Jolie the Real Al Jolson Story by Charles Fisher

Author:Charles Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Larry Parks, Vaudeville, Minstrel, Broadway, Jewish celebrities
Publisher: charles fisher
Published: 2016-06-14T04:00:00+00:00

“The Jolson Story”

In 1945, Columbia Pictures provided the opportunity that would make Al Jolson a big star again; they decided to make a motion picture about his life. The movie, initially referred to in the industry as “Cohn’s Folly,” would be Columbia’s major release for the following year. It would make a major star out of an unknown actor, and would defy the critics by becoming the highest grossing movie ever produced by Columbia.

A word needs to be said about the amount of money this movie took in. It’s hard to get a handle on actual numbers, but most sources put the 1946 domestic gross at 8 million. There were 141 million people in the US at that time, and the average price for a movie ticket was about 20 cents when you factor in matinees, etc. Therefore, the number of people who saw this movie would be approximately 40 million. Today, with a population of 300 million, that would translate into a little over 90 million viewers. With a 2010 average ticket price of $8, today “The Jolson Story” would gross 720 million!

Plagued early on by irregularities in scheduling, technical problems, crew problems, casting problems and a personality clash or two, the eventual product would go on to be one of the most beloved movies in history. It had many names at first, but eventually Harry Cohn declared that it would simply be called “The Jolson Story.”

From the start, the project had several strikes against it; Al Jolson was effectively washed up at the time and had been replaced on radio and records by “crooners” like Bing Crosby. His Broadway and movie careers had been over for five years, and his popularity had waned with his old fans to the point that most of them thought he had died. The only real audiences he had performed in front of since 1942 had been American servicemen. The only time the public heard Jolson was when he made an appearance on radio. Forgotten and despondent, Al Jolson spent his time sitting by the pool at his house in California waiting for the offers of work that never came.

One song Jolie recorded during this time period was “Who Says Dreams Don’t Come True.” Recorded for Columbia Pictures in 1944 for the movie “The Impatient Years,” the song was supposed to be played over the opening credits. The musical part was eventually used, but not Jolie’s recording. Later in the movie Bob Haymes, brother of singer Dick Haymes, sang the song. It’s a beautiful song, one of the best Al ever recorded. It was never released to the public, but it should have been. Al and Harry Akst had writing credits. Jolson impersonator Clive Baldwin recorded it on one of his CDs. Jolie’s version is still on Youtube.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Columbia borrowed Bruce Humberstone from Twentieth Century Fox to direct “The Jolson Story.” The Hollywood Reporter later said that Humberstone returned to Fox two months later, after encountering numerous script delays. Columbia replaced Humberstone with Alfred E.

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