The Jolson Story (1946)

This movie shows the idealized career of the singer Al Jolson, a little Jewish boy who goes against the will of his father in order to be in showbiz. He becomes a star, falls in love with a... See full summary »

Director:

Alfred E. Green

Writers:

Harry Chandlee (adaptation), Stephen Longstreet (screenplay)

Stars:

Larry Parks, Evelyn Keyes, William Demarest

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Larry Parks	...	Al Jolson
Evelyn Keyes	...	Julie Benson
William Demarest	...	Steve Martin
Bill Goodwin	...	Tom Baron
Ludwig Donath	...	Cantor Yoelson
Scotty Beckett	...	Asa Yoelson / Al Jolson - as a boy
Tamara Shayne	...	Mrs. Yoelson
Jo-Carroll Dennison	...	Ann Murray
John Alexander	...	Lew Dockstader
Ernest Cossart	...	Father McGee
The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir	...	Church Choir (as Mitchell 'Boychoir')
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Kellard	...	Henry - Orchestra Leader (as Bob Stevens)

Storyline

This movie shows the idealized career of the singer Al Jolson, a little Jewish boy who goes against the will of his father in order to be in showbiz. He becomes a star, falls in love with a non-Jewish dancer, and marries her. In the end he chooses success on the stage.

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Plot Keywords:

florenz ziegfeld character | al jolson character | three word title | surname in title | character name as title | 

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Taglines:

The Music...The Magic...The Times...of America's Greatest Entertainer

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Al Jolson

Box Office

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min 124 min (re-release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the time Al Jolson was beginning his career, minstrel shows were popular and there were numerous vaudeville performers who appeared in blackface makeup. One of the most popular was Eddie Cantor. This would not change until the end of the 1920s.

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Goofs

The same audience shot is used at two different theater venues.

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Quotes

Al Jolson: ...trying to make songs out of music I picked up. Music nobody ever heard of before, but the only kind I want to sing.

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Connections

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

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Soundtracks

Blue Bell
(uncredited)
Music by Theodore Morse
Lyrics by Edward Madden
Sung by Scotty Beckett (dubbed by Rudy Wissler)

User Reviews

The Greatest.

"Let me sing a funny song, with crazy words that roll along, and if my song can make you happy, I'm happy.....I'm happy....." Al Jolson sang those words of the song, ' Let me sing and I'm happy,' in the opening of The Jolson Story, words that epitomized the passion and energy in his music. The Jolson Story does a magnificent job in giving us a taste of Jolson's magic that spellbound America in the twenties and early thirties, most of his songs are in the show, April Showers, Swanee, Mammy, California Here I Come and , the incomparable, The Anniversary Song, sang as only Jolson can. And, due to some enterprising technology at the time we also hear more of his voice in the Movie that perhaps his fans did in those days with Film Studio microphones capturing and accentuating a deep resonance that is solely Jolson's. The Film doesn't attempt to factually explore his life, although we do get a chance to see some truths of the relationship with his real life wife, Ruby Keeler, who in the Movie was known as Julie Benson, played by Evelyn Keys. Interesting to note was the fact that Columbia Pictures, who released the Movie failed to give Warner Bros.the Film company responsible for giving Jolson the role in The Jazz Singer, any recognition whatsoever, presenting further evidence of the Producer's and Jolson's desire to give us some entertainment, as opposed to a lesson in history. And, entertained we are, as Larry Parks, with his unbelievable miming to Jolson's songs......apart from a cameo from Jolson singing Swanee....takes us from Vaudeville days in the twenties with all Jolson's great songs and routines, to his semi retirement in the thirties. The Jolson Story is a wonderful experience, full of songs we still sing today more than fifty years after they were released, and sung by the man most of us remember as the greatest entertainer of them all......Al Jolson.