I bought the DVD and listened with a pair of high-quality headphones. What I thought was going to be average monaural sound turned out to be fantastic stereo surround sound, with the original singing voice of Al Jolson coming across magnificently ..... and all long before Dolby this and Dolby that. I later read somewhere that the stereo treatment may have resulted from a re-release of the film in the 1950's. All I can say is it sounded great and deserved its Oscar win for Best Sound. The color cinematography also deserved its nomination from the Academy. All in all, great acting and story development, even if not completely accurate as a biography. I had only seen Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer," but Larry Parks seems to have pulled off the mannerisms quite well and exuberantly, too. Watching this interesting film makes it very clear why Al Jolson was so well loved and admired as an entertainer throughout the world. Every young person should see this film in order to appreciate what came before in the world of musical entertainment -- from minstrel shows to vaudeville and the advent of the "talkies."
The superb musical numbers "A Quarter To Nine" and "She's A Latin From Manhattan" were actually in the 1935 film "Go Into Your Dance," in which Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler starred together. To my astonishment that film is not available on DVD yet, but apparently can be seen on cable TV via Turner Classic Movies. It would be really interesting to see how close the musical numbers in "The Jolson Story" copied the original treatments in "Go Into Your Dance."
"The Jolson Story" seems to end suddenly and rather unexpectedly, and I felt the director and screenwriter should have added a bit more emotion and drama to the climax of having Julie Benson (as Ruby Keeler) walking out on Al Jolson. You have the feeling that you want the film to continue at that point, rather than end. This was perhaps planned that way. The sequel, "Jolson Sings Again," is also an excellent film.
The superb musical numbers "A Quarter To Nine" and "She's A Latin From Manhattan" were actually in the 1935 film "Go Into Your Dance," in which Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler starred together. To my astonishment that film is not available on DVD yet, but apparently can be seen on cable TV via Turner Classic Movies. It would be really interesting to see how close the musical numbers in "The Jolson Story" copied the original treatments in "Go Into Your Dance."
"The Jolson Story" seems to end suddenly and rather unexpectedly, and I felt the director and screenwriter should have added a bit more emotion and drama to the climax of having Julie Benson (as Ruby Keeler) walking out on Al Jolson. You have the feeling that you want the film to continue at that point, rather than end. This was perhaps planned that way. The sequel, "Jolson Sings Again," is also an excellent film.