The Jazz Singer

After the movie was finished, Sir Laurence Olivier went to New York City for a short time, and had dinner in a restaurant with friends. During the dinner, he recalled to his friends something he said about the movie while Sidney J. Furie was still directing: "This piss is shit." Olivier later said a reporter must have been at the table next to his, because the next day the New York Daily News reported what he said (though with both vulgar words changed to cleaner derogatory words). This news soon spread completely across the country, and with threats of lawsuits in the air, Olivier quickly made a statement to the press claiming that in the end, the movie had been made well, and that he totally supported it. Olivier also wrote a handwritten ten-page letter to director Richard Fleischer, not only apologizing for the restaurant incident, but also indirectly giving an explanation as to why he was making so many movies strictly for the money.

The scene where Jess Robin (Neil Diamond) performs "You Baby Baby" in the Cinderella Club with an afro and black makeup on was actually done as a minor tribute to Al Jolson, who did The Jazz Singer (1927) in blackface.

The movie produced three chart-topper hit songs for Neil Diamond, "America", "Hello Again" and "Love on the Rocks".

In Terry Coleman's biography of Sir Laurence Olivier, he states Olivier received $1 million to star in this movie. After signing on, Olivier regretted the decision, although by April 1980, three months into filming, he was receiving extra pay for each day of shooting, in addition to $2,500 a week for expenses. During this time, Olivier also directed a play on the east coast, and filmed additional scenes for his miniseries Brideshead Revisited (1981).

Neil Diamond composed and sang ten new songs for this movie, which were then recorded live on film for the movie.