Al Jolson Leading the Way

For John, BLUF:  Mores change, sadly we are not always tolerant of those from the past, or today.  Maybe we should give a little forgiveness to Justin Trudeau and the Virginia Governor.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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THE JAZZ SINGER PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1927

From Instapundit, by Prof Gail Heriot, 6 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus three:

Starring Al Jolson, who performs several scenes in blackface, the film is the story of a Jewish boy, Jakie Rabinowitz, who longs to be a jazz singer.  His father, on the other hand, wants him to follow the family tradition and become a synagogue cantor.  Jakie eventually runs away to follow his dream of show business stardom.

Alas, just as he is about to make it big, he finds out that his father is on his deathbed.  Young Jakie is thus needed to sing the Kol Nidre for Yom Kippur in his father’s stead. If he fails to show up for the premiere of his big show, his fledgling career will likely be ruined.  But who will sing at the Yom Kippur service?  (Yes, I know … it’s probably a bit too melodramatic for the 21st century, but whatever ….)

With Justin Trudeau and all, blackface has been a big news item lately.  Here is an aspect of the issue that I did not realize until recently (though it doesn’t surprise me):  Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer were both very popular with African Americans.  When the film played in Harlem, Harlem’s newspaper, the Amsterdam News, called it “one of the greatest pictures ever produced.”  About Jolson, it wrote:  “Every colored performer is proud of him.”

I also did not realize that Jolson had been such a champion of African American performers.

Read about it at the link.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff