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The Jolson Story | |
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Directed by | Alfred E. Green |
Written by | Stephen Longstreet (screenplay) Sidney Buchman (uncredited) Harry Chandlee (adaptation) Andrew Solt (adaptation) |
Produced by | Sidney Skolsky |
Starring | Larry Parks Evelyn Keyes William Demarest Bill Goodwin |
Cinematography | Joseph Walker |
Edited by | William A. Lyon |
Music by | Morris Stoloff |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 130 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2 million [1] |
Box office | $7.6 million (US/Canada rentals) [2] |
The Jolson Story is a 1946 American biographical musical film, a fictionalized account of the life 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. Many of the film's episodes are based on fact but the story is simplified, with some people disguised or combined into single characters.
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.
Stage-struck Asa Yoelson wants to sing in burlesque performer Steve Martin's act. Cantor Yoelson, his father, refuses to consider it. After Asa runs away but is found in Baltimore, the Yoelsons grudgingly consent. Martin gives him billing, under a new name: Al Jolson. Jolson receives a job offer from minstrel-show master Lew Dockstader, and Martin releases Jolson.
Al succeeds with the minstrel troupe and is invited to join a Broadway show (thanks to Martin, behind the scenes). Al becomes the leading player and takes the show on tour. Al hires his old mentor Martin, now unemployed, to be his manager. In real life, Jolson never had a manager with this name. Jolson had three managers over the course of his career- Steve Martin is a composite of all three.
Jolson's career prevents him spending much time at home. He had always bargained on marrying his childhood friend, Ann Murray, but she eventually accepts a proposal from another childhood friend.
Soon afterwards, Al meets up-and-coming dancer Julie Benson. It is love at first sight for Al, who proposes to her that night. (Al Jolson was actually married four times. The character Julie Benson is modeled on his third wife, Ruby Keeler.) Julie does not love him immediately, but Al refuses to take no for an answer, and she eventually agrees to consider it. After Al misses a show in order to attend the opening of Julie's first show, she realises his feelings for her are genuine and they marry. Al electrifies the show world with his first feature film, The Jazz Singer , and eagerly signs for more movies. His wife wants to quit show business and settle down, but Al persuades her to continue with her career. Julie becomes a movie star, but eventually can't stand any more of Al's nonstop, show-biz lifestyle. Al realizes that the only way to keep Julie is to quit show business.
Al refuses all job offers and absolutely will not sing, even for family and friends. Papa Yoelson persuades his son to join him in a song –the music he and Mama Yoelson danced to at their wedding –and Al gets caught up in it. They adjourn to a nightclub, where the audience demands a song. Al agrees to a single number but the crowd yells for more. Julie, seeing Al happier than he's been in years, leaves while he's performing. She walks out of the nightclub and out of his life, leaving Al to his first love: singing.
Some of the plot details were fictionalized. There is no evidence that Jolson ever appeared as a child singer, and he was brought up by his sister, not his mother (who had died). Jolson actually had three managers, who were combined into the William Demarest character "Steve Martin". Ruby Keeler refused to allow her name to be used, so the writers used an alias, "Julie Benson". [3]
Larry Parks' vocals were recorded by Al Jolson; Scotty Beckett's songs were recorded by Rudy Wissler. Al Jolson, determined to appear on screen somehow, persuaded the producer to film him instead of Larry Parks for the blackface "Swanee" number. Jolson is seen entirely in long shot; he performs on a theater runway.
Filming was already under way as a black-and-white feature when studio chief Harry Cohn, encouraged by the scenes already filmed, decided to start the project all over as a Technicolor production. Cohn was impressed by director Joseph H. Lewis's handling of the musical numbers in the 1944 PRC feature Minstrel Man , and hired Lewis to stage the musical sequences for the Jolson project.
Jolson had a 50% share of the profits. [4]
The film was a tremendous financial success, and won Academy Awards for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Morris Stoloff), and Best Sound Recording (John Livadary). It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Larry Parks), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (William Demarest), Best Cinematography, Color (Joseph Walker) and Best Film Editing (William A. Lyon). [5] The film was also entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival. [6]
Larry Parks became a full-fledged star in major productions, until his career was derailed by blacklisting after he admitted to having had been a member of the Communist Party before the House Unamerican Activities Committee in 1951. [7] His sudden rise to prominence was considered an "overnight success," though he had been featured in Columbia's low-budget features for five years. Parks continued playing character leads, but was most associated with his interpretation of Jolson. Columbia cast him in a successful sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949).
The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists:
Lux Radio Theatre presented The Jolson Story on February 16, 1948. Jolson starred as himself in the one-hour adaptation. [9] Jolson also starred in a Lux adaptation of his first feature The Jazz Singer, supported by Jolson Story actors Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne.
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The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech. Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement".
Samuel Lawrence Klusman Parks was an American stage and film actor. His career arced from bit player and supporting roles to top billing, before it was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been a member of a Communist Party cell, which led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios. His best known role was Al Jolson, whom he portrayed in two films: The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949).
Ethel Ruby Keeler was an American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly 42nd Street (1933). From 1928 to 1940, she was married to actor and singer Al Jolson. She retired from show business in the 1940s, but made a widely publicized comeback on Broadway in 1971.
Carl William Demarest was an American actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom My Three Sons from 1965-72. Demarest, who frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles, was a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the late 1970s. Before his career in movies, he performed in vaudeville for two decades.
Scott Hastings Beckett was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the Our Gang shorts and later costarred on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
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"Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, and Benteen published a different version with guitar accompaniment in 1852 under the title "The Celebrated Ethiopian Song/Camptown Races". The song quickly entered the realm of popular Americana. Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869) quotes the melody in his virtuoso piano work Grotesque Fantasie, the Banjo, op. 15 published in 1855. In 1909, composer Charles Ives incorporated the tune and other vernacular American melodies into his orchestral Symphony No. 2.
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"I'm Sitting on Top of the World" is a popular song with music written by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. It was published in 1925.
Jolson Sings Again is a 1949 American musical biographical film directed by Henry Levin, and the sequel to The Jolson Story (1946), both of which cover the life of singer Al Jolson. It was the highest-grossing film of 1949 and received three Oscar nominations at the 22nd Academy Awards.
Ludwig Donath, was an Austrian actor who appeared in many American films.
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Show Girl is a musical by William Anthony McGuire that ran from Jul 2, 1929 to Oct 5, 1929. A backstage musical, much of the action of the musical's story takes place at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Other scenes take place in Trenton, New Jersey; Brooklyn; and at a Penthouse apartment in New York City. The show tells the story of aspiring Broadway showgirl Dixie Dugan as she is pursued by four suitors. The music was written by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn.
Lew Dockstader was an American singer, comedian, and vaudeville star, best known as a blackface minstrel show performer. Dockstader performed as a solo act and in his own popular minstrel troupe.
Go into Your Dance is a 1935 American musical drama film starring Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, and Glenda Farrell. The film was directed by Archie Mayo and is based on the novel of the same name by Bradford Ropes. It was released by Warner Bros. on April 20, 1935. An irresponsible Broadway star gets mixed up with gambling and gangsters.
Al Jolson was a Lithuanian-American singer, actor, and vaudevillian.
"The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" is a comic song which was composed and first performed by English music-hall performer Billy Merson.
Tamara Shayne, also known as Tamara Nikoulina, was a Russian-born actress and long-time resident in the United States.