tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post5146735532005875522..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Minstrel ShowSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-70996812093840360052017-12-17T21:27:38.735-06:002017-12-17T21:27:38.735-06:00Yeah, I kind of see all of this. I said above that...Yeah, I kind of see all of this. I said above that Parks is better in the role when he's not on stage, but I really don't like him on stage at all, so that's pretty faint praise. <br /><br />And yes, there are plenty of stories about Jolson being a pretty terrible human being. That's naturally going to be glossed over in a film from this era when everyone's heroes were scintillating and sparkling clean. Still...<br /><br />And yes about the blackface. It is, by today's standards, racist and awful, but it was incredibly common for the time period, and plenty of major performers did a minstrel number or two. That it was accepted doesn't excuse it, but it is worth noting that it wasn't parody. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-77024285731306540352017-12-17T20:37:17.222-06:002017-12-17T20:37:17.222-06:00I watched the first out of curiosity having seen T...I watched the first out of curiosity having seen The Jazz Singer and not quite understanding what all the hoopla was about since my impression from it was that Jolson was a prancing windbag. But to be fair The Jazz Singer has a plot with whiskers on it so I thought that might have something to do with it. <br /><br />The film did nothing to dispel my first impression and I discovered Larry Parks is a performer that I don't care for (though my heart still goes out to him since he got such a raw deal). His over-eager golly gee mugging quickly became irksome. <br /><br />My enjoyment was also not helped by the whitewash they put Jolson though. I had my suspicions that they would be prettying up the facts knowing that Ruby Keeler wouldn't allow her name to be used, their divorce had been extremely acrimonious, and they didn't make him a plaster saint but from what I've read he was a rather odious man with a wide vicious streak. According to Robert Wagner's bio Barbara Stanwyck had a mark on her chest where Jolson had burned her with a cigarette during a fit of anger when they had been briefly involved during her early Broadway days. Impossible that they would have gone to showing that extreme in the 40's but to make it seem his greatest flaw was his ambition seems a cheat. <br /><br />He was very influential in bringing jazz and other forms of music to the masses but the film didn't really focus on that either. His use of blackface while doing it didn't bother me since it's historically accurate (unlike so much else in the film) and while it was wrong he didn't mean it in a demeaning way but used it to introduce music that he admired.<br /><br />After suffering through the first it took quite a while for me to break down and watch the second but I was on a bit of a Barbara Hale kick, I enjoyed her but the film was lame.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-90805883213355394232017-12-17T06:44:54.415-06:002017-12-17T06:44:54.415-06:00It descends into this weird thing that was particu...It descends into this weird thing that was particularly surreal, having just watched <i>The Jolson Story</i>. It was like taking a time machine trip, but going just a couple of hours.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-60543768790090814092017-12-17T01:08:24.410-06:002017-12-17T01:08:24.410-06:00"And here’s where things get weird. One perso...<b>"And here’s where things get weird. One person at the benefit is Ralph Bryant, no longer a colonel and back in Hollywood. Seeing Jolson on stage gives him the idea of making a movie about him and having him re-record his old songs. Yes, with a good half hour or so left in Jolson Sings Again, we get a shortened version of the making of The Jolson Story. This includes Larry Parks as Al Jolson meeting Larry Parks as Larry Parks in what might be the first split-screen scene of its type in Hollywood history."</b><br /><br />This is the sort of meta that almost makes me wish Spike Jonze would do a remake.Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.com