The Jolson Story

Released Oct 10, 1946

2h 8m

Biography

List

100%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

79%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

At the turn of the 20th century, young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett) decides to go against the wishes of his cantor father (Ludwig Donath) and pursue a career in show business. Gradually working his way up through the vaudeville ranks, Asa -- now calling himself Al Jolson (Larry Parks) -- joins a blackface minstrel troupe and soon builds a reputation as a consummate performer. But as his career grows in size, so does his ego, resulting in battles in business as well as in his personal life.

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Jack Moffitt

Esquire Magazine

The Jolson Story says that most show people have the same struggles, the same desire for a home, and the same love of family that motivate other Americans.

Oct 7, 2020

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

A vastly entertaining, but cliche ridden and fictionalized biopic of the legendary performer

Rated: B-

Jun 13, 2011

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It has the music alright, but the dramatics are corny, tiresome and not reliable.

Rated: B-

Dec 30, 2007

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Strange biography with some rousing music numbers.

Aug 9, 2007

Full Review

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Not a lot of relation to the truth, but with all those Jolson songs on the soundtrack it hardly matters.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 8, 2004

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Audience Member

A pretty enjoyable film with a good performance from Larry Parks but which also has some overacting and a weak ending. I am only familiar with Al Jolson in regards to the first talking picture; The Jazz Singer. However, I didn't know much else about him before watching the film. The plot of the film is quite cookie cutter, but Larry Parks performance kept me engaged throughout the film. He was deservedly nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance. William Demarest was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category. However, though he was good, he was not as good as the other nominated performances I have seen; Russell and Rains. The cinematography in the film was quite good but I believe could have been improved upon. The ending of the film did not make much sense to me. Jolson's wife walks out on him because he was forced to sing in a nightclub after being in retirement for two years. He justification for leaving was that he looked too happy while performing even though what he was doing was a performance. It just made no sense. Overall, though, quite an enjoyable film with good performances and dance numbers.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

steve d

Fails to provide any insight or entertainment.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

The best musical movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

a nice look into the life of an entertainment legend in his time

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

wonderful Film - excellent Castings. I've seen it many times.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Historically inaccurate, but the music is good. Allegedly the story of the life of Al Jolson, but is biographical and accurate only in the Hollywood sense. Far too much poetic license is taken with the plot, to the point that after a while you wonder if anything you saw is true. the biggest example of this is the implication that Jolson was first married, to Julie Benson, around the time he made The Jazz Singer (1927). He did get married, to Ruby Keeler, in 1928, but this was his third marriage! Wouldn't want to ruin the "hero eventually meets his perfect one after putting his career first and much disappointment, dating-wise" plot you figured would work on audiences, would you now, Hollywood? I guess the fact that her name was changed should be a clue that this is a work of fiction... The "happily ever after" ending was also fictional, as they divorced in 1940, six years before the movie was made. On the positive side, some good music and stage performances. On that note, Larry Parks is kind of hit-and-miss as Al Jolson. His stage performances are good, and seem to portray well the larger-than-life, complete entertainer nature of Al Jolson. However, in the off-stage scenes he comes across as overbearing, overly energetic, phony and downright irritating. If you are interested in the correct history of Al Jolson, don't watch this. Watch a History Channel documentary instead, or just read Wikipedia.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Alfred E. Green

Director

Larry Parks

Al Jolson

Evelyn Keyes

Julie Benson

William Demarest

Steve Martin

Bill Goodwin

Tom Baron

Ludwig Donath

Cantor Yoelson

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Synopsis

At the turn of the 20th century, young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett) decides to go against the wishes of his cantor father (Ludwig Donath) and pursue a career in show business. Gradually working his way up through the vaudeville ranks, Asa -- now calling himself Al Jolson (Larry Parks) -- joins a blackface minstrel troupe and soon builds a reputation as a consummate performer. But as his career grows in size, so does his ego, resulting in battles in business as well as in his personal life.

Director: Alfred E. Green
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 1946, Original
Release Date (DVD): Oct 21, 2003
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Stereo