The Jazz Singer

The son of a stern New York cantor, Jakie Rabinowitz runs away from home to become Jack Robin, a jazz singer chasing lights, syncopation, and the stage. Alan Crosland’s 1927 Warner Bros. landmark — the first feature-length film with synchronized spoken dialogue — follows his rise from vaudeville to Broadway while his broken-hearted father waits for him to return to the synagogue. Al Jolson, already a sensation, bursts through the silent era with songs, ad-libs, and the immortal line “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet,” performing several numbers in blackface as the story builds to a choice between opening night and singing Kol Nidre on the Day of Atonement. Part silent picture, part talkie, and all show-business melodrama, The Jazz Singer is the movie that made the movies speak.