Jazz Singer (1959)

Plot Summary

In this tribute to the 1927 Al Jolson film classic, Cantor Rabinowitz (Eduard Franz, The Ten Commandments, Hatari!) is upset that son Joey (Lewis) has no interest in becoming a synagogue canter, a family tradition for five generations. Worse yet, he’s left home to pursue a career as a jazz singer and comedian … no laughing matter to his father. After struggling for years, Joey is about to get his big break. But when the cantor suddenly falls gravely ill, Joey grapples with filling in for his ailing father … or seizing the opportunity to be a star. Also featuring Molly Picon, one of silent film’s biggest stars in the ’20s, she made a successful transition into talkies (including roles in such classics as Fiddler on the Roof) and performed into the ’80s; Anna Maria Alberghetti, the musical Italian bombshell launched on the American screen by Paramount in 1950; and Alan Reed, the burly character who appeared in such classics as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but was best known as the cartoon voice of Fred Flintstone. To quote Jolson in the original movie, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”