Jolson made his first films in the mid-20s, a series of early talking shorts. But his immortality came with "The Jazz Singer", the first commercially viable, part-talking feature. Signed with Warner Bros., Jolson made a series of popular, sentimental musicals, including "The Singing Fool" (1928), "Sonny Boy" (1929), "Mammy" and "Big Boy" (both 1930) before his vogue began passing. He left for United Artists in 1933 for the bizarre (and commercially disastrous) Rodgers and Hart film "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" before returning to Warners. There, he made a series of innocuous musicals, the best of which was the first, "Wonder Bar" (1934).
Jolson's fame declined through "Go Into Your Dance" (1935, co-starring Ruby Keeler, his wife from 1928-39), "Rose of Washington Square" (1939) and "Rhapsody in Blue" (1944). He entertained the troops in both WWII and Korea, and had a resurgence of popularity when he provided Larry Parks' voice in "The Jolson Story" (1946) and "Jolson Sings Again" (1949). He had achieved the status of revered veteran when he died in 1950.