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Having just watched Al Jolson in BIG BOY, I was wondering if the film had had any tv airings. One Jolson biography from a few years back had said that it was the only Jolson film not to have been shown on U.S. tv, and knowing how conservative and mealy-mouthed the BBC and other British stations are, I doubt it has been shown over here. Information, please?

*BIG BOY seems to have been shown on Ted Turner's channel, but perhaps not terrestrially.

In my old TCM (US) schedules, it was listed for May 4, 2011. I apparently didn't record it, so I don't know if it was actually shown. I found no other listings for it, but I don't have all the schedules.

Rick

As far as I am aware it has never been shown on tv here.You can check on the BFI website.However Mammy was shown on Channel 4 probably around 30 years ago.

I should also mention that it's available for sale:
https://www.amazon.com/Big-Boy-Al-Jolso ... boy+jolson" target="_blank

Rick

wingate wrote:As far as I am aware it has never been shown on tv here.You can check on the BFI website.However Mammy was shown on Channel 4 probably around 30 years ago.

Ouch. Don't remind me! Remember it was scheduled at least twice, both in the afternoon, and once when I was working away from home. And that before many folk had video. At least it is available to buy so shall have to contact Mr Kringle...

I can confirm that the film did air on TCM in May of 2011. I watched and recorded a dvd-r of that broadcast.

BIG BOY aired at least once on Turner Network Television, circa 1990 when that channel was heavily oriented toward classics because TCM didn't exist yet. I recorded it on VHS (I think I still have the tape hanging around somewhere with the air date listed).

I rented a 16mm print of BIG BOY in the 1970s and ran it at our local public library. I can't image doing that today. The film is a curiosity piece preserving one of Jolson's stage shows and he plays the entire story in blackface. It might have helped if the experiment worked but as a film it's not very good. Alan Crosland directed and it only hastened his decline as a top director. Although barely 70 minutes it seems much longer. The main story moves along at a nice clip but then a lengthy flashback scene stops the pacing dead in its tracks. An extended musical scene of the spiritual "Go Down Moses" is dull and the over-the-top acting of Noah Beery as a Simon LeGree type of character makes the sequence seem forced if not awkward. By the time the flashback is over the film has trouble regaining its momentum as it heads into an all too predictable finale.

But then a minor miracle happens. The scene dissolves into a stage where Jolson and the rest of the cast are standing before an audience dressed in their normal street clothes. Jolson as himself addresses the audience pointing out how the actors are nothing like the characters they played. When someone suggests that Al sings a song he asks for requests. When somebody suggests "Sonny Boy" the audience boos and gets to their feet to leave. Jolson stops them saying that he won't sing "Sonny Boy." Considering what a monster hit the song was only two years earlier, its rejection by 1930 is ironically hilarious. The film ends with Al reprising one of the film's songs and narrating a sentimental tale that has an unexpectedly funny punchline. If the entire film had been as imaginative as the last few minutes BIG BOY would have been exceptional. Unfortunately, it's a dud punctuated by some terrific one liners by Jolson and of course his exuberant way with a song. The best scene is in a restaurant where he works as a waiter and discovers a plot to keep the family's horse from winning the race on the next day. It's obviously pre-Code.

I know that Big Boy was aired by TCM in the last 5-6 years because I have a DVD recorded from the airing.
However I don't remember if Mammy was ever shown on TCM. I thought they'd show it once it was restored. Maybe the content was too racial for airing. Another Al Jolson film that TCM never seems to show is Wonder Bar. I have an old VHS copy taped from TCM in the mid 1990's. I don't believe it's aired for almost 20 years.

Wonder Bar has been shown on TCM (US). I recorded it.
Mammy was on their schedule for June 21, 2001. I don't know for sure if it was shown, didn't record it.

https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Bar-Al-Jo ... wonder+bar" target="_blank

https://www.amazon.com/Mammy-Al-Jolson/ ... mmy+jolson" target="_blank

Rick