The greatest movie ever!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Columbia had scored a significant financial and critical success with The Jolson Story in 1946 featuring actor Larry Parks miming successfully to Al Jolson's singing voice, the ageing entertainer re-recording all his great hits for the film. Then as now thoughts of a sequel were forthcoming but the story of Jolson's career had essentially been told in its entirety. This can be seen in the struggle the screenwriters had in creating a compelling narrative for the second film. The key plot points are fairly anaemic, including the end of one marriage, the gestation of another, a temporary retirement for Jolson and his re-discovery entertaining the troops in World War II. The final third of the film, in almost an act of desperation, is given over to the production of The Jolson Story, resulting in Larry Parks playing Jolson opposite Larry Parks playing himself. This includes one sequence where Parks playing Jolson stands on set urging Parks playing Parks who is in fact playing Jolson to successfully mime to the real Jolson's singing. Possibly the word meta was invented to describe just this kind of scenario.The lack of plot means that the audience is left mostly idling between musical numbers. The actors try hard; Parks in particular is very personable and captures some of the sheer stage presence and energy of the real Jolson. Barbara Hale has a thankless role as Jolson's new wife, mostly sitting admiring the prolonged performance scenes. Ludwig Donath is precise as Jolson's cantor father with concern for his son echoing through every scene even when he is conveying anger. Despite the presence of Technicolor the production looks a little cheap with a lot of fairly basic sets - the cinema foyer looks like a re-dress of something used in another film and the Alaskan army hut is two walls and a backdrop. Many scenes are conveyed through newspaper and other montages and there is never really much conviction to Jolson's international travels.The music is the main drawcard here and the real Jolson provides committed and passionate singing throughout. It is a pity that the surrounding fabric of the film could not better support his work

Don't get me wrong. This is still a good film. Pretty average for a bio-pic, and as with most sequels, it doesn't come up to the level of "The Jolson Story"...but it's still enjoyable and finishes a highly fabricated version of Jolson's life. Little did they know that had they delayed the film a year, they'd have told the Jolson story from start to finish.The best scene of the film is when Jolson returns to Washington after his mother dies, and Jolson and his father have a brief heart-to-heart.It is very true that Jolson became a tireless performance for the USO during World War II, and that is a big part of this picture. In fact, health issues related to his World War II and Korean War performances appear to have figured in his ultimate demise.Larry parks continues his bravura performance as Al Jolson; William Demarest is again along as Jolson's manager, and although not in as many scenes this time around, it's still one of his best roles. Ludwig Donath is back again as Jolson's father, and again, it is a charming performance. Barbara Hale (of Perry Mason fame) is the love interest this time, and she was enjoyable on screen...Arkansas accent and all.It is clever the way they meld the making of "The Jolson Story" within "Jolson Sings Again".It's a decent followup to "The Jolson Story", but not quite as good as that original. It's too bad the film can't bring up the final year of Jolson's life, including his wonderful appearances with Bing Crosby.Sadly, not long after this film was made, Larry Parks got caught up in the Blacklisting with the Red Scare and was only rarely seen after that. I guess the consolation was that his performances in the two Jolson films could probably not have been done better by anyone; truly fine performances that are near iconic.

Al Jolson was pathologically jealous of other performers; he would run water in his dressing room to drown out the applause other performers would receive. So the last 10 minutes of the movie really speaks to this pathology. Here is Al Jolson in the theatre lobby unable to watch Al Jolson (Larry Parks) performing in the movie THE JOLSON STORY. Al Jolson being pathologically jealous of Larry Parks playing Al Jolsosn That is the essence of Jolie. Many of his peers thought him petty, mean spirited, jealous of others, and simply put--unlikable. George Burns didn't speak well of him. But there is no denying his ability to entertain--that too is what his peers commented on as well. My favorite performance is Al Jolson singing "Beautiful Dreamer"--the last song he would record before he died in 1950. I almost prefer the Black-face Al Jolson to the White Al Jolson. So while the movie is a piece of non-sense--the last 10 minutes of the film actually captures the essence of Al Jolson. And each and every song is worth treading through the nonsense. And just in case someone doesn't know--Larry Parks is miming Al Jolson singing.

An oddly curious movie. "Jolson Sings Again" is the sequel to "The Jolson Story" (which I have not seen). Both of which star Larry Parks as Jolson) It doesn't matter if you've not seen the first, as the first part of Jolson's life is briefly touched upon, where this movie mainly concentrates on, yes, his later life. Here, he wonders how much his star has faded, and an old agent encourages him to go on USO tours around the world. Unfortunately, it's a bit too much for Al. and he winds up in the hospital. Fortunately for him, he meets a beautiful nurse and marries her. All the while, he wonders what's next for him, as some people in Hollywood have kicked him to the curb. Fortunately, a lucky booking at a benefit re-connects him to the guy who booked the USO tour, he's now a film producer, and he wants to produce... The Al Jolson Story! and here's the guy to play you.... Larry Parks! So yes, we get the ultra- amazing side screen effect of Larry Parks-As-Jolson meeting Younger- Larry-Parks! (Yes, Parks plays Parks). I don't think I've ever seen this technique used before in a biography. It's very startling. Anyways, Jolson gets a second life after the movie with a radio show, and that's when the show ends. There were little teasers towards the end that led me to beloeve they were setting up for a third one, but obviously that didn't happen. I dunno, you may have to REALLY love Jolson to like this (I myself, run hot and cold on him) and it's somewhat super glossy, but entertaining nevertheless.