'That ain't no brother… ...THAT'S A WHITE MAN!'The 1980 Neil Diamond version of the film The Jazz Singer is a remake of the 1927 "talkie" starring Al Jolson. It's an odd choice for a re-make, considering it's a film about a bloke who upsets his Rabbi old man by deciding to perform in "blackface". Although the remake moved away from this pretext, Neil Diamond still included a "tribute" scene where he and his three black mates decide to perform at the Cinderella Club, for which Neil himself "blacked up".
Meet the band:
Brother one - fat brother
Brother two - Lionel's brother
Brother three - crack head brother
Brother four - that ain't no brother!
If the makers of The Jazz Singer are to be believed, this is how black folk enjoy themselves. - in black clubs listening to black bands, playing bog standard Neil Diamond mid-pacers.
It's a recurrent theme in Hollywood movies such as Adventures in Baby Sitting, Animal House, and Weird Science. The clubs are invariably distinctly unfriendly, deeply segregated, and seemingly highly sexual places - which may go some way to betraying white Hollywood's view of black people. But The Jazz Singer offers a unique twist - although Liz Shue does sing in ...Babysitting - she doesn't attempt to curry the locals' favour by disguising herself as the fourth "brother". Neil's plan is floorless aside from his white hands (and voice, song, sense of rhythm). This is the fucking genius that spots this ruse and blows the lid on the whole thing:Here he is getting down to the sounds.
...and then he starts a riot, understandably.
Not to be outdone by this, Neil is the hero after all. He has to kick their arses...
and end up in clink.
All's well that ends well, I suppose.