It's almost as if you have two separate movies here. There's Rose of Washington Square and her love affair...and there's Al Jolson reaching for the top of Broadway. The two stories do come together, but they almost seem like separate plots.
The great thing about this film is that you see Al Jolson singing a few of his greatest hits...although he's not playing himself...sort of. The good news is that Jolson is in particularly fine voice here. More mellow and with a lower key than his early 78s, but clearer and purer than the Jolson on his recordings of a decade later, around the time of his bio-pics. The bad news is, ironically, that the father of sound films is a pretty stiff and lousy actor. Twentieth Century Fox thought so, too. This was his last starring role! And then you have the romance and drama between a Fanny Brice-like character and a Nicky Arnstein-like character. A coincidence? No, Fox just changed the names, and Brice sued them...and settled. But it's all very interesting. I can't say that Alice Faye had the best songs in this film, but she does do "My Man". If there's a problem here with this film it's that you have its other star (Tyrone Power) playing the bad guy...and we so want to like Tyrone Power.
There was definitely screen chemistry between Tyrone Power and Alice Faye, but, unfortunately, their two other pairings -- "In Old Chicago" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" -- are simply more compelling films.
This is a film supremely worth watching for the singing performances of Al Jolson; too bad his acting wasn't as good! The drama of Rose...it's okay. Recommended, but it may not end up on your DVD shelf...unless Jolson tempts you!
The great thing about this film is that you see Al Jolson singing a few of his greatest hits...although he's not playing himself...sort of. The good news is that Jolson is in particularly fine voice here. More mellow and with a lower key than his early 78s, but clearer and purer than the Jolson on his recordings of a decade later, around the time of his bio-pics. The bad news is, ironically, that the father of sound films is a pretty stiff and lousy actor. Twentieth Century Fox thought so, too. This was his last starring role! And then you have the romance and drama between a Fanny Brice-like character and a Nicky Arnstein-like character. A coincidence? No, Fox just changed the names, and Brice sued them...and settled. But it's all very interesting. I can't say that Alice Faye had the best songs in this film, but she does do "My Man". If there's a problem here with this film it's that you have its other star (Tyrone Power) playing the bad guy...and we so want to like Tyrone Power.
There was definitely screen chemistry between Tyrone Power and Alice Faye, but, unfortunately, their two other pairings -- "In Old Chicago" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" -- are simply more compelling films.
This is a film supremely worth watching for the singing performances of Al Jolson; too bad his acting wasn't as good! The drama of Rose...it's okay. Recommended, but it may not end up on your DVD shelf...unless Jolson tempts you!