• Trending
    • Certified Fresh & Verified Hot
    • TV Premier dates
    • New horror Movies
    • Best Movies of All Time
  • Movies
    • Movies In Theaters
    • Movies at Home
  • TV Shows
    • New TV
    • Most Popular TV
  • News
    • What to Watch
    • Guides
    • RT News
    • Awards
  • Games
    • Find Your Next Horror Watch
  • Video
  • Showtimes
  • Fanstore
  • About Rotten Tomatoes
  • Critics
  • Download the App Now
  • Logout
Rotten Tomatoes
Suggestions will appear as you start typing. Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App New News Showtimes

The Jolson Story

Play trailer Poster for The Jolson Story 1946,  2h 8m,  Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 100% 5 Reviews Tomatometer 79% 1,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
At the turn of the 20th century, young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett) decides to go against the wishes of his cantor father (Ludwig Donath) and pursue a career in show business. Gradually working his way up through the vaudeville ranks, Asa -- now calling himself Al Jolson (Larry Parks) -- joins a blackface minstrel troupe and soon builds a reputation as a consummate performer. But as his career grows in size, so does his ego, resulting in battles in business as well as in his personal life.

Critics Reviews

View More
Jack Moffitt Esquire Magazine Oct 7, 2020
The Jolson Story says that most show people have the same struggles, the same desire for a home, and the same love of family that motivate other Americans. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jun 13, 2011
B-
A vastly entertaining, but cliche ridden and fictionalized biopic of the legendary performer Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Dec 30, 2007
B-
It has the music alright, but the dramatics are corny, tiresome and not reliable. Go to Full Review
Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television Aug 9, 2007
Strange biography with some rousing music numbers. Go to Full Review
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Mar 8, 2004
4/5
Not a lot of relation to the truth, but with all those Jolson songs on the soundtrack it hardly matters. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Feb 1, 2019 The best musical movie ever made!
Finn R Apr 7, 2018 a nice look into the life of an entertainment legend in his time
Read all reviews
The Jolson Story

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

Alfred E. Green

Director

Larry Parks

Al Jolson

Evelyn Keyes

Julie Benson

William Demarest

Steve Martin

Bill Goodwin

Tom Baron

Ludwig Donath

Cantor Yoelson

More Like This

View All
The Harvey Girls 100% 82% The Harvey Girls Watchlist Wonder Man 100% 84% Wonder Man Watchlist The Great Race 70% 83% The Great Race Watchlist Cabin in the Sky 81% 80% Cabin in the Sky Watchlist Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines 78% 75% Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

The Jolson Story

The Jolson Story (1946) The Jolson Story (1946) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis At the turn of the 20th century, young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett) decides to go against the wishes of his cantor father (Ludwig Donath) and pursue a career in show business. Gradually working his way up through the vaudeville ranks, Asa -- now calling himself Al Jolson (Larry Parks) -- joins a blackface minstrel troupe and soon builds a reputation as a consummate performer. But as his career grows in size, so does his ego, resulting in battles in business as well as in his personal life.
Director
Alfred E. Green
Producer
Sidney Skolsky
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Genre
Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 1946, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 21, 2003
Runtime
2h 8m
Sound Mix
Stereo
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings