Le roman d'Al Jolson

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.

After all these years, and all my countless viewings, "The Jolson Story" remains the most magical and thrilling of all Hollywood musical biographies. It also stands as testament to "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Al Jolson, and his tremendous impact on show business for all time. Jolie's fantastic voice, filled with warmth, power and soul, will always be heard as long as this wonderful movie is viewed. Larry Parks and his supporting cast are superb, but it is that Jolson voice, electricity-personified, that elevates the film to immortal status.

As a previous commentator put it so well, Larry Parks is better at playing Jolson than Jolson is! It's a fact. Watching him perform as Jolson is infinitely more pleasurable than watching the man himself--and if you've seen any of Jolson's own films you'll acknowledge the truth in my statement. Thank God Larry Parks was chosen to play him--his lip synch job is amazing. When those pure rich tones emanate from his mouth the movie goes into high gear. A dazzling number of songs sung in Jolson's inimitable style makes this a real treasure for fans of nostalgia. It's no wonder this was one of the most popular films of 1946. Glossy production values, a great cast, a script that whitewashes the true Jolson character but still has enough bearing on reality to make it an interesting bio. A total pleasure from beginning to end--again, mainly because Larry Parks was at the right place at the right time. Definitely one of the best musical biographies of all time...and fortunately, the sequel is not far behind it. See 'Jolson Sings Again' and you'll see what I mean.

Al Jolson, along with Frank Sinatra, were perhaps the two greatest singer/entertainers of the 20th Century. This film, made in 1946, was both the launching pad and "ball and chain" for Larry Parks. His performance was so good it earned him an Academy Award nomination. He spent countless hours perfecting the Jolson mannerisms and lip-syncing the songs that the great Jolson recorded for the movie. Unfortunately he became so typecast in the role that his reprise of the role in the sequel in 1949 was his only other claim to fame. That, and his admission and subsequent subliminal blacklist from Hollywood for being a member of the Communist Party between 1941-1951, stopped his career before it ever really had a chance to bloom.

My father had me watch this movie as a kid on Million Dollar Movie and I was taken by the personality, drive, energy, and talent of this great entertainer. Hearing about, and seeing, silent movies made me all the more in awe of the talent Jolson must have been since Hollywood banked it's future on talkies with "The Jazz Singer".

Besides Parks excellent performances are also put in by William Demerest, who many of us remember as Uncle Charlie in My Three Sons, Evelyn Keyes as Julie Benson (Jolson's first wife) and the rest of the cast. The 1949 making of Jolson Sings Again is also worthwhile, if for no other reason than watching Parks do the masterful lip-sync and the incredible vocals of Jolson.

I have just watched the Jolson story on dvd and it is great, the music is fresh and the technicolor is fantastic.The story is loosely based on Jolsons life, though I think if your after a serious study of his career you should visit your libary and read up on his life.The acting is top notch, William Demarest is excellent as the Steve Martin a mentor to Jolson as he grows up then a manager of his career.I also like the performances of mama and the kantor.The Julie Benson charactor is supposed to be Ruby Keeler, they are the perfect couple but show business is the drug that Al Jolson is addicted to, and that eats into their relationship.The energy of this movie is tremendous it stays with you for hours the melodys linger in your head, its life affirming.The beauty of this dvd is that the sequel is also on the dvd so I will be watching that soon.Marks out of ten /9.5