The careers of George Jessel and Al Jolson are profiled by host Conrad Nagel with additional anecdotes from Al Lewis, the producer and director of the original play "The Jazz Singer," and from Pearl Seaman who reflects on the career of Al Jolson.
Note: This is the only known extant broadcast (video / audio) of producer Albert Lewis reflecting on how he first met George Jessel who starred in his produced Broadway Play THE JAZZ SINGER in 1925.
Lewis reminisces, uninterrupted, for four minutes.
He remembers how he first met Jessel as a young Vaudevillian doing a monologue routine about how to eat frankfurters only with mustard...what attracted a young George Jessel to him who was very lively and so original..."an obvious immerging great talent."
Al Lewis reminds us of his partnership producing team Lewis and Gordon, producing one act plays and always looking for new talent which they found in George Jessel, who became a protégé of Lewis, rising to stardom in the theater.
Al Lewis reflects how tedious and difficult Samson Raphaelson's first play, THE JAZZ SINGER, was to fashion into a one-act stage play, a critical failure at first but managed to thrill audiences for 14 months on Broadway and turned a profit.
Lewis mentions his regrets that Jessel was not able to come to terms with Warner Brothers who were not in a financial position to meet his terms which created a profound missed opportunity for George Jessel to become movie star.