Rating: NR
Genre:
Musical
Release Date: 10/21/2003
SubTitles: English/Japanese
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 130 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
Though legendary entertainer
Al Jolson was a highly visible presence on the U.S.O. circuit during World War II, he was generally regarded as a relic of an earlier time until his movie comeback in 1945's
Rhapsody in Blue. Showing up 30 minutes into this
biopic of
George Gershwin,
Jolson literally stopped the show with his robust rendition of
"Swanee." Suddenly, every Hollywood studio was negotiating with
Jolson to film his life story.
Warner Bros., the studio that skyrocketed to the top ranks via the 1927 part-talkie
Jolson vehicle
The Jazz Singer, seemed to have the inside track, but it was
Columbia's
Harry Cohn who made the deal that
Jolson couldn't refuse. An attractively appointed fabrication, the
Technicolor The Jolson Story distorts and glosses over the particulars of
Jolson's life, but the results are so darned entertaining that nobody really paid attention to its inaccuracies. The story begins in turn-of-the-century Washington, D.C., where young
Asa Yoelson (
Scotty Beckett), son of an immigrant cantor (
Ludwig Donath), ignores his religious studies in favor of popular music.
Asa is hired as an "extra added attraction" boy tenor by a vaudevillian; when his voice breaks, the boy wins over the audience with his whistling ability. Growing into manhood,
Asa Yoelson -- now "
Al Jolson," and now played by
Larry Parks -- becomes fascinated with African-American
jazz music. He breaks away from his initial vaudeville assignment by joining
Lew Dockstader's (
John Alexander) blackface minstrel troupe, then goes on to success as a "single." Ascending to Broadway,
Jolson establishes a reputation as an inveterate ad-libber, as well as an indefatigable singing performer, frequently holding an audience in thrall until the wee hours of the morning. Along the way, he falls in love with singer
Julie Benson (
Evelyn Keyes), a character based on
Jolson's third wife
Ruby Keeler, who refused permission to have her name used on screen. As
Jolson attains superstardom, his ego assumes gargantuan proportions, alienating many of those around him, including his wife
Julie. Anxious not to lose
Julie,
Jolson promises to change his ways. He even goes into retirement so as to spend more time with his wife. But when coerced into performing before a nightclub audience,
Jolson is "hooked"once more -- whereupon the understanding
Julie walks out of his life, realizing that she can never compete with
Jolson's love for his audience. Like its subject,
The Jolson Story delivered exactly what the audience wanted to hear. Faithful
Columbia contractee
Larry Parks was catapulted to stardom as
Jolson, though in retrospect he seems a curious casting choice: his miming of
Jolson's style is painstakingly accurate, but he seems too boyish and unwordly for the role.
Jolson, then well into his sixties, had wanted to play himself on screen, but was talked out of it after a rather embarrassing screen test. He consoled himself by personally coaching
Parks in the role (his attitude toward the young performer alternated between avuncular and adversarial through the shooting), and by providing his own voice in the musical sequences.
Jolson also appears in long-shot during the
"Swanee" number, which like all the film's musical highlights was directed by cult favorite
Joseph H. Lewis (whose "dry run" for this assignment was the 1945
PRC production
Minstrel Man). A wealth of
Jolson standards are heard in
The Jolson Story, including
"You Made Me Love You," "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," "My Mammy," "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder," "Toot Toot Tootsie," "The Anniversary Waltz," "Rock-a-bye Your Baby," and
"Let Me Sing and I'm Happy." The film was nominated for several Oscars, winning in the "best sound" and "best score" categories. A fantastic box-office success,
The Jolson Story spawned a 1949 sequel,
Jolson Sings Again. Ironically, despite
Larry Parks' contributions to the film, it did little for that actor and instead reignited
Jolson's celebrity during the last several years of his life.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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