|His Works|Films|Jolson Sings Again

Jolson Sings Again

Picking up the fictionalized life story of Al Jolson at the end of The Jolson Story, as his wife leaves him, and he finds himself in show business once again. Finding that his unique style is no longer at the center of the entertainment world, he finds a new audience, the servicemen overseas, who discover the talent their parents once knew. Stricken by illness, he finds love in a new wife, and reaches yet another peak of his career with the making of The Jolson Story itself. Jolson Sings Again stars Larry Parks, Barbara Hale, William Demarest, Ludwig Donath, and Bill Goodwin, and premiered on August 10, 1949, at Loew's State Theatre in New York City.

Shades of trick photography, here's a shot of Larry Parks playing Al Jolson meeting Larry Parks playing Larry Parks. Although history records Jolson as being less than totally happy about the portrayal, at least at first, the movie shows Al practically jumping for joy. As he is quoted in the movie, the exact facts of his life weren't important, just the general scheme of things.

As with The Jolson Story, Jolson himself makes an uncredited cameo appearance in Jolson Sings Again. In this shot, taken as Larry Parks portrays Parks doing Jolson singing You Made Me Love You, Jolson himself can be seen wearing a gray fedora hat standing behing the camera. The full scene is on the above left, a close-up of Jolie is on the right. Even if you've seen the movie a thousand times, Jolie made sure that You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!