There was a time when they didn’t come any bigger than Al Jolson – a big stage star, a bigger movie star whose popularity ensured the success of sound movies, then a dip… but this biopic of his life was the most popular Hollywood movie in 1946, the all-time biggest year (commercially) in Hollywood’s history. I guess he had a lot of nostalgic appeal.
The role of Jolson was played in the movie by Larry Parks, but he was unavailable so the real Jolson stepped in instead. Or maybe Jolson insisted – he had a notoriously large ego (at the end he does a shout out to Parks but makes a crack about wanting to break Parks’ arm for winning an acting award for playing him… an element of truth?). William Demarest and Evelyn Keyes return from the movie as Jolson’s friend and wife (based on Ruby Keeler). “Conflict” is provided by Jolson’s father wanting him to be a cantor and his wife wanting him to settle down. Extracts from lots of famous songs eg “Swanee”, “I Wanna Be Loved by You”. Standard biopic, of great historical interest.
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