The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of being a popular singer.
Director: Richard Fleischer
Stars: Laurence Olivier, Neil Diamond, Lucie Arnaz, Franklyn Ajaye.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080948/
Watched online, mediocre print.
17 songs in the Soundtracks.
3rd film version; previously 1927 with Al Jolson, 1952 with Danny Thomas.
I was put off a bit by LO as a cantor; he's not Jewish (that I can find), and can't sing well.
I'm also put off by ND's voice for a cantor in the early scenes, but when he sings at Yom Kippur, he sounds fine. He is Jewish.
Of course Danny Thomas was a Lebanese-American Christian, but has a voice suitable for a cantor.
Rated 5.8 with almost 3.4k votes, this is missing something, and I don't know what. I just don't care about ND and his problems. And I don't care for his pop voice until we get his hit America, which has bigger music supporting him. I don't care about LA, LO, or any of the minor characters. It just doesn't grab me.
Yes, dir. Fleischer (b. '16) is son of cartoonist Max and nephew of Dave.
1st of 4 films for ND; in the other 3 he plays himself.
EMI Films, dir. Fleischer; 6-
