Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many s... Read allStarting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.
- Al Jolson - Recreation of 'The Jazz Singer' Scene
- (as Mr. Al Jolson)
- Directors
- Irving Cummings
- Buster Keaton(uncredited)
- Malcolm St. Clair(silent film sequences) (uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough a Twentieth Century-Fox picture, this is one of the few Hollywood-made films in which one studio (Fox) acknowledges and names the existence of another (Warner Bros.) and credits them with the introduction of talking pictures. Don Ameche is actually shown watching a scene from Warner's The Jazz Singer (1927), probably the only instance in Hollywood history where one studio shows another studio's work within a film. (Additionally, many other actual studios are mentioned in the dialogue, including Pathe, Vitagraph, Famous Players [later Paramount], Metro [later MGM] and United Artists.) Another rarity is that the head of the studio (J. Edward Bromberg) is openly portrayed as being Jewish. In later years Bromberg was blacklisted and sadly died from a heart attack while performing in a stage play in London, where he sought to restart his career. Fans of W.C. Fields will recognize Russell Hicks--who plays the stone-hearted money-man Roberts in this film--as fast-talking con man J. Frothingham Waterbury, who sold Fields shares in the Beefstake Mine in the classic comedy The Bank Dick (1940).
- GoofsThis is another film that perpetuates the myth that studios abandoned silents almost immediately after "The Jazz Singer" opened. In fact, it WAS regarded as a fluke. It would be many months before studios realized that talkies weren't going away, and it wasn't until 1930 that production of silents finally ceased, save an occasional outlier like "City Lights" and "Tabu.
- Quotes
Dave Spingold: [to Molly] It'll be chiseled on my tombstone - Dave Spingold - Schlemiel.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Take It or Leave It (1944)
This movie starts out as a mad-cap comedy typical of the time period, and in the opening scenes it holds its own with the best of them. It has a playful lack of self-consciousness which is sorely missing in most of today's comedies. Shortly into the film, however, it moves away from this mode of comedy and instead attempts to entertain us using the films within the film. These are silent slapstick comedies, well done but nothing out of the ordinary, and they go on for much longer than is necessary for any audience which has seen the originals. Upon returning, the film takes a dramatic turn. It's well written and the cast does an excellent job of making the transition, but the movie really should have decided from the beginning what it was going to be.
By the end of the film, it has transformed once again - this time into a paean to the glitter of Hollywood. The small town of Los Angeles has grown up into the city which makes the movies that entertain the whole world.
In spite of its promising beginnings, this film has not aged particularly well. Nevertheless, it does have some strong scenes, a certain nostalgic appeal, and an entertaining sub-text about the people who made it and the audiences it was made for.
- bobc-5
- Mar 17, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Holivudska kavalkada
- Filming locations
- West First Street, Los Angeles, California, USA(Photographs)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1