Movies: Al Jolson

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 girl...

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical....

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....

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....

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 ...

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

Mammy features Al Jolson as the star of a travelling minstrel show, appearing in cities and towns across the U.S. Jolson falls in love with an actress in the troupe (Lois Moran), but she loves another (Lowell Sherman). Sherman is shot onstage as part...

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...

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

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

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 bl...

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

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...

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

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...

Joe Lane, radio entertainer and songwriter, learns that the manager of the studio, Arthur Phillips, has made improper advances to his wife, Katherine. Infuriated, Lane engages him in a fight, and the encounter results in Phillips' accidental death. J...

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 s...

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....

After years of hopeful struggle, waiter and aspiring singer-songwriter Al Stone is on his way. He gets his huge break on a magical night when his song wows big-time producer Louis Marcus and gold-digging showgirl Molly, whom Al fancies. Broadway succ...

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