[4] Jolson performs the song in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer in character as Jack Robin (formerly Jakie Rabinowitz).

The film concerns the attempt of Jolson's character to become a vaudeville performer against opposition from his religious Jewish family.

[4] After he sings the song Jolson responds to the audience's applause by saying in improvised dialogue, "Wait a minute.

[5] Michael Rogin describes them as "These first words of feature movie speech, a kind of per-formative, announce-you ain't heard nothing yet-the birth of sound movies and the death of silent film".

[5] Jolson's performance of the song was extensively analysed in the 2005 book Style and Meaning: Studies in the Detailed Analysis of Film, with "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" being perceived as "an extraordinary revelation of the entire narrative structure of the film".