Jolson Sings Again (1949) August 17, 2006
Posted by derek in : Reviews, Musical , add a commentLarry Parks again played the World’s Greatest Entertainer in this sequel to The Jolson Story (1946).
The film covers Jolson’s life roughly from 1939 (his divorce from Ruby Keeler (named Julie Benson in the movies) till 1947 (when he started a new starring radio series). Parks is once again fine as Jolson adroitly miming to the great man’s singing voice. It is slightly more nasal and even deeper than in the first biopic but sounds great.
Back from the first movie are William Demarest as Al’s manager Steve Martin (an imaginary amalgam of a few real people), Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as Cantor and Mama Yoelson and Bill Goodwin as Tom Baron (a Shubert substitute?) Myron McCormick pops up as a movie producer Al meets while entertaining troops during the war who of course is instrumental in making The Jolson Story (1946). The new Mrs Jolson, Ellen Clark based on real life Erle Galbraith is played by Barbara Hale who I believe later appeared in the Perry Mason TV series.
This is an interesting biopic as it actually depicts the making of The Jolson Story (1946) and the revival of interest in Jolson the film generated. This is a bit weird to watch and also involves watching chunks of the first biopic. Al himself is softened as he was in the first movie and his reaction to somebody else playing him is downplayed. It has been suggested that Jolson might have played himself in the second movie (screen test footage survives) but apparently remarked : “this guy Larry Parks plays me better than I play myself.” The real Jolson would definitely have been too old (62 though he looked older) but Parks at times almost looks too young though years where the prinicipals hardly age a day is hardly unusual in biopics. Parks almost looks the right age as Jolson in the weirdest scene in the movie. In this scene Parks playing Jolson meets Parks playing Parks : this is somehow achieved by having “Jolson” look like his hair is covered with whitening while “Parks” has his all vaselined. Songs include : Rockabye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody, Is It True What They Say About Dixie ?, For Me and My Gal, Back In Your Own Backyard, Give My Regards To Broadway, I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover, When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bobbin’ Along, Chinatown My Chinatown, I’m Just Wild About Harry, Baby Face, I Only Have Eyes For You, Sonny Boy, Toot Toot Tootsie, Pretty Baby, Carolina In the Morning (3 stars out of 5)
Ziegfeld on Film July 31, 2006
Posted by derek in : Reviews, Musical , add a commentMGM made three tributes to Broadway’s greatest showman.
The first and best was probably The Great Ziegfeld (1936) with a great performance from William Powell holding it together. A Best Picture winner in its day this film has its moments : the Pretty Girl Is Like Melody number is stupendous, also You Never Looked So Beautiful Before must have cost a fortune in ostrich feathers. A few of the other big numbers are a bit boring though particularly when compared with say Busby Berkeley, the worst one is about the circus which features Harriet Hoctor, a not very exciting dancer who appeared to little effect in a few Thirties musicals.
Its great to see a few performers who actually worked for Ziegfeld : Fanny Brice singing My Man (which they ruin by cutting away) and Ray Bolger but its a pity they had to draft in a lookalike for Eddie Cantor. The rest of it is pretty standard showbiz biopic stuff that would have been much better if it had been subjected to the editor’s scissors. Frank Morgan is of course Frank Morgan (did he play any other part in any of his movies !) and Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for chewing the scenery. (3 stars out of 5)
Five years later MGM treated us to Ziegfeld Girl (1941) in which the great showman doesn’t appear. Another rather overlong film which steals a few choice musical numbers from the original : more dramatic this one with Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and Judy Garland. Judy is in pretty good form. (2 1/2 stars out of 5)
Then we had Ziegfeld Follies (1945) in preparation for years, a sort of 20 year anniversary film for MGM : really a plotless revue film presented by Powell from heaven. The best stuff had Fred Astaire dancing with Lucille Bremer to This Heart of Mine and with Gene Kelly in The Babbitt and the Bromide. (2 1/2 stars out of 5)
Ziggy was portrayed in a few other films including The Jolson Story (1946) and Funny Girl (1968) : here looking rather old and distinguished in the form of Walter Pidgeon opposite Barbra Striesand’s Fanny Brice.
The Jolson Story (1946) July 29, 2006
Posted by derek in : Reviews, Musical , add a commentThe year 2006 marks the 120th anniversary of Al Jolson’s birth. I’ll be offering reviews of some of his movies in the next few months.
This was the first of two biopics on the life of the legendary entertainer Al Jolson, produced by Columbia in 1946 and 1949. Like Jack Warner of Warner Brothers before him Harry Cohn the head of Columbia was a big Jolson fan. Al was the only actor ever allowed into Cohn’s office at any time, a similar situation happened with Jack Warner after The Jazz Singer.
It wasn’t Cohn’s idea though to do Jolson’s life on film. The original idea was that of newspaper columnist Sydney Skolsky. He went round the big studios and was ridiculed. When Jack Warner heard though that Columbia wanted to do the film he was heartbroken that a film about his idol could be made at any other studio. He tried to get the property but failed.
Jolson wished he had come to terms with Warners when he found out that he wouldn’t be playing himself in the biopic. A sound decision as Al was 60 in 1945 and looked older. Eventually the part went to a little known 30 year old B-movie actor called Larry Parks.
Stephen Longstreet wrote the screenplay of the movie in which he emphasised the theme of this one man’s obsession with his audience and applause. It was really a love story in which Al in the end sacrifices his wife for his audience. To have portrayed all of his matrimonial troubles would have been too complicated so it was decided to concentrate on his third wife Ruby Keeler. Ruby though wouldn’t allow her name to be used in the movie so Al’s wife was called Julie Benson.
Belting out the songs on the soundtrack the old man was singing better than ever. True the story had its sentimental bits but rare in a biopic of the period didn’t shy away from portraying Jolson as a man who couldn’t really be happy outside showbusiness.
The great songs include : Let Me Sing and I’m Happy, Ma Blushin’ Rosie, My Mammy, Swanee, Toot Toot Tootsie, April Showers, California Here I Come, About A Quarter To Nine, Rockabye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody.
The film was a big box-office success and started a whole new career for Jolson on radio and records. (4 stars out of 5)