The Jazz Singer

Jackie Rabinowitz, son of a pious cantor, wants to sing ragtime. His father, however, wants him to continue in his footsteps. Jackie leaves home, puts on blackface, and enjoys success as a jazz singer. Years later, he returns home, and from his deathbed, his father can hear his son chanting "Kol Nidre" from an adjacent synagogue. The Jazz Singer, the first film to have a synchronized soundtrack, changed the face of cinema.