‘The Jazz Singer’: How the world’s first ‘talkie’ could not be more Jewy

The Times of Israel's film podcast The Reel Schmooze, hosted by Jordan Hoffman and Amanda Borschel-Dan, explores the 1927 film 'The Jazz Singer,' the world's first feature-length talkie. The episode delves into its Jewish themes, the controversial blackface scenes, and a 1991 Simpsons parody episode 'Like Father, Like Clown,' examining the film's cultural impact and legacy.

The Times of Israel's film podcast The Reel Schmooze, hosted by film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan, devotes an episode to the 1927 film 'The Jazz Singer,' the world's first feature-length talkie. Hoffman explains that the story was written for star Al Jolson, who was born to a rabbinical family in Lithuania and moved to the US at age five. The plot unfolds on the eve of Yom Kippur and pits a fifth-generation cantor father against his entertainer son, bookended by the Kol Nidre service. The episode also addresses the film's controversial blackface scenes, noting that Jolson's trademark act was popular in that era, including among Black Americans. The program also covers a 1991 Simpsons parody episode, 'Like Father, Like Clown,' in which Krusty the Clown's past comes to light and Bart and Lisa learn rabbinic literature to help mend bridges with his rabbi father.