LizzieMaine
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It's hard for people today to understand how huge Jolson was in the 1910s and 1920s, almost entirely due to his live shows. He *owned* Broadway, when Broadway actually meant something culturally, and even people who never got within two thousand miles of New York in their lives knew who he was. His movies at the turn of the talkie era were absolute juggernauts at the box office -- not for their strength as movies but simply because it was a chance for people everywhere to actually see Jolson in action. "The Singing Fool," a piece of emotionally manipulative, part-talkie drek, became the highest grossing film of the early-talkie era on the sole strength of Jolson's personal charisma. And if he could do that with in such a saggy, patchwork setting, we can only imagine what he was able to do in person, in his prime, on the stage of the Winter Garden.
There are very few performers who have ever had that kind of electric stage presence. Elvis would certainly have to be one. Michael Jackson would be another. Judy Garland, Eddie Cantor, Harry Richman. But Jolson at the peak of his powers could have run any of them off the stage.
There are very few performers who have ever had that kind of electric stage presence. Elvis would certainly have to be one. Michael Jackson would be another. Judy Garland, Eddie Cantor, Harry Richman. But Jolson at the peak of his powers could have run any of them off the stage.