Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

grantss Historically inaccurate, but the music is good. Allegedly the story of the life of Al Jolson, but is biographical and accurate only in the Hollywood sense. Far too much poetic license is taken with the plot, to the point that after a while you wonder if anything you saw is true. the biggest example of this is the implication that Jolson was first married, to Julie Benson, around the time he made The Jazz Singer (1927). He did get married, to Ruby Keeler, in 1928, but this was his third marriage! Wouldn't want to ruin the "hero eventually meets his perfect one after putting his career first and much disappointment, dating-wise" plot you figured would work on audiences, would you now, Hollywood? I guess the fact that her name was changed should be a clue that this is a work of fiction...The "happily ever after" ending was also fictional, as they divorced in 1940, six years before the movie was made. On the positive side, some good music and stage performances.On that note, Larry Parks is kind of hit-and-miss as Al Jolson. His stage performances are good, and seem to portray well the larger- than-life, complete entertainer nature of Al Jolson. However, in the off-stage scenes he comes across as overbearing, overly energetic, phony and downright irritating.If you are interested in the correct history of Al Jolson, don't watch this. Watch a History Channel documentary instead, or just read Wikipedia.

Niv-1 A musical biopic of Al Jolson which stars Larry Parks. Parks got an Oscar nomination as did William Demarest who plays Jolson's mentor. Parks is excellent as Jolson. He has a real sense of enthusiasm and his eyes are expressive. You can see why he became a legendary entertainer. Jolson was the star of The Jazz Singer, the first "talkie." The black face is disturbing, but it was a popular form of entertainment. You hear Jolson's singing of hits like Mammy.One of the main selling points of the movie is not only Parks performance but the all of the scenes that led to Jolson becoming an entertainer. You see scenes from his youth and his family life. The actor who portrays the young Jolson is very good.

bkoganbing Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures may have been the most ruthless of the famed movie moguls of the studio system era, but he did have a streak of sentimentality. When Al Jolson was pretty much a forgotten man and a washed up entertainer, Cohn took a lot upon himself and shelled out very heavily to bring the story of an entertainer that he personally idolized.In real life Al Jolson could be one egotistical and mean man, so I think Cohn recognized a lot of himself there. But it wouldn't do to tell the real story and besides the movie going public if they were going to buy tickets would be buying tickets to hear him sing.So from the various sources Cohn would have had to shell out quite a bit of cash to get the rights to all the songs Jolson was identified with from the various sources. One of those sources was a rival studio, Warner Brothers where Jolson spent the bulk of his film career. What Jack Warner must have gotten from Cohn for all those songs.In telling the story Jolie's first two wives were left out of the film, his first wife was movie queen Julie Benson. That was because Ruby Keeler would not give the use of her name for the film. So Evelyn Keyes played Julie Benson, fictional wife of Al Jolson.William Demarest's character for which he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination of Steve Martin was an amalgamation of about three or four people who were to use a contemporary phrase, part of the Jolson posse. One of those people was Jolson's older brother Harry who tried a career as an entertainer, but couldn't compete and gave up trying. His actually is an interesting story of someone who could never get out from under the shadow of a legend.Larry Parks who had done a few B films for Columbia got his big break playing Al Jolson and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. If people know Parks today it's because of his playing Al Jolson as he was a prominent blacklist casualty. Of course Parks was helped immeasurably by the voice of Jolson singing all his songs.Counting Scotty Beckett who played Jolson as a kid and was also dubbed and Jolson/Parks singing their number, there was an incredible amount of music here. The basic parts of The Jolson Story that were true were about his childhood as the son of a cantor, Ludwig Donath, in Washington, DC and running away from home to go into show business.His background in minstrel shows is depicted here quite accurately and for whatever reason he never could shake it. I think he thought this was what his public wanted even when public tastes changed.Musically the film is deficient in the comedy numbers which haven't survived like the other songs Jolson did, but were an integral part of his act. One here was done with a full production number, The Spaniard That Blighted My Life. Here it's done solo, but Jolson recorded it as a duet with Bing Crosby in the flipside of another duet Alexander's Ragtime Band. Both are absolute classics.Still the songs are the key and it's certainly quite a whitewashing of The Jolson Story. But the film certainly is something that Jolson would have liked to have been remembered for and by.

Casablanca3784 I could sit and listen to Jolson music endlessly. First of all,he had to be the originator of soul music, sung right from the heart. We heard what he felt and then felt what he felt. Secondly,he was the only singer I ever heard whose voice sounded like a trumpet. Perfect pitch, clear,crisp and resounding. Hence, we put together those two attributes, add his showmanship, charm and charisma and we end up with the greatest single entertainer in the history of American show business. Larry Parks is truly astounding and gives a performance, including perfect lip synching, that should have earned him the Oscar. Politics came first, apparently. The film, even with its occasional flaws, was amazingly entertaining. From the first scene to when his Julie Benson walks out by realizing that she could have never taken the music out of Jolson and vice versa,the entire production was pure hypnotic joy. Unbeatable music, warmth, tenderness and humility run wild. A superb feast for the ears and eyes. A never-to-be-forgotten film.