The Singing Fool

Warner Bros, 1928

Starring Al Jolson, Josephine Dunn, Betty Bronson, and Davey Lee

Directed by Lloyd Bacon

Music and Lyrics by various

The Jazz Singer was a big enough hit for Warners to rush Jolson into another tale of heartbreak. This one would be even bigger, with more pathos, more drama, and far more Jolson. Jolson was now the biggest star on the planet...and it's part of the reason that this movie, far more than The Jazz Singer, wound up being the reason the studios decided sound film was here to stay. How does the monumental blockbuster hit of 1928 look now? Let's begin at that most 20's of gathering places, the speakeasy, where waiter Al Stone's (Jolson) life is about to change, and find out...

The Story: Al's been trying to get into the big time for years. He finally rates notice when he performs a song he wrote for lovely but superficial Molly Malone (Dunn) and is spotted by a Broadway producer. Molly claims to fall for Al right there and then, but she's more interested in his success than him. 

Al does become a huge Broadway star, but his marriage with Molly is empty. She's more interested in her affair with the more traditionally handsome John Perry (Reed Howes). Al's only true loves are performing and his child Sonny (Lee). Fed up with him being more interested in his career and the kid than her, Molly takes Sonny to Paris and gets a divorce. Al loses his job and becomes a bum, until he returns to Blackie's Cafe and is encouraged back into the limelight by sweet Grace (Bronson), who has always really loved him. His big comeback is hounded by tragedy, but it's Grace who reminds him that, even when those we love can only be there in spirit, we can still sing for them.

The Song and Dance: Some of Jolson's best song performances can be found here. "Sonny Boy" would prove to be such a phenomenon, it launched a series of equally melodramatic sob stories and sad songs performed by similar nervy entertainers in early talkies. Jolson comes across much better on more vibrant songs, especially the opening "It All Depends On You." His interaction with Davey Lee really is genuinely sweet; they do seem like a fond father and son, making his reaction when he loses him totally understandable.

The Numbers: Our first sound sequence has Al admitting to Molly and the speakeasy audience that "It All Depends on You." After he's spotted by the Broadway producer, he sings about how "I'm Sittin' On Top of the World." His first Broadway number gets him into a tuxedo for "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder." The massive hit "Sonny Boy" first turns up as a lullaby for Sonny after Al argues with Molly and we see her indifference to husband and son. He sings it again twice more, when Sonny is in the hospital, and in the finale in blackface while his heart is supposedly breaking. 

Trivia: There was originally another number for Jolson, the Mexican-tinged ruffles-and-castanets routine "The Spaniard Who Blighted My Life." The song's writer Billy Merson claimed that he made his living singing the song, and Jolson's version would diminish his. The song was cut from UK prints of the film...which are currently the only prints to survive today.

What I Don't Like: Hooo boy. At least The Jazz Singer had Warner Oland as Jolson's concerned father and Alan Crosland's inventive direction going for it. All this one has is an overheated soap opera plot that's as distasteful as it is silly. The histrionics are way over Jolson's head, making him look less like a jazz singer who just lost his kid and more like the fool of the title. No one comes remotely close to his scenery chewing. Dunn is bitter but doesn't have much to do, and Bronson barely appears and fades into the woodwork when she does. The blackface is saved for the last ten minutes or so, but he does still wear it, and there's also his treatment of his slightly stereotypical black valet.

Also, there's the entire problem of it being a part-talkie. The sound lurches in and out. One minute, everyone is emoting in silence; the next, Jolson is blaring "Keep Smiling at Trouble" to the room. It's disconcerting, to say the least. They should have either gone full-talkie (which they would for Jolson's next vehicle, Say It With Music) or left it silent. 

The Big Finale: This may have been what convinced the studios to take a chance on sound film, but nowadays, it's only of interest to the most ardent fans of Jolson and film historians.

Home Media: DVD only from the Warner Archives.

DVD

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Warner Bros, 1927

Starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, and Eugenie Besserer

Directed by Alan Crosland

Music and Lyrics by various

Come with me this week, and explore the very first musicals on the silver screen. Experiments with melding film and sound go back almost to the dawn of cinema, but they weren't well-received until the 1920's. Warner Brothers took a chance on a series of sound short subjects. When those were successful, they added background scores and sound effects to feature-length films, using their Vitaphone process where the sound is recorded on a record, then played with the movie. This would be one of the first feature-length films with actual dialogue. Jolson wasn't the first choice for this tale of how a Jewish performer reconciles his culture and his love of popular music, but it's hard to see anyone else in this now. How does this look almost 100 years later? Let's begin with silent title cards explaining the central dilemma and find out...

The Story: Thirteen-year-old Jakie Robinwitz (Bobby Gordon) runs away when his strict orthodox cantor father (Oland) forbids him from singing popular music in beer gardens. Over a decade later, he's now Jack Robin (Al Jolson), a singer in local cafes. He's discovered by dancer Mary Dale (McAvoy), who insists on him appearing in the show where she's currently working, April Follies. He's a big hit, prompting him to return to his mother...but his father still disdains his singing "jazz" music. It isn't until his father's dying that Jack realizes where he belongs, and that he can be wholly Jewish and revel in his own kind of music, too.

The Song and Dance: The roots of The Jazz Singer go far deeper than it being one of the catalysts for getting dialogue on the big screen. You can see the foundation for everything from big star dramas like the many versions of A Star Is Born to biographies like last week's I Saw the Light in an embryonic form here. No wonder most critics praised Jolson's performance. While he's no actor, he is a personality. The screen lights up whenever he's there. The "Blue Skies" sequence, where he sings the Irving Berlin standard to his delighted mother, and the infamous "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" number near the end may be the best examples of his considerable talent. 

The Numbers: We open 13-year-old Jakie Robinwitz (Bobby Gordon) singing "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" and "My Gal Sal," at the beer hall. The numbers so horrify the head of the temple's council (Otto Lederer) that he tells Jakie's parents what he's doing. The traditional Jewish song "Kol Nidre" is performed twice, by Cantor Rabinowitz (dubbed by a real Cantor, Rosenblatt) when he realizes he's lost his son, and later by Jakie when he realizes how much his religion is a part of his life. 

"Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" is his big number in the nightclub. The teary ballad prompts Mary to call him one of the few jazz singers who can elicit a tear along with a sigh. He's even more dynamic on his next number, leaping into "Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye" with relish. The sequence where he talks to his mother while singing the Irving Berlin standard "Blue Skies" is likely the most famous now as the first dialogue sequence. He sings "Mother of Mine, I Still Have You" at the dress rehearsal and "My Mammy" at the actual performance in the Winter Garden.

Trivia: Jolson wasn't the studio's original choice for Jakie. The part was intended for the star of the original Broadway play George Jessel, but he wanted too much money and Jolson stepped in.

That's the real Winter Garden Jakie performs at during the finale. The Winter Garden still very much exists today, and in fact briefly became a movie theater shortly after this movie debuted. A revival of Mamma Mia! will be opening there this fall.

What I Don't Like: For all its influence, the melodramatic story hasn't really dated well at all. All of the actors pale besides Jolson and Oland as his strict father. Besserer doesn't have much to do besides look maternal (other than her slightly forced dialogue during the "Blue Skies" sequence), and McAvoy has even less as the lady who helps Jack become a success. It can all be a bit too much for many modern audiences, who may wonder what the fuss was about. 

There's also Jolson performing in blackface to contend with. Yes, it's history, it's part of Jolson's act, and it goes back to his days playing with minstrel troupes. That doesn't make it any easier to take for audiences today.

The Big Finale: No matter how dated this is or isn't, it's still history. Necessary viewing for cinema historians, musical fans, and major fans of Jolson and early talkie musicals.

Home Media: Easily found in all formats, including Tubi for free with commercials. The DVD is a three-disc set that also includes many sound shorts of the era. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

Election Day Special - Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

United Artists, 1933

Starring Al Jolson, Frank Morgan, Harry Langdon, and Madge Evans

Directed by Lewis Milestone

Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Here's a truly unique musical experience to tide you over until the election results come in. After their Love Me Tonight was a critical (though not commercial) success, Rodgers and Hart opted to combine that film's rhyming dialogue and whimsical tone with something that more accurately reflected the political climate of the early 30's. It was also Al Jolson's attempt at a film comeback after his success in the late 20's and early 30's fizzled out. How does this mix of reality, poverty, and comedy look now? Let's begin with homeless men Bumper (Jolson) and Acorn (Edgar Connor) as they encounter Mayor John Hastings (Morgan) of New York on a hunting trip and find out...

The Story: Bumper is perfectly happy as the head of the New York homeless folks. They're not interested in working again, content with living a meager but friendly existence in Central Park and occasionally teasing Egghead (Langdon), a communist who works as a street sweeper. He's friendly with Mayor Hastings, as he once saved his life, and he hopes to be like him someday.

Mayor Hastings wishes he were as happy as Bumper and his carefree followers. He thinks his latest mistress June Marcher (Evans) is cheating on him and slips a $1,000 bill in her purse. When she leaves her purse behind, he thinks she's seeing someone else. Bumper does manage to return the purse, but June thinks Hastings is no longer interested and jumps off a bridge. He rescues her, then falls for her when he realizes she's lost her memory. He's willing to give up his shiftless ways to be with her...not thinking of what will happen when she regains her memories...

The Song and Dance: This is one of the most original musicals ever made in Hollywood. There aren't too many movies, let alone musicals, dealing with financial hardship, communism, and Marxist theory. Though Jolson is subdued compared to his earlier movies, he's also a lot easier to take as the head of the New York homeless than he was in his early talkies vehicles like Say It With Songs. (And note this is one of only two movies he made where he wears no blackface whatsoever.) 

While not their absolute best, the Rodgers and Hart score is still pretty good, and contains at least one standard in Jolson's ballad "You are Too Beautiful." Morgan matches him well as the troubled mayor, whose mind is on his lady rather than his job. The rhyming dialogue, with music often seamlessly flowing into words and back again, makes this into almost an opera at times. 

The Numbers: We open with Bumper proclaiming "I've Gotta Get Back to New York" as he and Acorn hit the road. He and the others sing their ode to "My Pal Bumper" after they arrive at Central Park. After a choir sings "My Country Tis of Thee" at the dedication of a new building, Mayor Hastings shows how they're "Laying the Corner Stone.

Acorn, Bumper, and Egghead know they owe "Dear Jane," whom they've never seen, for finding that thousand dollar bill, because "Bumper Found a Grand." After they argue over who gets a share of the cash, Bumper reminds them that it's not so important. After all, "What Do You Want With Money?" because "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum." He gets his answer when a "Kangaroo Court" puts him on trial for getting a job. Bumper admits that he did it for love, and "I'd Do It Again." He finally tells his Angel as they dance in their new apartment that "You are Too Beautiful." 

Trivia: Harry Langdon and Chester Conklin (the carriage driver in Central Park) were popular comedians in the silent era. 

Known as Hallelujah, I'm a Tramp in England, where "bum" has entirely different connotations. 

What I Don't Like: This is the definition of "not for everybody." If you're not a fan of musicals, like your musicals more traditional, don't like the rhyming dialogue, or don't agree with the leftist politics in question (or are unable to overlook them), you will not be into this. It's not for those who aren't fans of Jolson or prefer him in bombastic mode, either. Madge Evans isn't nearly as interesting as the guys. She has very little personality whether she's Bumper's angel or the mayor's mistress, making the love triangle not nearly as romantic as the movie wants to think it is. 

Milestone's lack of experience with musicals shows in his constant cutting away from songs before they finish. Even the lovely "You are Too Beautiful" barely gets a chance to end before he's off somewhere else. No wonder his only other musical would be the more traditional Anything Goes from 1936. The whimsical rhyming dialogue doesn't always work all that well with the social commentary, either. 

The Big Finale: This may be one of the most polarizing musicals in existence. Either you'll get a kick out of what Milestone, Jolson, and writer S.N Behrman were trying to do, or you'll find the rhyming dialogue, political waffling, and Jolson's ego insufferable. Give it a chance this Election Day and see which side of the debate you fall on.

Home Media: It's on DVD, and YouTube and the Internet Archive have it streaming at press time.

DVD

YouTube

Internet Archive

Rhapsody In Blue

Warner Bros, 1945

Starring Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith, and Charles Coburn

Directed by Irving Rapper

Music by George Gerswin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and others

This week, we celebrate Warner Bros' hundredth anniversary with two of their biggest - in every sense of the word - musicals. Gershwin died in 1937, but his legacy burned brighter than ever, thanks to recordings, revivals of his most popular shows, and his film musicals. His story remained so popular and well-known that Warners made him the topic of their second big musical biopic after Yankee Doodle Dandy. They recruited stage actor Alda to play Gershwin and got several big names, including Al Jolson and Gerswin's real-life friend Oscar Levant, to appear as themselves. How does this idealized version of Gershwin's life and career look nowadays? Let's begin on the streets of New York, as the young George Gershwin watches a piano being delivered to his family's tenement home...one that would change his life...and find out...

The Story: The piano was originally meant for George's older brother Ira (Herbert Rudley), but George takes to it like a duck takes to water. Music becomes George's (Alda) obsession and reason for living as he grows older. He tries playing the piano in vaudeville and for a song plugging business, but walks out both times. He meets sweet Julie Adams (Leslie) at the song plugging business, and is encouraged when she sings his song "Swanee." They manage to get his song to producer Max Drefus (Coburn), who finally publishes it.

Many more songs follow. George convinces Ira to add his witty lyrics in the early 20's. They first add songs to revues like The George White Scandals. George is excited to get his one-act opera featuring black characters, Blue Monday, in the Scandals, but the producers quickly drop it when it proves too dark for audiences. He has more luck getting his symphonic jazz piece "Rhapsody In Blue" played in concert with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (themselves) and writing a concerto with cranky pianist Oscar Levant (himself). 

On a trip to Paris, George meets attractive painter and socialite Christine Gilbert (Smith). They hit it off, and she encourages him to try painting. He loves her, but his first love will always be music. Christine returns to Paris when she realizes she can't compete with his work, and Julie turns him away. He finally throws himself into turning Blue Monday into the jazz opera Porgy and Bess. He's been having blinding headaches and smelling strange things for a long time, though, but he never dreams those terrible headaches might be fatal...

The Song and Dance: Alda's decent performance anchors this drama of a man who may dally with the ladies, but whose true love is music. Rosemary DeCamp and Morris Carnovsky also do well as his parents, her worried about her boys, him a dreamer who tinkers with gadgets he'll never patent. Levant has some funny moments as well, notably a line taken from real-life about George falling in love with himself. The cameos from Al Jolson, Whiteman, and Levant help give the film more of an anchor to a time and place than the decidedly modern costumes and sets do.

Favorite Number: Leslie (dubbed by Sally Sweetland) gets the first full number as she performs "Swanee" for George. Al Jolson gives it a much better hearing onstage in his own bombastic style. Leslie also joins in for a charming "S'Wonderful" with the chorus in lovely gowns and hats and parasols trimmed with sunflowers. Real-life vaudeville dancer Tom Patricola leads Leslie through "Somebody Loves Me" with the two of them dancing in bold stripes and short frilly skirts while in the middle of a giant Valentine heart. We get a montage of chorus numbers from the Scandals, including "Drifting Along with the Tide" and "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," along with the title number from "Lady Be Good." 

Blue Monday features dancers from the Ballet Russes performing two songs from the actual opera, "Has Anybody Here Seen Joe?" and "I'm Gonna See My Mother" in a crude if dramatic dance sequence. Gorgeous black singer and pianist Hazel Scott performs some of Gershwin's biggest hits in a Paris nightclub, including "I Got Rhythm," "Fascinating Rhythm," "Clap 'Yo Hands," and "The Yankee Doodle Blues." George (dubbed by Levant) plays "Bidin' My Time" on his return from Paris as his friends sing along. Alda and Levant have a hilarious duet to the domestic spoof "Mine" from the stage flop Let Them Eat Cake. Anne Brown, who originated the role of Bess in Porgy & Bess on Broadway, sings "Summertime" in the sequence representing that show. Leslie performs his early talkie hit "Delicious" at a nightclub later, when Gershwin seeks Julie out.

Three of George's biggest symphonic hits are played in their near-entirety. "Rhapsody In Blue" and "Cuban Overture" are just Gerswin playing with reactions from the audience and, in the case of "Cuban Overture," shots of the orchestra getting into the Latin rhythms. "An American In Paris" gives us a montage of daily life in Paris, from the Effel Tower to people enjoying lunch in sidewalk cafes. Levant, finally playing for himself, finishes things off with George's Piano Concerto In F before and after his death is announced.

Trivia: Yes, that was Levant dubbing Robert Alda's piano playing. It was stage actor Alda's film debut. Alda never really took to the movies and would return to the stage by 1949. In 1950, he originated the role of Sky Masterson in the first run of Guys & Dolls.

Rhapsody In Blue was actually filmed in 1943, but not released until 1945 so Warners could focus on putting out more patriotic musicals. 

The paintings Christine admired were from Gershwin's actual collection of artwork, loaned to Warners by his family. 

The Catfish Row set seen in the Porgy & Bess sequence is an exact duplicate of the one used in the original Broadway run of the show. 

On one hand, the black makeup on the dancers in Blue Monday is disconcerting, to say the least, especially for audiences nowadays. On the other hand, this is historically accurate - the performers in the original opera apparently were in blackface makeup - and the makeup at least isn't as caricatured as black makeup on white performers usually is in older films. It's just body makeup, no white lips or gloves. 

What I Don't Like: Considering George's eventful and colorful life, I really wish they had done a bit more original with it. While it was true that Gershwin never married, he certainly had many affairs and had no trouble with women. In fact, he was apparently a playboy and womanizer in real-life. Smith and Leslie play fictional love interests created for the film, and neither really have all that much to do. Smith is barely in the film. George's stern old music teacher who dies the night "Rhapsody In Blue" debuts was also fictional, though a composite of George's real teachers - and those real teachers actually encouraged him to write popular music first, then get into more elevated songs. "Swanee" originally debuted as a chorus number in another show before Jolson grabbed it and performed it in his own musical.

Unfortunately, like most of the musical biographies that came after it, you don't really get much of a sense of time passing. Once they get past the World War I era, it pretty much looks like 1943 for the entire film, without a drop of Roaring 20's or Depression-era flavor. You get far more history from the cameos than you do from the sets and costumes.

There's also this movie's length. It's over 2 1/2 hours, and it didn't need to be anywhere close to that. Some of the goofier musical numbers, especially early in the film, and more overt histrionics could have been trimmed with no one the wiser. 

The Big Finale: Overlong, but there's enough great Gershwin music and decent performances to recommend this to fans of classic jazz, Gershwin, or the stately musical biopics of the 1940's and 50's. 

Home Media: On streaming and DVD, the latter in a remastered edition from the Warner Archives.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Say It With Songs

Warner Bros, 1929

Starring Al Jolson, Marian Nixon, Davey Lee, and Holmes Herbert

Directed by Lloyd Bacon

Music by Ray Henderson; Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown

Al Jolson was American cinema's first true musical film star. He appeared in the one often considered to be the first film musical, The Jazz Singer, and it was his vehicle The Singing Fool that codified the success of sound film and musicals. Those films were only part-talkies, silent films with anywhere from a few minutes to an hour of sound added. This was Jolson's first all-sound, all-music film. How does this melodrama with songs look today? Let's head to the radio station where Joe Lane (Jolson) is preparing for his show and find out...

The Story: Lane loves his wife Kathrine (Nixon) and his son Little Pal (Lee), but she's frustrated with his being out all night and gambling. Even so, she avoids the advances of radio station manager Arthur Phillips (Kenneth Thompson), who claims he'll advance Joe's career if she does favors for him. His temper gets the better of him when she tells him, and he beats the man in a parked car. After Phillips dies from his injuries, Joe is sentenced to prison for manslaughter. 

While Joe's in prison, Katherine takes a job as a nurse for Dr. Robert Merrill (Herbert) in order to pay for her son living at school. The moment Joe gets out, he visits his son on the schoolgrounds. The boy is so desperate for him to stay, he follows him into town and gets hit by a car. After the accident leaves the child paralyzed from the waist down and mute, Joe tries to find someone who can save him...someone besides Dr. Merrill, who is in love with his wife. He may have to finally put aside his feelings for his wife when he learns that Merrill, no matter how he feels about his nurse, is the only one who can save his beloved "Little Pal."

The Song and Dance: Jolson takes full advantage of the sound to perform no less than seven songs, including the big ballad to his son "Little Pal." When he does his radio shows, he's in his element, happily performing for all those swell folks out there. This is also one of only two movies where he doesn't appear in blackface; the radio setting thankfully eliminated the need for it. Lee actually isn't bad as the "Little Pal" whose parents adore him - watch him listening to his daddy on the radio early-on. Thompson is also good as the smarmy manager who tries to put the moves on Katherine.

Favorite Number: We open with a medley of radio performers before eventually bringing on Al. He performs the boisterous and fun "I'm In Seventh Heaven" before singing "Little Pal" for his own little boy. "Little Pal" comes up again several times, including a dream sequence where the boy imagines his father singing to him in his arms.

Trivia: Jolson originally had even more to sing. Two numbers, "Back In Your Own Backyard" and "I'm Ka-razy About You" were cut from the movie. They're now considered to be lost, though the Vitaphone sound discs exist.

While not an out-and-out flop, this wasn't nearly the blockbuster hit that Jolson's earlier part-talkie The Singing Fool was. 

What I Don't Like: Hoooo boy. Does this one ladle on the melodrama! Name a cliché from any family drama made in the past 100 years, and it likely turns up here. So many choice bits of soppiness can be found on this overheated buffet! There's the kid accidentally testifying against his father. Or perhaps you'd prefer Jolson singing the soggy cheer-up song "Why Can't You?" to his fellow inmates. Or him singing on the radio, in prison, at Christmas. Not to mention, there's Lee somehow managing to follow his father half-way across town before getting unconvincingly hit by a car. 

The acting manages to be worse than the script. Jolson way overdoes it, even for him. If he's not screaming at Nixon because he thinks she'd be better off without him, he's sobbing and wailing over the kid. By comparison, Nixon is so dull, she melts into the woodwork, too timid to stand up to Jolson's teeth-gnashing histrionics. No wonder this didn't do nearly as well at the box office as his earlier films. Even audiences at the time could tell this was too much. 

The Big Finale: Too melodramatic and silly to be for anyone but the most ardent fans of Jolson or historians of the early talkie era. 

Home Media: Most of Jolson's Warners pictures are pretty easy to find on streaming and on Warner Archives DVD, including this one. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Rose of Washington Square

20th Century Fox, 1939
Starring Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, Al Jolson, and Joyce Compton
Directed by Gregory Ratoff
Music and Lyrics by various

This is another one in the series of musical melodramas Alice Faye did in the late 30's-early 40's, and like Lillian Russell, it has a real-life basis. How does the story of a singer who falls for a fast-talking gambler look today? Let's head to an amateur show to meet the title character and find out...

The Story: Rose Sargent (Faye) is a struggling singer working amateur nights in the early 1920's. She's discovered by minstrel performer Ted Cotter (Jolson), who takes her under his wing and gets her career started. He starts to fall for her, but she sees him as only a friend. Her eye is on handsome con-man and gambler Bart Clinton (Power). Ted knows that Bart is no good, but Rose can't help falling for and marrying him. When one of Bart's con victims finally sues him, he skips town after Ted puts up bail. Seeing his wife perform the passionate "My Man" makes him rethink his life and paying for his crimes.

The Song and Dance: The cast is the thing here. The story may be a load of melodrama, but they generally put it over well. This might not be a bad place to start if you want a taste of Jolson. He gets to sing some of his most famous numbers, including "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby" and "California, Here I Come." Power comes off a little better here as the charming scoundrel than he did in his previous go-around with Faye, Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Favorite Number: As mentioned, this may be a great way for newcomers to get to know Jolson. Not only do we get performances of songs like "My Mammy," but we also get to see his comedic chops when he has to deal with a drunk heckler in the audience. Faye's performance of the title song is the sole large-scale production number, complete with chorus and specialty dancers Velez and Yolanda doing a death-defying dance routine mid-way through.

Trivia: Three numbers were cut, Faye's solos of "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and "I'll See You In My Dreams" and Jolson's medley of "April Showers" and "Avalon." Unlike a lot of cut numbers from older movies, all three exist and are included on the DVD as extras.

If the story seems like the life of Fannie Brice with different names, well, Fannie Brice thought so, too, and she wasn't happy. She sued 20th Century Fox for damages; the matter was settled out of court.

What I Don't Like: The story is as melodramatic as the later Funny Girl, but without that movie's epic numbers and splendid performances. Jolson is fine when he's singing, but is totally out of his element in some of the heavier dramatics. Honestly, Bart is such a jerk and a cad, I agree with Ted - I really don't understand why Rose sticks by him.

And yes, Jolson does most of his numbers in blackface. It was expected at the time, but it seems unnecessary at best today and offensive at worst.

The Big Finale: Heavy bit of melodrama given a bit of vitality by Jolson and Faye. May be fun for their fans and lovers of bittersweet romance.

Home Media: Out of print on solo DVD, but it can still be found on a Faye collection.

DVD
DVD: The Alice Faye Collection - Volume 2