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83-607: Gruver was raised in Wichita. He studied filmmaking at Brigham Young University. After college, Gruver worked for the animation wing of Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio. Gruver had worked for other film festivals and modeled Tallgrass after the Telluride Film Festival. Tallgrass is operated by the non-profit organization Tallgrass Film Association . There were 190 features and shorts screened in 2012. The festival takes place at several locations in downtown Wichita including

166-402: A Newsweek interview. "I remember 'The Jazz Singer,' when Al Jolson just burst into song, and there was a little bit of dialogue. And when he came out with 'Mammy,' and went down on his knees to his Mammy, it was just dynamite." This opinion is shared by Mast and Kawin: this moment of informal patter at the piano is the most exciting and vital part of the entire movie ... when Jolson acquires

249-579: A 1942 interview in The New York Times : "When the war started ... [I] felt that it was up to me to do something, and the only thing I know is show business. I went around during the last war and I saw that the boys needed something besides chow and drills. I knew the same was true today, so I told the people in Washington that I would go anywhere and do an act for the Army." Shortly after the war began, he wrote

332-435: A Brooklyn theater in 1904, Jolson began performing in blackface , which boosted his career. He began wearing blackface in all of his shows. In late 1905, Harry left the trio after an argument with Jolson. Harry had refused his request to take care of Joe Palmer, who was in a wheelchair. After Harry's departure, Jolson and Palmer worked as a duo but were not particularly successful. By 1906 they agreed to separate, and Jolson

415-500: A New Orleans hotel to an audience of 35 million via 47 radio stations. His own 1930s shows included Presenting Al Jolson (1932) and Shell Chateau (1935), and he was the host of the Kraft Music Hall from 1947 to 1949, with Oscar Levant as a sardonic, piano-playing sidekick. Jolson's 1940s career revival was nothing short of a success despite the competition of younger performers such as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra , and he

498-600: A Sister venue to Intrust Bank Arena also Located in downtown Wichita that is Separately Owned by The Government of Sedgwick County . The venue is host to over 100 shows each year from all genres of entertainment. Nationally renowned performers regularly grace the historic Orpheum theatre stage, recent performers include: Dave Chappelle , "Weird Al" Yankovic , Elvis Costello , Keb' Mo' , William Shatner , Lewis Black , Steven Stills , Blue October , Judy Collins , Paula Poundstone , Black Violin , Halestorm , David Blaine , Diana Krall , and David Sedaris , and most recently

581-487: A comedy sequence with Jolson doggedly trying to sing "Mammy" while The Yacht Club Boys keep telling him such songs are outdated. According to jazz historian Michael Alexander, Jolson had once griped that "People have been making fun of Mammy songs, and I don't really think that it's right that they should, for after all, Mammy songs are the fundamental songs of our country." (He said this, in character, in his 1926 short A Plantation Act .) In this film, he notes, "Jolson had

664-487: A group of local investors and opened on September 4, 1922. The theater it was one of three early theatres designed with elements of what would become known as the atmospheric style. Wichita's Orpheum design was that of a Spanish garden and courtyard. The 42 feet (13 m) high by 40 feet (12 m) wide proscenium arch is the main feature of the auditorium. The sidewalls of the auditorium were accented by niches with mock tile roofs, grills, and wood lattice arches across

747-468: A letter to Steven Early, press secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt , volunteering "to head a committee for the entertainment of soldiers and said that he "would work without pay ... [and] would gladly assist in the organization to be set up for this purpose". A few weeks later, he received his first tour schedule from the newly formed United Services Organization (USO), "the group his letter to Early had helped create". He did as many as four shows

830-491: A matter of endless study, observation, energetic concentration to obtain, perfectly if possible, a simulation of the kind of man he was. It is not surprising, therefore, that while making The Jolson Story , I spent 107 days before the cameras and lost eighteen pounds in weight." From a review in Variety : But the real star of the production is that Jolson voice and that Jolson medley (curiously, even astoundingly uncredited) . It

913-447: A medium as intimate as television. He finally relented in 1950, when it was announced that Jolson had signed an agreement to appear on the CBS television network, presumably in a series of specials. However, he died suddenly before production began. Japanese bombs on Pearl Harbor shook Jolson out of continuing moods of lethargy due to years of little activity and "... he dedicated himself to

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996-569: A new handicap ramp was installed in 2012, the projection booth was restored in 2013, and most recently, the auditorium foyer and east stair tower were restored in 2015. Areas still to be addressed are new auditorium flooring, seating, decorative plaster work, and significant stage upgrades. Wichita's Orpheum theatre is still owned by the nonprofit Orpheum Performing Arts Centre LTD, and is managed by venue & event management company, ASM Global (formerly SMG ; itself owned By The Anschutz Corporation through Anschutz Entertainment Group ), making it

1079-475: A new mission in life.... Even before the U.S.O. began to set up a formal program overseas, Jolson was deluging War and Navy Department brass with phone calls and wires. He requested permission to go anywhere in the world where there was an American serviceman who wouldn't mind listening to 'Sonny Boy' or 'Mammy'.... [and] early in 1942, Jolson became the first star to perform at a GI base in World War II". From

1162-490: A result of the coronavirus pandemic , Tallgrass Film Festival held a virtual edition in 2020, instead of the usual event in Wichita . The opening night film was Eat Wheaties! starring Tony Hale and Paul Walter Hauser . Orpheum Theatre (Wichita, Kansas) The Orpheum Theatre is a historic theater in downtown Wichita , Kansas , United States. It was designed by renowned theatre architect John Eberson with funding from

1245-514: A sense that something remarkable was happening. Jolson's "Wait a minute" line provoked shouts of pleasure and applause from the audience, who were dumbfounded by seeing and hearing someone speak on a film for the first time, so much so that the double-entendre was missed at first. After each Jolson song, the audience applauded. Excitement mounted as the film progressed, and when Jolson began his scene with Eugenie Besserer , "the audience became hysterical". According to film historian Scott Eyman , "by

1328-479: A vaudeville performer known as Harry Yoelson. The brothers worked for the William Morris Agency . Jolson and Harry formed a team with Joe Palmer. During their time with Palmer, they were able to gain bookings in a nationwide tour. However, live performances were falling in popularity as nickelodeons attracted audiences; by 1908, nickelodeon theaters were dominant throughout New York City. While performing in

1411-412: A voice, the warmth, the excitement, the vibrations of it, the way its rambling spontaneity lays bare the imagination of the mind that is making up the sounds ... [and] the addition of a Vitaphone voice revealed the particular qualities of Al Jolson that made him a star. Not only the eyes are a window on the soul. With Warner Bros. Al Jolson made his first "all-talking" picture, The Singing Fool (1928),

1494-944: Is Al Jolson", showcasing Jolson's complex legacy in American society. Asa Yoelson was Jewish. He was born in the village of Srednike ( Yiddish : סרעדניק ), now known as Seredžius , near Kaunas in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire . He was the fifth and youngest child of Nechama "Naomi" (née Cantor, c.  1858 –1895) and Moses Rubin Yoelson ( c.  1858 –1945); his four siblings were Rose ( c.  1879 –1939), Etta ( c.  1880 –1948), another sister who died in infancy, and Hirsch (Harry) ( c.  1882 –1953). Jolson did not know his date of birth, as birth records were not kept at that time in that region, and he gave his birth year as 1885. In 1891, his father, who

1577-490: Is Mr. Jolson's best film and well it might be, for that clever director, Lewis Milestone , guided its destiny ... a combination of fun, melody and romance, with a dash of satire...." Another review added, "A film to welcome back, especially for what it tries to do for the progress of the American musical...." In 1934, he starred in a movie version of his earlier stage play Wonder Bar , co-starring Kay Francis , Dolores del Río , Ricardo Cortez , and Dick Powell . The movie

1660-530: Is a "musical Grand Hotel , set in the Parisian nightclub owned by Al Wonder (Jolson). Wonder entertains and banters with his international clientele." Reviews were generally positive: " Wonder Bar has got about everything. Romance, flash, dash, class, color, songs, star-studded talent and almost every known requisite to assure sturdy attention and attendance.... It's Jolson's comeback picture in every respect."; and, "Those who like Jolson should see Wonder Bar for it

1743-504: Is central to other white jazz biopics such as The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and The Benny Goodman Story (1955)". "Once we accept a semantic change from singing to playing the clarinet, The Benny Goodman Story becomes an almost transparent reworking of The Jazz Singer ... and The Jolson Story ." A sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949), opened at Loew 's State Theatre in New York and received positive reviews: "Mr. Jolson's name

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1826-463: Is mainly Jolson; singing the old reliables; cracking jokes which would have impressed Noah as depressingly ancient; and moving about with characteristic energy." Jolson's last Warner vehicle was The Singing Kid (1936), a parody of Jolson's stage persona (he plays a character named Al Jackson) in which he mocks his stage histrionics and taste for "mammy" songs — the latter via a number by E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen titled "I Love to Singa", and

1909-509: Is the old-time minstrel man turned to modern account. With a song, a word, or even a suggestion he calls forth spontaneous laughter. And here you have the definition of a born comedian." Before The Jazz Singer , Jolson starred in the talking film A Plantation Act . This simulation of a stage performance by Jolson was presented in a program of musical shorts, demonstrating the Vitaphone sound-film process. The soundtrack for A Plantation Act

1992-504: Is up in lights again and Broadway is wreathed in smiles", wrote Thomas Pryor in The New York Times . "That's as it should be, for Jolson Sings Again is an occasion which warrants some lusty cheering...." Jolson did a tour of New York film theaters to plug the movie, traveling with a police convoy to make timetables for all showings, often ad libbing jokes and performing songs for the audience. Extra police were on duty as crowds jammed

2075-503: The Orpheum Theatre . In 2012, over 11,000 people attended. Since its creation in 2003, over 100,000 people have attended with approximately 200 filmmakers, actors and guests coming in for the festival from all over the world. The 2003 festival screened 40 features and 55 short films at several venues in the downtown & Oldtown area. 4,172 people attended the festival, including 28 filmmakers. The first public event hosted by Tallgrass

2158-491: The 1950s to 1970s, there was a growing effort to save the historic Orpheum Theatre. In order to keep the city of Wichita from demolishing the Orpheum, two local businesswomen, Meredith "Milly" Hill and Marge Setter, created a group called "Save the Orpheum". Their efforts, along with local attorney Stan Wisdom, saved the building from the wrecking ball, virtually at the last minute. Advocacy from other concerned citizens continued and

2241-537: The Alice Faye- Don Ameche film Hollywood Cavalcade . Guest appearances in two more Fox films followed that same year, but Jolson never starred in a full-length feature film again. After the George M. Cohan film biography, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky believed that a similar film could be made about Al Jolson. Skolsky pitched the idea of an Al Jolson biopic and Harry Cohn ,

2324-683: The City of Wichita designated the Orpheum Theatre as an historic landmark in 1978. In 1980, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization called the Orpheum Performing Arts Centre LTD was then formed to take ownership of the theatre. Various legal entanglements complicated ownership of the office complex adjacent to the theatre, until a US District Judge signed an order dismissing

2407-488: The Coast, and since Duke Ellington and his band had done a film, wasn't it possible for me and the band to do this one with Jolson. Frenchy got on the phone to California, spoke to someone connected with the film and the next thing I knew the band and I were booked into Chicago on our way to California for the film, The Singing Kid . We had a hell of a time, although I had some pretty rough arguments with Harold Arlen, who had written

2490-523: The Orpheum to drop significantly. Orpheum management tried to keep the venue open with martial arts films and even a brief foray into adult films. These efforts failed and the theatre closed its doors in November 1976. The final film shown was a martial arts film titled The Bodyguard . After stripping the building of its material value, including the seats, the theatre was abandoned and left to rot. After many nearby downtown theatres were closed and demolished in

2573-535: The Orpheum was one of the first theatres to show D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation and hosted the Kansas premier of Gone with the Wind in 1940. With the economic boom brought on by 1940s defense spending, the Orpheum was kept open 24 hours a day to accommodate the many shifts of workers building airplanes for WWII effort. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the advent of multiplex movie theatres caused attendance at

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2656-480: The Winter Garden, Jolson told the audience, "You ain't heard nothing yet" before performing additional songs. In the play, he debuted his signature blackface character "Gus". Winter Garden owner Lee Shubert signed Jolson to a seven-year contract with a salary of $ 1,000 a week. Jolson reprised his role as "Gus" in future plays and by 1914 achieved so much popularity with theater audiences that his $ 1,000-a-week salary

2739-420: The age of 35, Jolson was the youngest man in American history to have a theatre named after him. But on the opening night of Bombo , the first performance at the new theatre, he suffered from stage fright, walking up and down the streets for hours before showtime. Out of fear, he lost his voice backstage and begged the stagehands not to raise the curtains. But when the curtains went up, he "was [still] standing in

2822-415: The air.' After Dockstader refuses to accommodate Jolson's revolutionary concept, the narrative chronicles his climb to stardom as he allegedly injects jazz into his blackface performances.... Jolson's success is built on anticipating what Americans really want. Dockstader performs the inevitable function of the guardian of the status quo, whose hidebound commitment to what is about to become obsolete reinforces

2905-400: The audience's sympathy with the forward-looking hero. This has been a theme which was traditionally "dear to the hearts of the men who made the movies". Film historian George Custen describes this "common scenario, in which the hero is vindicated for innovations that are initially greeted with resistance.... [T]he struggle of the heroic protagonist who anticipates changes in cultural attitudes

2988-490: The audience, "I'm a happy man tonight." In March 1922, he moved the production to the larger Century Theater for a benefit performance to aid injured Jewish veterans of World War I. After taking the show on the road for a season, he returned in May 1923, to perform Bombo at the Winter Garden. The reviewer for The New York Times wrote, "He returned like the circus, bigger and brighter and newer than ever.... Last night's audience

3071-562: The band and I got out to Hollywood, we were treated like pure royalty. Here were Jolson and I living in adjacent penthouses in a very plush hotel. We were costars in the film so we received equal treatment, no question about it. The Singing Kid was not one of the studio's major attractions (it was released by the First National subsidiary), and Jolson did not even rate star billing. " I Love to Singa " later appeared in Tex Avery 's cartoon of

3154-422: The burgeoning television industry: "I call it smell-evision." Writer Hal Kanter recalled that Jolson's own idea of his television debut would be a corporate-sponsored, extra-length spectacular that would feature him as the only performer, and would be telecast without interruption. Even though he had several TV offers at the time, Jolson was apprehensive about how his larger than life performances would come across in

3237-758: The ceiling to create a courtyard effect. While the theatre was originally designed with 1,700 seats, it now seats 1,286. Originally built as a vaudeville venue, the theatre underwent conversion into a movie house in 1929 and for decades it presented both movies and live entertainment. Throughout the 1920s, the Chicago-based Orpheum circuit brought famous names like: Al Jolson , Fannie Brice , Jack Benny , George Burns , Louis Armstrong , Ella Fitzgerald , Gracie Allen , Gypsy Rose Lee , Bing Crosby , Mickey Rooney , and Harry Houdini to Wichita's Orpheum Theatre. Admission to these shows would generally cost between $ 0.40 and $ 0.75. In addition to these live acts,

3320-452: The company. According to film historian Krin Gabbard, The Jolson Story goes further than any of the earlier films in exploring the significance of blackface and the relationships that whites have developed with blacks in the area of music. To him, the film seems to imply an inclination of white performers, like Jolson, who are possessed with "the joy of life and enough sensitivity to appreciate

3403-468: The confidence to rhyme 'Mammy' with 'Uncle Sammy'", adding "Mammy songs, along with the vocation 'Mammy singer', were inventions of the Jewish Jazz Age." The film also gave a boost to the career of black singer and bandleader Cab Calloway , who performed a number of songs alongside Jolson. In his autobiography, Calloway writes about this episode: {{blockquote|I'd heard Al Jolson was doing a new film on

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3486-522: The cult classic hit tour of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live! Additionally, the theatre is a primary venue for the annual Tallgrass Film Festival and curates its own annual film series. This table compares the Orpheum against other former theaters in downtown Wichita. The Miller was the "king" of theaters in downtown Wichita, featuring a baroque style with three balconies and 2000 seats. Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson , Yiddish : אַסאַ יואלסאָן ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950)

3569-414: The end of the year, the circus had folded and Jolson was again out of work. In May 1903, the head producer of the burlesque show Dainty Duchess Burlesquers agreed to give Jolson a part in one show. He performed "Be My Baby Bumble Bee", and the producer agreed to keep him, but the show closed by the end of the year. He avoided financial troubles by forming a vaudeville partnership with his brother Hirsch,

3652-620: The family was reunited. Jolson's mother, Naomi, died at 37 in early 1895, and he was in a state of withdrawal for seven months. He spent time at the St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys , a progressive reformatory/home for orphans run by the Xaverian Brothers in Baltimore. After being introduced to show business in 1895 by Al Reeves , Asa and Hirsch became fascinated by it, and by 1897 the brothers were singing for coins on local street corners, using

3735-430: The film was being run. "She pinned herself against a wall in the dark and watched the faces in the crowd. In that moment just before 'Toot, Toot, Tootsie,' she remembered, 'A miracle occurred. Moving pictures really came alive. To see the expressions on their faces, when Joley spoke to them ... you'd have thought they were listening to the voice of God.'" "Everybody was mad for the talkies," said movie star Gregory Peck in

3818-551: The film's end, the Warner brothers had shown an audience something they had never known, moved them in a way they hadn't expected. The tumultuous ovation at curtain proved that Jolson was not merely the right man for the part of Jackie Rabinowitz, alias Jack Robin; he was the right man for the entire transition from silent fantasy to talking realism. The audience, transformed into what one critic called, 'a milling, battling mob' stood, stamped, and cheered 'Jolson, Jolson, Jolson!'" Vitaphone

3901-453: The head of Columbia Pictures agreed. It was directed by Alfred E. Green , best remembered for the pre-Code Baby Face (1933), with musical numbers staged by Joseph H. Lewis . With Jolson providing almost all the vocals, and Columbia contract player Larry Parks playing Jolson, The Jolson Story (1946) became one of the biggest box-office hits of the year. In a tribute to Jolson, Larry Parks wrote, "Stepping into his shoes was, for me,

3984-419: The interior paint had peeled, plaster had fallen out of the roof and walls, and much of the exterior brick needed to be replaced. Because the seating had been removed and sold during the closing, the Orpheum board installed used seating taken from various sources throughout Wichita, including a former theatre at Towne East Mall and an auditorium at City Hall. After these basic renovations had taken place, attention

4067-473: The movie's length, including " April Showers " and " Avalon ". Reviewers wrote, "Mr Jolson's singing of Mammy , California, Here I Come and others is something for the memory book" and "Of the three co-stars this is Jolson's picture ... because it's a pretty good catalog in anybody's hit parade." The movie was released on DVD in October 2008. 20th Century Fox hired him to recreate a scene from The Jazz Singer in

4150-463: The movie, he persuaded the studio to let him appear in one musical sequence, " Swanee ", shot entirely in long shot, with Jolson in blackface singing and dancing onto the runway leading into the middle of the theater. In the wake of the film's success and his World War II tours, Jolson became a top singer among the American public once more. Decca signed Jolson and he recorded for Decca from 1945 until his death, making his last commercial recordings for

4233-409: The music. Arlen was the songwriter for many of the finest Cotton Club revues, but he had done some interpretations for The Singing Kid that I just couldn't go along with. He was trying to change my style and I was fighting it. Finally, Jolson stepped in and said to Arlen, 'Look, Cab knows what he wants to do; let him do it his way.' After that, Arlen left me alone. And talk about integration: Hell, when

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4316-491: The musical Vera Violetta which opened on November 20, 1911, and like La Belle Paree it was a success. In the show, he again sang in blackface and became so popular that his weekly salary of $ 500 (based on his success in La Belle Paree ) was increased to $ 750. After Vera Violetta closed, Jolson starred in another musical, The Whirl of Society , propelling his career on Broadway to new heights. During his time at

4399-599: The musical accomplishments of blacks". To support his view he describes a significant part of the movie: While wandering around New Orleans before a show with Dockstader's Minstrels, he enters a small club where a group of black jazz musicians are performing. Jolson has a revelation, that the staid repertoire of the minstrel troupe can be transformed by actually playing black music in blackface. He tells Dockstader that he wants to sing what he has just experienced: 'I heard some music tonight, something they call jazz. Some fellows just make it up as they go along. They pick it up out of

4482-477: The names "Al" and "Harry". They often used the money to buy tickets to the National Theater . They spent most of their days working different jobs as a team. In the spring of 1902, Jolson accepted a job with Walter L. Main's circus. Although Main had hired him as an usher, Main was impressed by Jolson's singing voice and gave him a position as a singer during the circus's Indian Medicine Side Show segment. By

4565-469: The nonprofit group from the lawsuits. In 1992 clear title and ownership of the theatre was formally handed to the nonprofit. However, much work needed to be done in order to restore it to an operational condition. Before restoration could begin, the building had to be completely cleaned, as it was made uninhabitable by teeming refuse left over from years of abandonment. The roof leaked and needed to be repaired, several walls needed to be re-stabilized, much of

4648-645: The popular High School Shorts Program and Timothy Gruver Spotlight on Kansas Filmmakers. 2003 Opening Night Film: Bomb The System 2004 Opening Night Film: Up For Grabs 2005 (Shortgrass) Opening Night Film: Conventioneers 2006 Opening Night Film: Manhattan, Kansas 2007 Opening Night Film: Kansas v. Darwin 2008 Opening Night Film: What's the Matter with Kansas? 2009 Opening Night Film: The Only Good Indian 2010 Opening Night Film: The Dry Land 2011 Opening Night Film: Der Sandmann 2012 Opening Night Film: Pablo 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Opening Night Film: Bathtubs Over Broadway. As

4731-454: The producer and star of Dockstader's Minstrels. Jolson accepted Dockstader's offer and became a blackface performer. According to Esquire magazine, " J.J. Shubert , impressed by Jolson's overpowering display of energy, booked him for La Belle Paree , a musical comedy that opened at the Winter Garden in 1911. Within a month Jolson was a star. From then until 1926, when he retired from

4814-406: The role to Jolson because he agreed to help finance the film. Harry Warner 's daughter, Doris, remembered the opening night, and said that when the picture started she was still crying over the loss of her beloved uncle Sam. He had been planning to be at the performance but died suddenly, at the age of 40, on the previous day. However, halfway through the 89-minute film, she began to be overtaken by

4897-456: The same name. The movie also became the first important role for future child star Sybil Jason in a scene directed by Busby Berkeley . Jason remembers that Berkeley worked on the film although he is not credited. His next movie—his first with Twentieth Century-Fox —was Rose of Washington Square (1939). It stars Jolson, Alice Faye and Tyrone Power , and included many of Jolson's best known songs, although several songs were cut to shorten

4980-571: The stage, he could boast an unbroken series of smash hits." On March 20, 1911, Jolson starred in his first musical revue at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City. La Belle Paree helped start his career as a singer. Opening night drew a large crowd, and he became popular with the audience by performing Stephen Foster songs in blackface. The show closed after 104 performances. After La Belle Paree , he accepted an offer to perform in

5063-507: The star of the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he starred in a series of successful musical films during the 1930s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II . After a period of inactivity, his stardom returned with The Jolson Story (1946), in which Larry Parks played the younger Jolson, but with sung vocals dubbed by Jolson himself. The formula

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5146-556: The story of an ambitious entertainer who insisted on going on with the show even as his small son lay dying. The film was even more popular than The Jazz Singer . " Sonny Boy ", from the film, was the first American record to sell one million copies. Jolson continued to make features for Warner Bros. similar in style to The Singing Fool . These included Say It with Songs (1929), Mammy (1930), and Big Boy (1930). A restored version of Mammy , with Jolson in Technicolor sequences,

5229-467: The streets and sidewalks at each theater Jolson visited. In Chicago, a few weeks later, he sang to 100,000 people at Soldier Field, and later that night appeared at the Oriental Theatre with George Jessel where 10,000 people had to be turned away. Jolson had been a popular guest star on radio since its earliest days, including on NBC's The Dodge Victory Hour (January 1928), singing from

5312-552: The time was the studio's highest-grossing movie. The award is rarely given to performers in musicals. Ironically, Cagney, who became known for his tough guy movie roles, also made a contribution to movie musicals, like the man who had discovered him. While Jolson is credited for appearing in the first movie musical, Cagney's Academy Award-winning movie was the first movie Ted Turner chose to colorize . When Jolson appeared on Steve Allen 's KNX Los Angeles radio show in 1949 to promote Jolson Sings Again , he offered his curt opinion of

5395-437: The top ten on the charts). Jolson joked about how his voice had deepened with age, saying "I got the clippetys all right, but I can't clop like I used to." In addition to his contribution to motion pictures as a performer, he is responsible for the discovery of two major stars of the golden age of Hollywood. He purchased the rights to a play he saw on Broadway and then sold the movie rights to Jack Warner (Warner Brothers which

5478-556: The unsuccessful Wonder Bar . Warner Bros. allowed him to make Hallelujah, I'm a Bum with United Artists in 1933. It was directed by Lewis Milestone and written by Ben Hecht . Hecht was also active in the promotion of civil rights : "Hecht film stories featuring black characters included Hallelujah, I'm a Bum , co-starring Edgar Connor as Jolson's sidekick, in a politically savvy rhymed dialogue over Richard Rodgers music." The New York Times reviewer wrote, "The picture, some persons may be glad to hear, has no Mammy song. It

5561-430: The wings trembling and sweating". After being shoved onto the stage by his brother Harry, he performed, then received an ovation he would never forget: "For several minutes, the applause continued while Al stood and bowed after the first act." He refused to go back on stage for the second act, but the audience "stamped its feet and chanted 'Jolson, Jolson', until he came back out". He took 37 curtain calls that night and told

5644-642: Was "arguably the single most important factor in defining the modern musical." With his dynamic style of singing, he became widely successful by extracting traditionally African-American music and popularizing it for white American audiences who would be unwilling to listen to it when performed by black artists. Despite his promotion and perpetuation of black stereotypes, his work was often well-regarded by black publications and has been credited for fighting against black discrimination on Broadway as early as 1911. In an essay written in 2000, music critic Ted Gioia remarked, "If blackface has its shameful poster boy, it

5727-541: Was a Lithuanian-born American singer, actor, and vaudevillian . He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer". Jolson was known for his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach" towards performing, as well as for popularizing many of the songs he sang. Jolson has been referred to by modern critics as "the king of blackface performers". Although best remembered today as

5810-535: Was a screening of Y Tu Mama Tambien in Dodge City, KS. Academy Award nominee Gary Busey attended in conjunction with the screening of The Buddy Holly Story, a documentary. Cloris Leachman was a guest at the 2004 Festival. That year's festival included 24 feature films and 32 short films. Former baseball star Jose Canseco introduced the Opening Night Movie, the baseball documentary Up For Grabs. The 2005 Festival

5893-592: Was considered lost in 1933, but was found in 1995 and restored by The Vitaphone Project . Warner Bros. picked George Jessel for the role, as he had starred in the Broadway play. When Sam Warner decided to make The Jazz Singer a musical with the Vitaphone, he knew that Jolson was the star he needed. He told Jessel that he would have to sing in the movie, and Jessel balked, allowing Warner to replace him with Jolson. Jessel never got over it, and often said that Warner gave

5976-612: Was doubled. In 1916, Robinson Crusoe, Jr. was the first musical in which he was the star. In 1918, his acting career was pushed further after he starred in the hit musical Sinbad . It became the most successful Broadway musical of 1918 and 1919. " Swanee " was added to the show and became composer George Gershwin 's first hit recording. Jolson added " My Mammy ". By 1920, he had become the biggest star on Broadway. His next play, Bombo , became so successful that it went beyond Broadway to performances nationwide. It led Lee Shubert to rename his theater Jolson's 59th Street Theatre . At

6059-501: Was first screened in 2002. Jolson's first Technicolor appearance was a cameo in the musical Showgirl in Hollywood (1930) from First National Pictures , a Warner Bros. subsidiary. However, these films gradually proved a cycle of diminishing returns due to their comparative sameness, the regal salary that Jolson demanded, and a shift in public taste away from vaudeville musicals as the 1930s began. Jolson returned to Broadway and starred in

6142-474: Was flatteringly unwilling to go home, and when the show proper was over, Jolson reappeared before the curtain and sang more songs, old and new." "I don't mind going on record as saying that he is one of the few instinctively funny men on our stage," wrote reviewer Charles Darnton in the New York Evening World . "Everything he touches turns to fun. To watch him is to marvel at his humorous vitality. He

6225-402: Was good showmanship to cast this film with lesser people, particularly Larry Parks as the mammy kid.... As for Jolson's voice, it has never been better. Thus the magic of science has produced a composite whole to eclipse the original at his most youthful best. Parks received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor . Although the 60-year-old Jolson was too old to play a younger version of himself in

6308-476: Was intended for musical renditions, and The Jazz Singer follows this principle, with only the musical sequences using live sound recording. The moviegoers were electrified when the silent actions were interrupted periodically for a song sequence with real singing and sound. Jolson's dynamic voice, physical mannerisms, and charisma held the audience spellbound. Costar May McAvoy , according to author A. Scott Berg, could not help sneaking into theaters day after day as

6391-515: Was on his own. He became a regular at the Globe and Wigwam Theater in San Francisco and was successful nationwide as a vaudeville singer. He took up residence in San Francisco, saying the earthquake -devastated people needed someone to cheer them up. In 1908, Jolson, needing money for himself and his new wife, Henrietta, returned to New York. In 1909, his singing caught the attention of Lew Dockstader ,

6474-619: Was qualified as a rabbi and cantor , moved to New York City to secure a better future for his family. By 1894, Moses Yoelson could afford to pay the fare to bring Nechama and their four children to the U.S. By the time they arrived—as steerage passengers on the SS Umbria arriving at the Port of New York on April 9, 1894—he had found work as a cantor at Talmud Torah Congregation in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where

6557-691: Was repeated in a sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949). In 1950, he again became the first star to entertain GIs on active service in the Korean War , performing 42 shows in 16 days. He died weeks after returning to the U.S., partly owing to the physical exhaustion from the performance schedule. Defense Secretary George Marshall posthumously awarded him the Medal for Merit . According to music historian Larry Stempel, "No one had heard anything quite like it before on Broadway." Stephen Banfield wrote that Jolson's style

6640-622: Was shortened to a one-day event due to the death of Gruver. 2,500 people attended. 4,850 people attended the 2007 Festival, including ten filmmakers. Official Selections have included Audience Award winners The Big Bad Swim and 39 Pounds of Love ; as well as the 2006 Independent Spirit Award winner Conventioneers , the 2007 Independent Spirit Award nominee Trials of Darryl Hunt as well as Bomb The System , Manhattan, Kansas, Dreamland, The Real Dirt on Farmer John , Fat Girls , Iraq in Fragments , The Last Picture Show , The Buddy Holly Story and

6723-544: Was the studio that had made The Jazz Singer ) with the stipulation that two of the original cast members reprise their roles in the movie. The play became the movie Penny Arcade , and the actors were Joan Blondell and James Cagney , who both went on to become contract players for the studio. The two were major ingredients in gangster movies, which were lucrative for the studio. Cagney won his Academy Award for his role in Warner Brothers' Yankee Doodle Dandy , which at

6806-409: Was turned to upgrading the theatre's interior functions. An updated heating and air conditioning system was installed in 2001, a new marquee and updated restrooms were added in 2002, the lobby concession area was restored in 2005, the lobby vestibule restored in 2007, exterior brick and roof repair completed in 2010, new LED lights acquired and installed in 2010, exit corridors and doors were repaired and

6889-553: Was voted the "Most Popular Male Vocalist" in 1948 by a poll in Variety . The next year, Jolson was named "Personality of the Year" by the Variety Clubs of America. When Jolson appeared on Bing Crosby's radio show, he attributed his receiving the award to his being the only singer of any importance not to make a record of " Mule Train ", which had been a widely covered hit of that year (four different versions, one of them by Crosby, had made

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