolson fans and anyone interested in early 20th century performing arts, music, film and nostalgia, this is a must buy. This incredible three-disc collection includes more than several hours of digital transferred and immaculately refurbished soundtracks from the original Vitaphone Sound on Disc recordings. This special collection also includes behind the scene Jazz Singer photo cards, souvenir programs that include reviews, news articles, a Vitaphone brochure, replicas of postcards and more.
Click here to shop for this three-disc DVD from Amazon
No Applause--Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous (Paperback) by Trav S.D.
Click here to shop and buy this book from Amazon
My Fifteen Minutes: An Autobiography of a Child Star of the Golden Era of Hollywood (Paperback) by Sybil Jason
Click here to shop and buy this book from Amazon
When Jolson Was King: (Paperback) by Richard Grudens
Richard Grudens has written an entertaining and informative (must read) book for anyone interested in the legendary, Al Jolson "The World's Greatest Entertainer".
"The book contains many facets of Jolson' career including those around him, his competition, employers, and comments from those he inspired enough to form their own careers, the issue of minstrel, blackface performers, fabled stories of the famed Friar's Club, a chapter of the infamous Shubert Brothers, and chapters covering Jolson's experiences in film, radio and his extensive USO travels. Covered too are vignettes of the theatres in which Jolson performed, and of those great theatrical competitors like the Barrymore's and where they were voicing their talents while Jolson was pulling them in at the Winter Garden, and a full feature on Jolson's films from the first talkie, The Jazz Singer to his famed bio-pics The Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again." - Richard Grudens
Click here to shop and buy this book from Amazon
Changes to Jolson and Friends Blog
In the upcoming months I am looking to continue to evolve the Jolson and Friends Blog and wanted preview some upcoming changes. I am continuing to promote the sale of Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Houdini, History of Baseball and several other unique Limited Edition T-shirt designs (featured above) and matching gift cards (all with free U.S. shipping). The sales from these items help offset the cost of maintaining this blog. Your continued support is greatly appreciated and besides they are great T-shirts.
Due to the time intensive nature of ongoing research, content development, production and maintaining and the Blog, the next blog update will happen on May 25th. I am starting to work on several future Jolson and Friends projects including:
- Jolson and Friends Recommended Reading and Viewer Lists including cost-saving shopping links to find unique books, videos and more.
- Expanded global coverage of local events.
- Future podcasts of upcoming interviews and special performance-based content.
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