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Al Jolson

Al Jolson

Al Jolson (May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer".He was born in the Russian Empire (the part of which is now in Lithuania) and emigrated to America at the age of five with his Jewish parents.

His performing style was brash and extroverted, and he popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach". Numerous well-known singers were influenced by his music, including Bing Crosby Judy Garland, rock and country entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bob Dylan, who once referred to him as "somebody whose life I can feel". Broadway critic Gilbert Seldes compared him to "the Great God Pan," claiming that Jolson represented "the concentration of our national health and gaiety."

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Movies Starring Al Jolson (35)

Sunshine State (2022)

Steve McQueen's first new artwork since his major commission Year 3 at Tate Britain in 2019, Sunshine State is a two-channel video projection shown on both sides of two screens placed one next to the other. Opening with footage of a burning sun, the work u ...

The Real Charlie Chaplin (2021)

A look at the life and work of Charlie Chaplin in his own words featuring an in-depth interview he gave to Life magazine in 1966. ...

Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty (2020)

The whole world knows him. Burlesque comedy genius, popular actor, author, director, producer, composer, choreographer, Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) used his talent to serve an ideal of justice and freedom. But his best scenario was his own destiny, a story ...

Vito (2011)

In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He went on to write "The Celluloid Closet", the first book to critique Hollywood's portrayals of gays on scree ...

The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk (2007)

The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk (2007)

Film historians, and survivors from the nearly 30-year struggle to bring sound to motion pictures take the audience from the early failed attempts by scientists and inventors, to the triumph of the talkies. ...

Vaudeville (1997)

Vaudeville is a 1997 PBS documentary under its American Masters program. Using film clips and photos, the art and history of vaudeville (1890-1930s) is illustrated. ...

Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To (1990)

This tribute to Myrna Loy is organized chronologically with a few photographs, many film clips, a handful of personal appearances, and a detailed commentary delivered on camera by Kathleen Turner. Turner walks us through Loy's career as a dancer and an act ...

Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)

Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War. ...

Showbiz Goes to War (1982)

While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the American public through bond sales, morale-boosting USO tours, patriotic war dramas and escapist film fare. ...

Salsa (1976)

The Fania All Stars perform for 44,000 fans at Yankee stadium in New York. Besides concert footage, there's also included a history of Salsa, and vintage film clips of Hollywood's portrayal of Latinos in movies during the 1930's and 40's. ...

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975)

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression. ...

Hollywood and the Stars (1964)

NBC's pioneering documentary series, produced by the David L. Wolper Production Company, in association with United Artists Television. Each 30-minute show concentrated on a Hollywood genre, film or legendary star. This series ran from September 30, 1963 u ...

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino (1961)

A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death. ...

Screen Snapshots: Memorial to Al Jolson (1952)

Jack Benny narrates the Screen Snapshots that, utilizing archive footage, traces the career of Al Jolson, and rare off-stage shots of Jolson with stars such as Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor and Pat O'Brien. ...

Purple Heart Diary (1951)

A trio of singers entertaining hospitalized soldiers during WWII encourage a wounded soldier in his love for a nurse. ...

The Golden Twenties (1950)

Feature-length compilation of 1920s newsreel footage, with commentary about news, sports, lifestyles, and historical figures. ...

Jolson Sings Again (1949)

In this sequel to The Jolson Story, we pick up the singer's career just as he has returned to the stage after a premature retirement. But his wife has left him and the appeal of the spotlight isn't what it used to be. This time Jolson trades in the stage f ...

The Jolson Story (1946)

At the turn of the 20th century, young Asa Yoelson decides to go against the wishes of his cantor father and pursue a career in show business. Gradually working his way up through the vaudeville ranks, Asa — now calling himself Al Jolson — joins a blac ...

Okay for Sound (1946)

This short was released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Warner Brothers' first exhibition of the Vitaphone sound-on-film process on 6 August 1926. The film highlights Thomas A. Edison and Alexander Graham Bell's efforts that contributed to sound ...

Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

Fictionalized biography of George Gershwin and his fight to bring serious music to Broadway. ...

Take It or Leave It (1944)

A young husband becomes a game-show participant in the hopes of winning the cash to pay his pregnant wife's doctor. ...

The Voice That Thrilled the World (1943)

This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott's experiments in 1857. Featured are snippets from early sound pictures. ...

Show-Business at War (1943)

A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort. ...

Swanee River (1939)

Swanee River is a 1940 American biopic about Stephen Foster, a songwriter from Pittsburgh who falls in love with the South, marries a Southern girl, then is accused of sympathizing when the Civil War breaks out. Typical of 20th Century Fox biopics of the t ...

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound. ...

Rose of Washington Square (1939)

Rose Sargent, a Roaring '20s singer, becomes a Ziegfeld Follies star as her criminal husband gets deeper in trouble. ...

Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8 (1939)

Ice skating is the theme; at the Tropical Ice Garden, in Westwood Hills, are seen a flock of skating stars including Irene Dare and Phyllis Ann Thomoson, as well as Hollywood luminaries such as Franklyn Pangborn, Norma Shearer, Rita Hayworth, Mickey Rooney ...

Hollywood Handicap (1938)

A group of stable hands is given a race horse when its owner retires from the business. They raise money to run the horse in the Hollywood Derby at Santa Anita race track. Many Hollywood personalities attend the event. ...

Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12 (1937)

A tour of Hollywood, featuring such star frequented spots as the Vendome, the Lakeside Golf Club, the West Side Tennis Club, the Santa Anita Racetrack, the Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove, the Biltmore Bowl, and the American Legion Stadium. ...

A Day at Santa Anita (1937)

Orphaned horse-trainer's little daughter has reciprocated bond with horse, which needs her presence to win races. ...

The Singing Kid (1936)

Neurotic Broadway star Al Jackson faces professional ruin when he loses his voice. While recuperating in the country, he falls in love with farm girl Ruth Haines, the pretty aunt of precocious little Sybil Haines. ...

Go Into Your Dance (1935)

An irresponsible Broadway star gets mixed up with gambling and gangsters. ...

Studio Highlights (1934)

Studio Highlights (1934)

A short promotional film about Ruby Keeler and her upcoming film "Flirtation Walk." It provides a brief look at her career on Broadway, early films, and personal life away from the studio before showing a trailer for the new film. ...

Wonder Bar (1934)

Harry and Inez are a dance team at the Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he is in love with Liane, the wife of a wealthy business man. Al Wonder and the conductor/singer Tommy are in love with Inez. When Inez finds out that Harry wants to leave Paris and i ...

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (1933)

A New York tramp falls in love with the mayor's amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt. ...

Movies Made By Al Jolson (1)

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend ...

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