The Jolson Story

The grand tribute to Al Jolson. Full color, the original voice, and a story glossing over any rough edges of his character. The celebration Jolson himself always wanted. As it's more or less all positive, it's not one for those wanting a deeper connection to a person, but only to get an idea of the phenomenon that was Al Jolson.

Highly fictionalized - and highly profitable - take on the career of Al Jolson (Larry Parks; Jolson does the singing), for the most part forgoing drama in favor of corny antics and musical numbers - and blackface, which is presented without commentary or critique. That said, it manages to be quite entertaining, thanks to a strong cast (Parks and William Demarest earned Oscar nominations; they're both good), the songs, and a colorful production.

Eye rollingly hokey at times, but a generally colourful, enjoyable distraction tells the life story of Jolson as a reimagined version of his own JAZZ SINGER. Helped to an enormous degree by Parks' fine performance, miming convincingly to some great Jolson recordings, though the second half especially devolves into an overlong cavalcade of melodies, as anything resembling a strong narrative arc is discarded.