Al Jolson (Jazz Singer) and Frank Morgan (the Wizard!)... what a strange combination. One is a tramp, one is the mayor of NYC. They are old friends, and meet up again when the mayor's daughter does something dramatic. Throw in music by Rodgers & Hart, and you've got a film... in this case, a zany one. At the start, there are about five minutes of talking, then fifteen minutes of singing by the bums in central park. Then as the story begins, the mayor and the citizens all speak in rhyme, over the background music. Then, suddenly when the mayor gets home, the speaking in rhyme stops, and the story continues. This makes for really odd timing, as the actors rotate between singing, rhyming, and speaking in normal tone. With all the singing, dancing, and rhyming, there is really only about 15 minutes of story, stretched out bigtime. If you have the patience, enjoy the showtunes, and having film sped up and down, then you'll probably enjoy it. It IS a chunk of history, seeing Jolson five years after Jazz Singer, and Frank Morgan six years before Wizard of Oz, but I found the constant changing of timing way too distracting. Directed by Lewis Milestone, who had also done two of Steinbeck's works. He would also go on to direct Brando in "Mutiny on the Bounty". Milestone must not have enjoyed that, since "Bounty" was the last film he would ever direct.
Review of Hallelujah I'm a Bum
