Customer Reviews

The Jolson Story

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I"M A MAN OF FEW WORDS WHEN IT COMES TO THIS MOVIE, THE MOVIE
IS NOTHING SHORT OF WONDERFUL ENTERTAINMENT. THERE ARE ALOT OF
DISCREPANCIES ABOUT TRUTHS DATES AND ACTUAL HAPPENINGS, HOWEVER
THE MOVIE IS MAGIC, IT WILL TAKE YOU BACK TO A TIME OF INNOCENCE
AND WHEN AMERICA TRULY HAD GREAT ENTERTAINMENT, SO SIT BACK GRAB THE POPCORN AND BE PREPARED TO TRULY ENJOY THIS MOVIE WHICH I"M SURE WILL LEAVE YOU HUMMING SOME OF THE WONDERFUL SONGS,AND LONGING TO CRANK UP THE DVD PLAYER AND WATCH IT AGAIN AND AGAIN

This brought back wonderful memories of a great movie that I saw for the first time as a little girl. Its nostalgic music from a super star from the past, holds up surprisingly well today. I think it's a classic movie, that although it seems a bit stilted compared to today's movie production standards, entertains well. Worth the purchase price and watching every couple years - just for the music.

The young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett) runs away from home to join Steve Martin (William Demarest) in vaudeville against the wishes of his parents. They find him and realising how much he wants to get into show business they reluctantly agree for him to join Martin on tour. As he grows up he changes his name to Al Jolson (now played by Larry Parks) and becomes a big Broadway star. He meets Julie Benson (Evelyn Keyes) and they get married. However, all that Jolson really cares about is to get in front of an audience and sing so his marriage suffers because of it. He stars in one successful Broadway show after another and then is invited to go to Hollywood to take the lead in the first ever talking picture "The Jazz Singer". In later years his popularity declines and he finds it harder to get work. He does in fact make a sensational comeback and is in even bigger demand than ever which was portrayed in the sequel "Jolson Sings Again".

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. Parks gave a magnificent portrayal but apart from appearing in "Jolson Sings Again" three years later he made very few films after that due to the McCarthy communist "witch hunt" which was a shame.

Some favourite lines from the film:

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!".

Parks (to audience in theatre): "I'm going into what they call talking pictures - don't know what's going to happen to me - but er, if I come back you'll let me - won't you?".

"The Jolson Story" is one of those rare movies that you can enjoy over and over again and has a high place in my Top Ten films of all time. Wonderful acting, superb colour, fascinating story (even though not entirely accurate), and how about those memorable old songs - "California Here I Come", "April Showers", "Swanee", "Rockabye Your Baby", "Robert E. Lee", "Mammy", "You Made Me Love You", "I'm Sitting On Top of the World", "About a Quarter to Nine", etc. This film is worth seeing just to hear the real Al Jolson belting out the songs that made him famous. Jolson was often billed as "the world's greatest entertainer" and I'm sure that was a title well deserved. Clive Roberts.

THE JOLSON STORY is one of the greatest musicals of all time! Jolson's story (based on fact, but fictionalized), his actual singing and Larry Parks' acting and lip-synching are beyond compare!

I think it's a shame that every junky new movie is put on DVD and we have to wait for a classic like this to come out.

THAT'S WHAT I HAD WRITTEN, BUT ALAS, IT'S ON DVD EFFECTIVE 10/21/03!
Sound is good and picture is good, but not excellent. There are dirt flicks during the movie, especially when Young Al is in the audience singing to his future manager (William Demarest). Houw could this have been digitally mastered? Also, there is NO TRAILER and NO EXTRAS! The cover looks awful! But ... it's on DVD!

This movie will always be in my top ten list of favourites. I was five years old when i was first saw it. It was the evening of Sept 22 1947. I went with my mother and aunt to our local cinema which happened to be opposite my grandparents house in Holt,Norfolk. U.K. The movie changed my life from then on i wanted to sing and to this day i still make my living as a vocalist. In the days before TV and only having the Radio to listen to i grew up thinking Larry Parks really was Al Jolson and the shock in later years to find that he really did`nt look like him and the story was pure Hollywood hoakam. It was almost as big as the shock i had learning Bing Crosby wore a toupee.
After all these years i don`t care its a wonderful movie that still brings a tear to the eye when i think of that small boy going to the movies with his mother and aunt. Larry Parks was brilliant ( can anyone name any other movies he was in ) The great Al was still in top form singing the songs that he made famous sadly leaving us just as part two was released. I urge anyone who hasnt seen this movie to give it a viewing. Hollywood at its best. And please please please a DVD release. Even better with Jolson Sings Again on the same disc....

Like another reviewer, I have literally seen this movie over a hundred times. I grew up watching this movie on TV every time it came on. The Laserdisc release was very good. I am happy to report that the DVD transfer is very nice. The packaging is awful and would lead you to believe this is one of those throwaway bargin DVDs, but the package does indicate the re-mastering was done in high definition. The sound indicates mono, which most of the movie is, but it is really the stereo version of the movie which as a few pans of some sound effects taken from the original mono release. For Jolson Story fans, I do not need to sell on this, but for those who have never heard Al Jolson, this is the best way to hear him.

What an excellent movie and i have been waiting forever for this to come on dvd, im so happy it is. A must see for anyone really! It may seem kinda odd to watch a singer from the 30's and 40's but trust me, he is the one who started it all. The life story is very touching and very amazing! Must See

Larry Parks does a superb job in The Jolson Story. Can't see how anyone else could have performed this part. This is an infectious, happy movie. Full of spirit, and obviously full of song. It is one of those movies you will scren time and time again. Indeed, it is timeless - just like Al Jolson himself.

I first saw "The Jolson Story" in 1946 when I was a child. I developed a crush on Larry Parks, and a love of the music of Al Jolson. Periodically, I watch the video, as I did today. Ludwig Donath, who starred as Al Jolson's father in the film was a friend of my family. I have two personally autographed pictures of him. He was an accomplished actor from Austria, and a fine person. There is little comparable to the "Anniversary Song" as performed later in the film. My mother saw Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler three times in person in the San Diego area and in Los Angeles. "The Jolson Story" is one of my all time favorites. I wish that we had more contemporary entertainers like Al Jolson.

I have watched this movie literally hundreds of times, and it gets better all the time. Larry Parks is phenomenal as the incomparable Al Jolson, flawless in lip synching the great songs. The entire cast is terrific, as are the story and music. Not so patiently waiting for it to come out on DVD!