Bruce, As you have written: "It IS great Phil, but I always heard that WB refused to use Jessel both because he was not well enough known outside New York, and also because he was too "ethnic" (Jewish looking) and that they insisted on Jolson instead. Can you verify either story?"
I can't verify those stories other than to be sure that you are reporting them accurately. What I have heard repeatedly is that Jolson was the third person to be offered the part; Jessel supposedly wanted too much money and then an offer was made to Eddie Cantor, who also turned it down. What I do know for sure is that WB was not opposed to using Jessel in their films!!! In 1926 Jessel had starred in a film for Warners called "Private Izzy Murphy". I don't know what percentage of box-office receipts came from outside of New York, but it was considered a big hit for the studio. Interestingly the premise of that film was completely "ethnic" as follows: "Isadore "Izzy" Goldberg ( Georgie Jessel) changes his name to I. Patrick Murphy because his store is in an Irish-neighborhood in New York City. He meets Eileen Cohannigan, the daughter of a meat-packer, and he tells her he is Irish and a romance begins. When America enters World War I, "Izzy" enlists, is sent to France, and is wounded while engaged in a heroic rescue during a big battle. While recovering in an overseas hospital, he write Eileen and tells her he is Jewish and not Irish. Returning home, he is parading with his regiment and he sees Eileen with Robert O'Malley, his old rival. He thinks she has thrown him over because he is Jewish. An Irish lodge comes to bestow an honor on the man they think is Patrick Murphy, an Irish hero. But O'Malley tells them his real name is Goldberg. But Eileen tells him it is he she loves, and they head for the marriage-license bureau" Warners also made another '"Izzy Murphy" film with Jessel in 1927 called "Sailor Izzy Murphy" as well as a third film called "Ginsberg the Great". Both of these films had Vitaphone sound effects and music scores (which was record discs synchronized to film).The Jazz Singer would have been Jessel's 4th film in a row at Warners. Warners was working out the deal to buy the rights to "The Jazz Singer" with the Broadway Producers, and they had already cast Georgie Jessel in the lead (as he had been on Broadway). Once they decided to move ahead with the Vitaphone process to add singing in this film, Georgie Jessel is reported to have said word to the effect of "I wasn't hired to sing; I was hired to act; singing is going to cost you more". The contract that he had signed didn't specify singing or talking. Further negotiations broke down, Jessel walked away from the film and it ended his blossoming career at Warners. The Warner Bros were very proud of their heritage as Askenazi Jews and while I don't know how that might have impacted any casting decisions they would have made on The Jazz Singer or any other film, I do know that among the Hollywood Studios they felt strongly about producing films that explained the role of immigrants in early 20th Century American society. I certainly don't think the Warner Bros themselves ever did anything other than to embrace their ethnicity, so it would surprise me if they would have rejected Georgie Jessel for a film on the basis that he wasn't believable as a Cantor's son or that they somehow wanted to gloss over that element. The Jazz Singer is often remembered now as the first talkie or about Al Jolson in blackface, but I think it also spoke to generational conflicts not only between a Cantor and his son, but also between the Warner Bros and their immigrant father. I suspect that it being a big hit on Broadway played a role in Warners wanting to develop the property, but I also think the film spoke to them and their roots. In any event, the Warners stood very strongly against the Nazi regime in business matters during the early 1930's. They behaved differently from almost all the other studios. You might find the following link interesting http://huc.edu/newspubs/pressroom/07/2/CinemaJudaica.shtml and were placed on an extermination list had Hitler prevailed in WWII I think it is no accident that Warners made The Jazz Singer; Confessions of a Nazi Spy and Casablanca..... All I know. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Hershenson To: Phillip W. Ayling Cc: [email protected] Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 2:23 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] Upcoming Heritage Auction It IS great Phil, but I always heard that WB refused to use Jessel both because he was not well enough known outside New York, and also because he was too "ethnic" (Jewish looking) and that they insisted on Jolson instead. Can you verify either story? Bruce On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 3:24 PM, Phillip W. Ayling <[email protected]> wrote: The upcoming Heritage Auction includes a very interesting Exhibitor Book for Warners 1926-27. 2012 March 23-24 Dallas Vintage Movie Poster Auction #7055 Included in the photos for this auction item is something called "The Jazz Age". Warners never made that film, (though Douglas Fairbanks appeared in a film by that title several years later). This Exhibitors Book actually contains Warners' first reference to theatre owners about "The Jazz Singer" That's why it says "Title To Be Announced". It was their hope to have songs in the movie as they were perusing Vitaphone technology right at this time and they were trying to get original Broadway Star Georgie Jessel (The Jazz Singer was a big hit on Broadway in 1926) to do the film version and had to "settle" for Al Jolson. 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