Al Jolson

So Jacqueline Mangum's Alabama-based prejudice against "Dixie" forced a Santa Monica school to drop the song from the school program (Westside, June 18)? Isn't that dandy! Didn't anyone point out to the lady that this is California, and the song doesn't start riots out here? Does this mean we have to smash and burn our old Al Jolson recordings of that number to conform to her sensibilities? Talk about the tail wagging the dog! Give our schools a break, lady. LIAM SULLIVAN Hollywood

The City of Baltimore may not bar one of its white police officers from doing an Al Jolson routine blackface during his off-duty hours, the Supreme Court said today. The court, without elaboration, rejected the city's plea that it review a ruling by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case involves Robert Berger, who became a Baltimore police officer in 1972. During much of his tenure he has also performed at area nightspots, often impersonating Jolson.

I looked forward to going to the Bowl for the Great American Concert ("Grey's Mixed Results From America's Past at Bowl," Aug. 9.) Leaving Orange County at 5:45 p.m. seemed a small price to pay for the joy I expected. Surely someplace at the Bowl you should be able to purchase food at a fair price. Two sandwiches with two soft drinks came to $19. As soon as the concert began, an infant close by started crying and continued through most of the evening. No one came to admonish this, nor to lead the parents and infant away.

Beverly Roberts, 95, who co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in the 1936 film "Two Against the World," died July 13 at her home in Laguna Niguel of natural causes, her second cousin Christina Baker said. Born May 19, 1914, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Roberts became a Warner Bros. contract player in 1935. She made her first film the next year with Al Jolson in the musical "The Singing Kid." She starred as a female lumberjack in "God's Country and the Woman" in 1937, replacing Bette Davis in the lead.

My George Burns story: A few years ago, when I was researching my one-man play on Al Jolson, I had the opportunity to interview George Burns late one afternoon in his home. The maid let me in and indicated that I should wait for him in the living room. The room was totally dark, thus I did not see that there was a step down. I took it and fell flat onto my face. I was OK, and a few minutes later, Mr. Burns appeared. Not a word was said about my little accident. He was very gracious, funny and gave me some great Jolson stories, in which he was often the butt of the joke.

Known by fans as one of the happiest couples in Hollywood, Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler made their home in Encino during their 11-year marriage. The couple built their $150,000, 15-room house in 1935 on Louise Avenue south of Ventura Boulevard. It was set on 12 acres planted with lemon and orange trees. Radio dials decorated the rim of a backyard pool and loudspeakers were installed overhead. There the Jolsons raised their adopted son, Al Jr., who would later change his name to Peter. Al Sr.

Al Jolson--the most popular stage figure of the early 20th Century, the man whose appearance in the first talkie, "The Jazz Singer," revolutionized the entire entertainment industry in 1927--was one of the great icons of American culture. Mention his name, and virtually everyone has a picture of a man in blackface on bended knee, arms outstretched and singing "Mammy" in a chapped leather voice.

"The minute the curtain rang down, he died." So wrote show-biz rival and offstage pal Eddie Cantor about Al Jolson. Jolson's chemical dependency on applause turned his performance attack into an all-out performance offensive. You look in those wild eyes, in photographs or in his crazily excessive film work, and you don't see the joy of performing; you see the fear of not being able to. "Jolson," the musical, barely scratches this tantalizing surface.

The Silent Movie Theatre reopens Friday at 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, with two days of private screenings and opens to the public on Sunday with shows at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The regular screening schedule is evening shows Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30. Doors and box office open at 6 p.m. Matinees begin at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays; doors and box office open at noon. Shorts, serials and cartoons precede the feature.