moive assignment

The Impact of The Jazz Singer on the Conversion to Sound Author(s): JONATHAN D. TANKEL Source: Journal of the University Film Association, Vol. 30, No. 1, TOPICS IN AMERICAN FILM HISTORY (Winter 1978), pp. 21-25 Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the University Film & Video Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20687409 . Accessed: 02/11/2013 10:07

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

University of Illinois Press and University Film & Video Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the University Film Association.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.205.114.91 on Sat, 2 Nov 2013 10:07:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Impact of The Jazz Singer on the Conversion to Sound

JONATHAN D. TANKEL

The Jazz Singer rates mention in most film histories as the first dialogue feature motion picture; but most historians, like R?tha and Griffith, quickly add that the film "was indifferently acted and directed, its story banal and heavily sentimental." In the following article, the author reviews the litera ture on the conversion to sound and attempts to discover how an analysis of The Jazz Singer's aesthetic qualities figures in the conversion process. Currently an instructor in Radio-Television-Film at Shaw University, Professor Tankel has expanded this article from his Master's thesis, done at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The conversion from silent films to sound films is a well known, yet widely misunderstood, event in the history of film. In recent publications, there has been an effort to correct some of the misconceptions con

tained in past accounts of the conversion process.

Gomery, for instance, has taken a fresh look at the corporate data and the trade journals of the time; he has presented a well-documented alternative to the

accepted explanation that the conversion was under

taken in panic and confusion against the better judge ment of the major film companies. On the basis of his analysis, Gomery concluded that "as profit maximizing oligopolists, the majors reacted to the innovation of sound wisely and sensibly."1

Largely untold, as yet, is the story of how the aesthetic values of early sound films hastened the conversion process. All we have been offered thus far are observations such as R?tha and Griffith's that

any sound film, no matter how bad, could fill any theatre, however ratty, while across the

street [the majors'] most super silent picture played to empty seats in the most sumptuous of motion picture cathedrals.2

The accepted explanations proceed to tell us that this situation was created by the fantastic success of

Warner Bros.'s The Jazz Singer (1927). The film's extraordinary success at the box office convinced the major studios that conversion, previously un

thinkable, was now the only avenue open for the

film industry. A "mediocre film" according to the

historian-critics, The Jazz Singer accomplished what the money and influence of Western Electric could not: it forced the majors to convert to sound, to

retool an entire industry. Or so at least, this is what

standard histories of film tells us. However, the process of conversion was not so simple, nor were

those who figured actively in the transition from silence to sound on American movie screens.

The unusual alliance formed by Western Electric and Warner Bros, in 1925 was troubled from the start. As Gomery has shown, the problems did not arise out of the alleged industry-wide defiance of the new

technology. Western Electric, as part of the AT&T complex, was involved in intense competition within the rapidly expanding electronics industry; Warner Bros, was a "little five" film company3 trying to

survive with good quality pictures, an inefficient states rights distribution system and virtually no theaters. The diverse purposes of the two reluctant

allies were the source of conflict from the beginning of their relationship.4

Whatever their respective views of the future might have been, the immediate goal of the Warner Bros.

Western Electric alliance supported the economic viability of sound films. Independent and chain

lJ. Douglas Gomery, "The 'Warner-Vitaphone Peril': The American Film Industry Reacts to the Innovation of

Sound," The Journal of the University Film Association 27 (Winter 1976): 18.

2Paul R?tha and Richard Griffith, The Film Till Now

(London: Spring Books, 1949), p. 429.

3The "Big Three" Studios were Famous Players-Lasky, Loews, and First National; the "Little Five" were Universal,

Fox, Producers Distributing Corporation, Film Booking Office, and Warner Bros. See J. Douglas Gomery, "The

Coming of* Sound to the American Cinema: A History of

the Transformation of an Industry," unpublished Ph.D.

dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1975, pp. 78-93.

4See both Gomery citations above for a clear explanation of the delicate negotiations Western Electric entered into with the majors almost as soon as the agreement with Warner Bros, was signed.

JOURNAL OF THE UNIVERSITY FILM ASSOCIATION, XXX, 1 (Winter 1978) 21

This content downloaded from 128.205.114.91 on Sat, 2 Nov 2013 10:07:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

exhibitors had to be convinced to wire their theaters for sound. To accomplish this, Warner Bros, needed

commercial success: not simply one big picture, but a series of consistent money makers. The techno

logical novelty of sound pictures would not be sufficient, as the DeForest and other experiments had shown. Believing in the maxim that you have to have something for the audience, the brothers Warner were convinced they had to make films which could draw the audience once the novelty wore off.

Regardless of the economic, technological, socio

cultural, and industrial explanations for the conver

sion to sound in the American cinema, a complete understanding of this process needs to consider the aesthetic dimension of the films themselves.

From Don Juan to The Jazz Singer

Don Juan was an important film for Warner Bros. The film opened on 6 August 1926 at the Warner Theatre in New York City, and starred John Barry more, the matinee idol of the Warner lot. Mordaunt Hall, the New York Times film critic, described how the program was organized to accustom the audience to recorded sound. The feature was preceded by a number of shorts, some starring performers from the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Phil harmonic. Without the customary intermission, the prologue to Don Juan began: the audience was swept into the film by the flow of sound. When intermission had arrived, the lobby buzzed with excitement. The

Warners had combined spectacle and sound, winning over that all important first audience.5

Don Juan was a successful film, especially in view of the competition. During the second half of 1926, the most successful films in New York City were The Big Parade, Beau Geste, Ben Hur and Don Juan, all of these heavy on spectacle and "production values." An analysis of the box office records of these four films reveals the relative equality of their box office performance. On a scale of relative theater capacity, like that used by exhibitors to describe the success of a picture, none of the pictures ran below sixty percent of the best week during the five month period from August to December, and only Beau Geste and Don Juan ran one hundred percent of relative capacity during this period. Don Juan proved its strength at the box office against the best the majors had to offer.6

Warner Bros., however, could not rely on Don Juan alone to provide the breakthrough it needed. To con vince exhibitors that sound was not a passing fad, the company had to continue producing sound films. On 7 October 1926, Warner Bros, released The Better Ole starring Sydney Chaplin, brother of Charles. While the film itself received good notices from the critics, the Vitaphone shorts accompanying it indicated the direction which Warner Bros, was taking to convince exhibitors of the profitability of Vitaphone.

The new Vitaphone shorts differed from the first set because they featured popular stars rather than the New York classical performers. Mordaunt Hall sensed the excitement generated by the more familiar faces, especially that of Al Jolson:

This Vitaphone assuredly destroys the old silent tradition of the screen. This time it was the audience that was silent, so keen was everybody to catch every word and note of the popular entertainer, and when each num ber was ended it was obvious that there was not a still pair of hands in the house.7

The variety of film necessary to sustain interest in the new venture into sound was to be supplied by these shorts, which were easier, cheaper and quicker to

manufacture than the Vitaphone features. At the same time, Warner Bros, continued to whet the

appetite of the audience by foregoing mere accom paniment in favor of linking the sound (music, effects and some dialogue) directly to the performers on the screen.

With the appearance of The Better 'Ok and the accompanying shorts, Warner Bros, began to release new Vitaphone shorts every week. This was an in

genious answer to the problem of supply of product: continuous production of musical and dialogue shorts with the regular release of feature length films accompanied by synchronized musical scores. Not until 9 March 1927 was another Vitaphone feature ready for general release: When Man Loves, a costume drama with musical accompaniment, star

ring John Barrymore.

The alternation of shorts and features was so success ful that by April 1927, the State Theater, in Minne apolis, was exhibiting Vitaphone shorts with Famous Players' silent features. The live presentations, which had become a permanent fixture at successful movie theaters, could now be presented on film. Even with silent features, the presence of the Vitaphone shorts helped the State to break all its previous box office records.8

5New York Brnes, 7 August 1926, p. 6.

Jonathan Tankel, '"The Jazz Singer and the Conversion to Sound: A Revisionist View" (M. A. Thesis, University of North CaroHna-Chapel Hill, 1976): 89.

7New York Times, 8 October 1926, p. 23.

^Variety (New York), 13 April 1927, p. 7.

22

This content downloaded from 128.205.114.91 on Sat, 2 Nov 2013 10:07:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

During the last week of June, Old San Francisco

opened at the Warner Theatre in New York. This was the fourth Vitaphone feature, and it followed the pattern of the first three: pre-recorded score and sound effects. The sound track highlighted the visual recreation of the San Francisco earthquake. For the next four months, new Vitaphone releases were

limited to the four new shorts per week.

By June 1927, the Fox Corporation had begun serious competition with Warner Bros, in the pro duction of sound films. Fox began offering Movie tone presentations, similar to Vitaphone shorts, to

accompany Fox silent features. The first program of sound shorts, opening at the Harris Theater in New York on 25 May 1927,9 accompanied the

premiere of Seventh Heaven, which featured an

Academy Award performance by Janet Gaynor.

Fox ventured where Warner Bros, did not: the

presentation of current events via sound films. At

the end of June, the Roxy Theater in New York

presented Movietone films of the welcome-home ceremonies held for Charles Lindbergh in Washing ton, D.C. These films were the genesis of the Movie tone Newsreel, which became a regular feature from

Fox in December 1927.

During the week of 28 September, Sunrise, the first Fox sound feature film, opened at the new Fox Times Square Theater. The film was directed by F. W. Murnau and starred Janet Gaynor. Reviews of

the film paid special attention to the synchronized musical sound track, which was an integral part of

the film. Sunrise can lay claim to being the first sound film to gain critical praise partially on the basis of the

integrity of the sound and picture combination.10

Fox, however, would not be content with the success

of Sunrise. On 5 October, the Variety headline read

"Dialog in Film on Screen." In the following article,

Fox announced its plan to produce a full-length film

with dialogue. As in its first sound film, Fox planned to use the best talent on the lot: Murnau to direct

and George O'Brien to star. The Variety article

concluded that full-length talkies would be the next

big thing in the business.11

The following day, Warner Bros.'s newest Vitaphone feature opened at the Warner Theatre in New York.

This film had been in production since May 1927, but problems with the original lead, George Jessel, had caused production delays. On 6 October, The Jazz Singer opened to complimentary, but unen

thusiastic, reviews. Even Variety seemed to forget the prophetic nature of the previous week's headline.

There was in fact now "dialog in film on screen."

The Jazz Singer

The most popular silent films of the conversion period were large films, both in scope and "produc tion values." War films were among the most popular:

Wings, The Big Parade, and What Price Glory? The Better Ole, Warner Bros.'s second sound feature, was placed in a war setting, concentrating on comedy rather than action. Costume dramas also were

popular and Warner Bros, capitalized on this trend

with Don Juan and When A Man Loves. The costume drama seemed especially well-suited to the

new device, with the synchronized scores for these

Vitaphone productions impressive displays of the link between effective accompaniment and richly exotic visuals.

But The Jazz Singer came out of a different tradition, that of the ethnic story, a popular type of film at the time. The success of Abie's Irish Rose on the Broad

way stage fostered an upsurge in ethnic entertain

ment which had appeal generally for a mass audience.

The "Jewishness" of The Jazz Singer was certainly not a limitation;12 The Jazz Singer was also an

intimate film, highlighting relationships among a few people; and it was a film which capitalized on the singular appeal of an entertainer whose voice had

not been given feature presentation on a motion pic ture screen until this time. An analogy might be made to the early days of television, where intimate stories

and variety shows were attempts to minimize the

limitations of the medium. In much the same way television personalized the celebrities by bringing them into the living rooms of the viewers, The Jazz

Singer capitalized on the charisma of Al Joison. As

Robert E. Sherwood noted in his review of the film:

THE JAZZ SINGER isn't much of a moving picture, as moving pictures go.

. . . But when

Al Jolson starts to sing . . . well, bring on

your super-spectacles, your million-dollar

thrills, your long-shots of Calvary against a

setting sun, your close-ups of a glycerine tear

on Norma Talmadge's cheek?ITI trade them

all for one instant of any ham song that Al cares to put over, and the hammier it is, the

better I'll like it.13

9New York Times, 26 May 1927, p. 22.

New York Times, 24 September 1927, p. 15; Variety (New

York), 28 September 1927, p. 21.

"Variety (New York), 5 October 1927, p. 1.

12Patr?cia Erens, "Yiddish Film in America," Film Com ment 12 (January-February 1976): 48.

13Robert E. Sherwood, "The Silent Drama," Life 90 (27 October 1927): 24.

JOURNAL OF THE UNIVERSITY FILM ASSOCIATION, XXX, 1 (Winter 1978) 23

This content downloaded from 128.205.114.91 on Sat, 2 Nov 2013 10:07:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

There is no doubt that The Jazz Singer was intended as a showcase for Vitaphone. The background score

itself was in the tradition of the silent film scores which had been meant to be played live. However,

the use of synchronization to ensure proper place ment allowed for a more subtle use of the music. The

various musical themes and motifs had an artistic

role in introducing characters, setting mood and

anticipating action, thereby creating a unity of sound.

The strength of the background score was in the

fact that the sound was primarily generated by the visuals, rather than simply serving as accom

paniment.

The techniques used to enhance the background score of The Jazz Singer were partially the result of the work done on the previous Warner Bros.'s

sound films. The Jazz Singer was also innovative

in the use of sound to reinforce the narrative struc

ture of the film: while intercutting (as in parallel editing) had been used extensively since Griffith, The Jazz Singer was the first film to show the new dimension that sound would lend to this basic film

technique. Such editing could allow the viewer to follow action away from the main scene, while sound

(usually a song) kept the main scene firmly in the viewer's mind. The concept of "meanwhile" is greatly enhanced through this scoring device.

This technique is used throughout The Jazz Singer. At the beginning of the film, the audience listens to little Jakie singing in a saloon, while watching a nosy neighbor run to tell Poppa, who returns to drag his son away. Later, during Jolson's first singing se

quence in Coffee Dan's Cafe (as the mature Jakie, now Jack), intercutting introduces the audience to

Mary Dale, soon to become Jack's love interest. The

technique of showing one scene while listening to another is most effective in Poppa Rabinowitz's

death-bed scene. While Poppa is seen dying, the

audience, and Poppa, hear Jack singing the Kol Nidre. Father and son are united one last time

through the magic of sound film.

While the intercutting of sound and film is a major device in The Jazz Singer, it is by no means the only distinction in the film. The most fascinating, considering the technology of the time, is the cutting of the sound track at the point where the track moves from true synchronization (dialogue, singing) to background score. This technique is introduced

early, when Poppa arrives to take Jakie home from

the saloon: Jakie is singing, but as soon as he sees

his father, the song is cut in mid-word. The back

ground score segues quickly, and the audience can see

Jakie being dragged out of the saloon. In this instance, the dramatic action is enhanced, rather

than degraded, by the transition from sound film form to silent.

Another technique used in the film may aptly be referred to as "call and response" editing. A question

may be asked in silence and answered by sound or vice versa. At one point in the film, Momma comes

to plead with Jack to sing in his father's place on Yom Kippur. Jack refuses. A few moments later, Jack is in rehearsal, and the first words of his song are "Mother, I'm sorry." The reverse happens at the

end of the film when Jack is singing "Mammy," during which shots of Momma in the theater audi ence are intercut. This technique provides a visual

or aural reference to an earlier moment, thereby

lending a richer cohesion to the continuity.

A number of purely visual images in The Jazz Singer are as powerful as any in silent film. The first shot of Coffee Dan's Cafe shows a plate of ham and eggs, which is quickly devoured by Jack. The ham and eggs can be viewed as signs of the new lifestyle .enjoyed by Jack. Another example: later, Jack goes to hear Cantor Joseph Rosenblatt in concert and as he

watches, the image of Cantor Rosenblatt fades into

that of Poppa and back again. Perhaps the most

powerful visual image in the entire film is in the scene where Momma comes to plead with Jack,

mentioned earlier. Just prior to her entrance, Jack

is seen putting on his black face, once again a visualization of Jack's attempt to take on a life style in deference to his traditional roots.

Apart from such innovative and striking techniques, the structure of The Jazz Singer reveals an under

lying Aristotelian-type logic. From a dramatic stand

point, the film begins and ends on Yom Kippur. The final "Mammy" sequence adds little to the development of narrative, but instead serves as a

coda, the final celebration, perhaps an encore for

Jolson. But this last jazz song actually contributes to a structural unity of the film: the film opens with a jazz song followed by the Kol Nidre, and ends with the Kol Nidre followed by a jazz song. This structure is reinforced by the placement of the major dialogue sequence in the middle of the film both in screen time and in dramatic time.

For a film which has been recognized as the first talkie, there is surprisingly little dialogue in The Jazz Singer. With the exception of Jolson's famous Unes in Coffee Dan's Cafe, all the dialogue in the film is contained in the central sequence when Jack returns

to his parents' New York apartment to attempt a

reconciliation with his father. Many of the techniques already discussed are used in this one scene. (1) There is singing, with Jack doing two versions of "Blue Skies." (2) Momma and Jack engage in chit-chat, which comprises most of the dialogue. And (3) the sound track is cut during the second version of "Blue

Skies," when Poppa enters the scene and yells,

"Stop!" (which is the last dialogue heard in the film). This command is answered by silent title card ("Poppa") and an angelic close-up of Jack and

Momma. In both dramatic and technological senses,

24

This content downloaded from 128.205.114.91 on Sat, 2 Nov 2013 10:07:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

this is the central sequence of the film: the beginning of the film "built" to this scene in much the same

way the Warners had utilized the Vitaphone shorts; once the scene achieved its climax, the form returns to silent dialogue (the titles) only to return to syn chronized singing at the end of the film. Viewed

analytically, the success of The Jazz Singer was no

accident.

The structure of The Jazz Singer reveals an uncanny

knowledge of the possibilities of an intimate link between sound and picture, as well as knowledge of

the basic techniques of film. For these reasons, The Jazz Singer must be considered an important film aesthetically, and not simply a "milestone." It de

monstrated the standards by which other early sound films had to be measured, and the film showed the sensibility necessary to integrate the new techniques of film making with the established techniques which had pleased audiences for over a decade. The Jazz Singer contained flashes of brilliance which would become standard once the entire industry learned how to talk. It was a well-made film, and Warner

Bros, would reap the rewards for its effort.

The Impact of The Jazz Singer

However, the legend of the unsurpassed success of The Jazz Singer is not quite accurate. Although successful enough, The Jazz Singer did not do as well at the box office as Don Juan in its initial run. At the Warner Theatre in New York, the highest attendance for The Jazz Singer was a respectable 80% of best week for six weeks; in the same theater a year earlier, Don Juan had set house records play

ing at least eight weeks at 100% of capacity.14 Nor did The Jazz Singer do as well against the day-and date competition of Wings, the first Academy Award winner, which was running as a silent film at that time. Wings ran consistently better than The Jazz Singer despite the fact that Wings had opened two months earlier.15

The importance of The Jazz Singer was rather in its

example. A well-made "small" sound film could pro duce box office results at least equal to that of a big budget silent film. Yet, contrary to R?tha and Griffith, the world did not line up for months to hear two songs and five words.16 They lined up to see a movie.

The comparative example of Wings with The Jazz

Singer weakens the argument that any sound film could significantly depress the box office of a good quality silent film. Even Variety reporters were aware

of the insufficient draw of simple novelty. In February 1928, a post-/ zz Singer Vitaphone film (The First

Auto) opened in San Francisco, and the Variety report was: "Another instance where indications are

youVe got to have something on the screen to draw 'em."'7

The industry wide conversion to sound was a con

tinuation of processes which were at work before the premiere of Don Juan. In past histories, the fact that The Jazz Singer opened in October 1927 and the industry was converting by the following summer has been taken as proof of the direct impact of The Jazz Singer. In fact, it has become a litany: the in

dustry converted because of the success of The Jazz Singer. But chronology can be deceiving. Out of sixty five theaters reported in Film Daily Yearbook (1929) summaries, two thirds were wired after 15 May 1928, the date of the ERPI signings. The rate of wirings between the premiere of The Jazz Singer and the ERPI signings was not significantly higher than the rate for 1927 up to the premiere of The Jazz Singer.18 Such information in and of itself should cause some doubt in accepting the standard explanation.

Although The Jazz Singer can be viewed as an

important influence on the conversion to sound, it was not a fundamental cause. Nor did the conversion

take place only in response to corporate maneuver

ings. The audience had to respond, or else there

would have been no reason to convert. The early sound films, prior to the industry decision to convert in early 1928, were made with special care, each one

slightly better than the others. Sound became a tool

by which ordinary films could be made more appeal

ing to an audience than they had been. The success

of The Jazz Singer was dependent as much on its aesthetic qualities and values as its position as the first major film with dialogue. In this sense, The Jazz Singer was the final proof of the success of sound, not the first.

14Tankel, pp. 87, 89.

'5Ibid., p. 87.

16Rotha and Griffith, p. 429.

"Variety (New York), 1 February 1928, p. 6.

'?Tankel, p. 86.

JOURNAL OF THE UNIVERSITY FILM ASSOCIATION, XXX, 1 (Winter 1978) 25

This content downloaded from 128.205.114.91 on Sat, 2 Nov 2013 10:07:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions