LARRY PARKS EVELYN KEYES WILLIAM DEMAREST BILL GOODWIN
SCOTTY BECKETT and JOHN ALEXANDER
star in
A Film by Alfred E. Green
THE JOLSON STORY
Academy Award Winner - Best Sound Recording / Best Musical, Scoring of a Musical Picture - 1947
VHS - PAL - NEW and SEALED - NEVER PLAYED!! - VERY RARE!! - G-rated - 125-minutes - In Technicolor - Drama, Biography, Music - 1946-release - Small Sell-Through Box
The Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson.
It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as "Julie Benson" (approximating Jolson's wife, Ruby Keeler), William Demarest as his manager, Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as his parents, and Scotty Beckett as the young Jolson.
The Columbia Pictures production was written by Sidney Buchman (uncredited), Harry Chandlee, Stephen Longstreet and Andrew Solt.
The dramatic scenes were directed by Alfred E. Green, with the musical sequences directed by Joseph H. Lewis.
The film was a tremendous financial success, and won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Larry Parks), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (William Demarest), Best Cinematography, Color and Best Film Editing.
I was 20years old when this film came out, and Jolson voice was so well known even before, that it was such a big thrill to see his biography on film.
Larry Parks was typecast from the very beginning, playing Al Jolson.
He was a fine actor but got involved with communism politics of the McCarthy Hearings and was dropped by the studios in 1950.
Evelyn Keyes (of Gone With the Wind fame) plays Mrs Jolson, and William Demarest plays Jolson's mentor.
Ludwig Donath plays his father the Cantor while Tamara Shayne plays his mother.
His father wanted him to be a cantor, but Jolson wanted to sing on stage, so he runs away at an early age. He takes up with a fidler on the stage played by William Demarest.
It is true that Jolson was such an egotist and loved singing so much that it broke up his marriage.
Wonderful scoring of the music, and photography is enchanting.
If you like the old songs, especially Jolson's, don't miss it! 8/10