Underground Film: “The Jazz Singer” (1927) | Berkeley

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Underground Film Night: Obscure Super 8 & 16mm Movies | Berkeley

The Berkeley Underground Film Society (BUFS) is an all ages club for collectors, researchers, and film enthusiasts in the East Bay and San Francisco area.

Their goal is to review and share a selective film history of movies on film.

Every Sunday, they screen buried, rarely projected, or otherwise obscure 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm prints from their collection.

Sunday, January 12, 2014
"The Jazz Singer" | Underground Film Night: Obscure Super 8 & 16mm Movies | Berkeley

The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden, he is punished by his father, a cantor, prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer, but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.

Darryl F. Zanuck won the Special Academy Award for producing the film, and it was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Engineering Effects. In 1996, The Jazz Singer was selected for preservation in the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Film Registry of “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” motion pictures. In 1998, the film was chosen in voting conducted by the American Film Institute as one of the best American films of all time, ranking at number ninety.

Director: Alan Crosland
Writers: Samson Raphaelson (play), Alfred A. Cohn (adaptation)
Stars: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland

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