Have any of you ever seen The Jazz Singer 1980?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by IMMusicRulz, Jun 18, 2021.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. IMMusicRulz

    IMMusicRulz The Fifth Bangle Thread Starter

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I wasn't sure whether to post this in Visual Arts or Music Corner, but here goes.

    No, I am not talking about the original version with Al Jolson.
    I am talking about the "Love On The Rocks" Neil Diamond version.

    I have seen parts of the movie on YouTube. Sure, a lot of it is shot poorly (but it's from the Eighties, what would you expect?)
    I do think it is a very good movie. Neil Diamond plays the titular character, a Russian Jewish jazz singer who tries to defy his discouraging father (played by Laurence Olivier, in one of his last roles) and move to America in the hopes of finding success. Lucie Arnaz has a supporting role (who dug her up?)
    The soundtrack generated the singles "America" and "Hello Again" plus the #2 single "Love On The Rocks."
    And with the backing band of keyboardists Tom Hensley and Alan Lindgren, and Reinhold Press on Music Man Stingray Bass and Richard Bennett on guitars, how can you go wrong?
    Luckily, this movie tries not to be too sacrilegious. I like that Neil Diamond plays Gibson acoustic guitars in the film.
    The soundtrack is fantastic and received a Golden Globe nomination. I recently purchased the soundtrack for $4 at a bookstore last year. My copy is a Los Angeles pressing. My friend Libby is a huge Neil Diamond fan and has seen this movie a lot of times. Also my friend Katrina Todd has the soundtrack in her collection.
    This was released after September Morn, his last album of the Seventies.
    After this, Neil Diamond would have another big hit, the song "Heartlight", inspired after he and Burt Bacharach attended a screening of ET The Extra Terrestrial in 1982. Then he would lose popularity for the rest of the decade.

    What do you think of the movie and its soundtrack? What are your favorite songs off the album? Please let me know.
     
    Simon A and yesstiles like this.
  2. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident

    Love the soundtrack and did enjoy the movie years ago. There is, uh, one scene that might not be well received today, and which was honestly a really bad idea even in 1979. ;)
     
    IMMusicRulz likes this.
  3. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    I saw it on HBO probably around 1983. I remember liking it. It's pretty forgotten now. I do have the soundtrack but have never listened to it.
     
    IMMusicRulz likes this.
  4. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    It’s like Olivia’s Xanadu, the soundtrack did great, the movie did not.

    I feel Lucy Arnez steals the movie. She’s the only person with any energy in the movie. Diamond sort of plays himself in a way. Perhaps he’s too downbeat for a big screen movie.

    I seem to recall critics being harsh on the movie and especially on Diamond. Before it’s release Roger Ebert was on a talk show and someone asked him about the upcoming movie and he said Diamond was terrible. The audience of mostly women booed him. He didn’t back down on his assessment.

    I liked the movie but I’m a fan. Absolutely love the soundtrack and outside of Hot August Night is my favorite album by him.

    The nightclub scene at the beginning gives a nod to the original film and it made me painfully wince back then. It’s an uncomfortable scene that’s played for laughs and is out of character with the rest of the movie that’s over dramatic.

    I think the biggest problem with the film is it takes itself too seriously. I also felt Diamond was kind of old for the part too. I would love a deluxe edition of the soundtrack!
     
    Simon A, Jrr, dlokazip and 1 other person like this.
  5. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I saw it when it came out, but not since. I mostly remember the line "I hef no zon".
     
  6. IMMusicRulz

    IMMusicRulz The Fifth Bangle Thread Starter

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I also seem to remember a Goldbergs episode where Adam mentions that because cassettes were so costly, he only owned 2. Both of which were the Jazz Singer Soundtrack.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  7. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident

    Ha. Not exactly Olivier's crowning achievement.
     
    RayS likes this.
  8. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think Sir Laurence has ever been funnier.
     
    Simon A and Peace N. Love like this.
  9. Duncan Day

    Duncan Day Middle Aged Savage

    Location:
    U.K. Chippenham
    I saw it back in the day as part of a double bill with Kramer vs Kramer. Can’t remember much but I did enjoy it. I don’t want much telly (Haven’t switched mine on this year !!!), but if I found out it was on one of the terrestrial channels I’d probably check it out again. My mother had the soundtrack cassette in her car and that was ok.
     
  10. geetar_await

    geetar_await I heart Linux.

    Location:
    USA
    One of many films I haven't seen (as a lot of people too). Will watch that, and Xanadu, too, since that was mentioned earlier. I've been hunting down films I should've seen years ago.
     
  11. bostonscoots

    bostonscoots Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    My parents were HUGE Neil Diamond fans, so there was no escaping The Jazz Singer film or soundtrack around our house. The film? Perhaps the only appropriate response is "meh" (with a shrug, of course). Hard to hold it against Diamond though - Bette Midler rocked The Rose by doing pretty much what she'd already been doing, so playing a Jewish pop singer seemed like a safe bet for his movie debut. Diamond might not have been great - he at least had some rock star charisma to work with - but it was Laurence Olivier who really brought the schmaltz. Again, the only appropriate response is "What? You couldn't find an older Jewish actor in New York or LA?"

    Neil came out ok in the end, scoring a massive hit - "America" - from the experience, which people probably remember more than the movie.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  12. Big Jimbo

    Big Jimbo Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    The only time I even saw part of it was at a party when a tv had it playing with the sound off while we had the stereo on.

    Larry Olivier really took any role he could at the end of his life to build an estate for his heirs. I am surprised John Gielgud beat him to Bob Guccione’s “Caligula”
     
  13. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Yes I have and I enjoyed it very much...I own it on DVD...
     
    Moonbeam Skies likes this.
  14. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Yes - and I gave away every secret my interrogators wanted to know.
     
    hi_watt likes this.
  15. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    I just watched this movie for the first time in almost 40 years. I truly don’t understand why Neil Diamond gets such a bad rap, even winning the first ever Razzie award for worst actor. I think he did a great job in the role, especially for someone in his first acting job. Exactly where in the movie does he repeatedly give a bad performance?
     
    hi_watt and Simon A like this.
  16. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    This film is ridiculed a lot. I think if you are a Diamond fan it’s fine. Not at all a bad film, and I think very undeserving of the criticism it gets. Neil gets made fun of for his acting, but I think because he does his own songs he gets a huge pass from me as I feel he is just playing himself. My mistake perhaps, but because of that it’s believable to me and I enjoyed it. I do own the dvd but haven’t seen it in years. I have a Mobile Fidelity copy on vinyl of the soundtrack, but it’s a tough listen because there is just too much cantor type music from the film mixed in with the hits so it just doesn’t mesh well. But, it’s a soundtrack so this does happen sometimes. I just think the difference is too jarring, so I’m in the rare camp where I like the film better than the soundtrack, aside from the hit singles, and the gorgeous Summer Love. I wish they had sequenced all the hits together.
     
    Simon A and yesstiles like this.
  17. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    We were made to watch it in Religious Education at school c1992/1993. I’m not sure if we made it to the end but my take home memories were Laurence Olivier’s overacting and a song for which the entire lyric seemed to run, “Oooh Baby, Baby, You Baby, Baby Now” which for some reason we all found ridiculously funny at the time, rather than disturbingly nihilistic. Even then, I knew that none of it was jazz.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  18. jimac51

    jimac51 A mythical beast.

    Location:
    Allentown,pa.
    For your consideration: The Betsy. The Sundance Kid's schoolmarm girlfriend and Larry getting it on-I hope they had body doubles. Katherine Ross as Larry's daughter-in-law includes an embarrassing scene of daddy-in-law ogling over Katherine breast feeding the infant that would become Robert Duvall. Many horror movies are not as creepy and that is still not the creepiest moment in the film. Scary yet laughable.
     
  19. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I have vague memories of “The Betsy” from when it came out. It was like a cheap exploitation dime store novel … with big stars in it.
     
  20. jimac51

    jimac51 A mythical beast.

    Location:
    Allentown,pa.
    Written by Harold Robbins and Wiki says Robbins thought this was the best adaptation of any of his tomes. Helluva lot more than a dime for those hardcover bestsellers. Once again,Wiki to the rescue, and states he sold 750 million copies of 25 novels, translated into 32 languages and 12 movies/miniseries. The Carpetbaggers yielded two films. Robbins also lent his name to a short-lived ABC nighttime soap opera,Harold Robbins' The Survivors. Fun-fact-cast included Lovey Howell of Gilligan's Island fame,Natalie Schafer
     
  21. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    As Basil Fawlty correctly pointed out, his work was rubbish, despite its popularity.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  22. Scowl

    Scowl Forum Resident

    Location:
    ?
    In a party in college I came across two guys arguing which was the worse movie: 1980's Jazz Singer or Give My Regards to Broad Street. I don't think I've thought about either movie in thirty five years until now.
     
  23. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Ken Russell wanted to do a biopic of George Gershwin with Neil as the star but The Jazz Singer put an end to all of that.
     
    Simon A likes this.
  24. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    It's on Prime right now. I saw it back in the day--more or less pure cringey going especially with Olivier barely there and Diamond's hangdog demeanor but I sure as hell bought the soundtrack LP! Arnaz was very nice in it though.
     
  25. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Saw it once but it's been a long time. My mom was a big Neil Diamond fan so we all had to see it.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine