Synopsis
Al Jolson, in blackface, sings three songs before a plantation backdrop in a 1926 Vitaphone sound-on-disc short, a year before The Jazz Singer.
Synopsis, reviewed
Details
- Running time
- 9 minutes
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★★★ · Historic restoration · goldsman · 2025-05-09
This pre-dates The Jazz Singer and was lost and unseen for 60-70 years until it's very fortunate restoration. Although the makeup is of course cringey to modern eyes (There's no excusing it really - I knew that blackface was terrible as a kid in the 70's! It actually was cringey in 1926 as well - but unfortunately ubiquitous) - Jolson's performance is historic and and unlike many of the singers who used blackface, he sang it straight and without an over-the-top racist affectation like many of the other acts did.
