Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Jewish Film

Jewish Film Music for the High Holy Days

This week on “Picture Perfect,” to coincide with the Jewish High Holy Days, we’ll have music from movies and television series inspired by aspects of the Jewish experience.

We’ll begin with “Exodus” (1960), based on the bestselling novel by Leon Uris, about the founding of the State of Israel. The book is said to have been the biggest seller in the United States since “Gone With the Wind.” The film was directed by Otto Preminger. Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint lead an all-star cast. Ernest Gold’s stirring music was recognized with an Academy Award and is probably his best-known achievement.

Barry Levinson’s semi-autobiographical “Avalon” (1990) explores the immigrant experience and, for better or worse, the assimilation of a Jewish family into American life. Alongside his work on “The Natural,” Randy Newman’s score is probably one of his best-loved.

We’ll round out the hour with music from two acclaimed television scores: for the NBC mini-series “Holocaust” (1978), written by the esteemed concert composer Morton Gould, and Emmy Award-winning music from the PBS series “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews” (1984), by John Duffy.

I hope you’ll join me as we celebrate the Jewish experience this week, on “Picture Perfect” – music for the movies – this Friday evening at 6 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 22, 2017
TCM Celebrates Jewish Film & The Jazz Singer

“You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!”

Turner Classic Movies: TCM will begin its month-long festival, “The Projected Image: The Jewish Experience in Film,” tonight at 8 ET. Robert Osborne’s co-host for the event, which will air on Tuesday evenings through September, will be Eric Goldman.

The prime time schedule features two versions of “The Jazz Singer,” including the one commonly credited as the first feature-length quasi-talkie, starring Al Jolson, and a musical version with Danny Thomas. (Sorry, no Neil Diamond.)

Tonight’s line-up:

8:00 The Jazz Singer (1927)
9:45 The Jazz Singer (1953)
11:45 Hester Street (1975)
1:30 Avalon (1990)

“The Jazz Singer” tells the story of a cantor’s son, who forsakes the ways of his fathers to pursue his dream of finding work in show business. This, of course, sets up a conflict of duty and devotion to family vs. the protagonist’s hopeless love for worldly jazz.

Jolson, who was born Asa Yoelson, sells it all with a confidence born of the stage, including, naturally, “Mammy,” delivered in his signature black-face. The cantor is played by Warner Oland, who would later achieve enduring fame as Charlie Chan.

Lest you be tempted to dismiss the film on these grounds as a landmark of racial insensitivity, “The Jazz Singer” is a fascinating document on many levels, dealing with the issues of personal and ethnic identity, an inspiring example of the immigrant experience in a country determinedly on the way up. The film proved a major hit and changed the industry forever.

Here’s the full TCM festival schedule:

http://www.tcm.com/projectedimage/schedule.html

And a snippet of Jolson’s immortal improvisation prior to launching into “Toot, Toot, Tootsie”:

PHOTO: “TRADITION!” Warner Oland (center) with Jolson at the piano

September 2, 2014

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