THE JOLSON STORY

"THE JOLSON STORY" is in my opinion probably the best musical biography ever to come out of Hollywood and LARRY PARKS was simply sensational in his amazing portrayal of Al Jolson which upgraded him overnight from being a routine Columbia B picture contract player to a star! However, it was a great shame that he made so few films following the two Jolson biopics due to the communist witch hunt which sadly brought his once promising screen career to an abrupt end. He was just one of many Hollywood actors whose careers were ruined by these investigations. James Cagney was actually the first choice to play Jolson in the film but he turned it down as did Danny Thomas and Gene Kelly. Jolson desperately wanted to play the leading role himself - and was opposed to another actor portraying his life. Unfortunately for him, the studio decided that he was obviously too old (he was 60 at the time of the first film) but Columbia couldn't have found anyone better than the younger Larry Parks (then 31) who perfectly captured the Jolson style and threw himself into the part with relish. However, Jolson did manage to play himself in one scene of "The Jolson Story" singing "Swanee" on the Winter Garden theatre runway (all filmed in long-shot with no close ups as that would have given the game away). A clip from this scene was also shown in "Jolson Sings Again" - so he did manage to appear in both films after all. When I first saw "The Jolson Story" I had never heard of its star Larry Parks although I had bought a few Jolson records prior to seeing the film. "The Jolson Story" is one of those rare movies that you can enjoy again and again and has a high place in my "top ten" films of all time. Jolson was often billed as "the world's greatest entertainer" and that is a title I am sure was well deserved. It is interesting to note that the storyline in "The Jolson Story" is not entirely accurate and took a few liberties with the facts. Jolson's mother had in fact died when he was only eight years old but in the film she lives on to see him become a big success on Broadway and in talking pictures. Surprisingly, many of the people who played active roles in Jolson's real life story don't even get a mention in the film versions, such as his long time manager Louis Epstein, his dresser valet Frank Holmes - and his brother Harry Jolson, who were all eliminated! The character of Steve Martin played by William Demarest did not actually exist and it has been suggested that this role was probably a composite of the three men referred to above, plus several other people. Jolson's first two wives were not even mentioned in "The Jolson Story" and Ruby Keeler (Jolson's third wife) would not allow her name to be used in the film so attractive Evelyn Keyes had to play the fictitious Julie Benson instead! Harry Cohn (the notorious head of Columbia Pictures) is to be congratulated for going ahead with Jolson's life story when so many of the other Hollywood studios had turned it down. Even Warner Bros. (for whom Jolson had starred in several films) were not interested. Filming was started on a small budget - and in black and white. When Harry Cohn saw the first rushes, he decided to film in colour and make "The Jolson Story" a major prestigious production. This certainly paid off for him in a big way as "The Jolson Story" became one of Columbia's top money earners - and led to a sequel "Jolson Sings Again" in 1949. Among all the numerous books written about Al Jolson I think you might enjoy "The Legend Comes to Life" by Herbert G. Goldman.
Favourite lines:
William Demarest: "Give that boy a spotlight!".
Tamara Shayne (to Ludwig Donath): "Papa, Asa isn't Asa any more!".
Larry Parks (to orchestra leader): "Oscar, what are you doing with that phone - this is no time to call up women!".
Parks (to audience in theatre): "Settle back folks - you ain't heard nothin' yet!"
This film is worth seeing just to hear the real Al Jolson belting out "California Here I Come", "Robert E. Lee", "Swanee", "Rockabye Your Baby", "About a Quarter to Nine", "You Made Me Love You", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "Mammy" and many of his other famous songs.