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performing in blackface and changing his name to Jack Robins. Jolson’s character was looking
to eschew his Jewish identification and blend into society (Goldman 35). To quote Goldman
“The Jazz Singer would, at least as Jack Warner saw it, reflect the true immigrant desire to
disassociate with one’s ethnic enclave in an outward attempt at American socialization and
assimilation.” (Goldman 40)

The lack of strong identifiably Jewish characters or their blending into the background
despite the influence of Jews in the industry and the films in question is clear in the films
Casablanca and AGentlemen’s Agreement.

The off-screen influence of Jews in Casablanca is obvious. The writer of the original
play, Murray Bennett; The screenwriters who adapted it, Philip, and Julius Epstein; Max Steiner,
the composer: Hal Wallis, the producer and Michael Curtiz the director were all Jewish. What
we don’t see are Jewish characters or at the very least characters who are identified as Jewish.
The film takes place during World War II in Casablanca in Morocco. It is a gathering point for
refugees from Eastern Europe to escape the Nazis and go to America. As such, we see in the
opening scenes in the marketplace a diverse group of people both native Moroccans, Europeans,
both French and Eastern Europeans. The movie lays out a map with refugees travelling from
Paris to Casablanca for the eventual trip to Lisbon and then America.We would anticipate that
the majority of these refugees would be German and Eastern European Jews who had managed
to make it to Paris rather than French citizens. The number of Eastern Europeans and Germans
who came to America during the war was ten times higher than the number of French
(Infoplease). Early in the film there is a call to ‘round up the suspicious characters’ because of
the murder of two Nazis. The local authorities gather up the Europeans, not the locals. These