The Jazz Singer (1959 film)

The Jazz Singer is a 1959 adaptation of Samson Raphaelson's play of the same name, starring Jerry Lewis. It was produced as an episode of the NBC television series, Startime and was broadcast on October 13, 1959.

Plot

Cantor Rabinowitz (Eduard Franz) is upset that his son Joey (Jerry Lewis) has left home to pursue a career as a singer/comedian after showing no interest in carrying on the family's tradition of being Cantors in the synagogue. After five generations of doing so, it appears that Joey is more interested in making jokes and singing jazz music.

After a few years on his own, Joey, who now calls himself Joey Robbins, gets an opportunity to perform on the television show with Ginny Gibbons (Anna Maria Alberghetti). Unfortunately his father falls ill during his rehearsal performance and he runs to his side, putting show business aside for his family obligations.

Production

The Jazz Singer was produced on videotape and aired as a one-hour episode of the short-lived TV series, Lincoln-Mercury Startime (aka Ford Startime), and was preserved on kinescope film. It has never been rebroadcast.

Eduard Franz, who played the role of the aged and ailing cantor battling his son, had played the same role in the similar theatrical film version of the story starring Danny Thomas that had been released just seven years earlier, in 1952.

The first official home video release, a DVD including both the kinescope and color videotape material from Lewis' personal holdings, was released on February 7, 2012.^[1]

References

External links

• The Jazz Singer at the Internet Movie Database