Main Cast: Al Jolson, Betty Bronson, Josephine Dunn, Reed Howes, Edward Martindel
Release Year: 1928
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
Plot
Popular film lore has it that The Jazz Singer was the film that established the talkie as the pre-eminent film medium in 1927. But it was Al Jolson's follow-up film, The Singing Fool that actually introduced the sound film to the general film-going population of the United States and it was the popularity of The Singing Fool that paved the way for the wide-acceptance of sound features. Jolson plays Al Stone, a singing waiter at Blackie Joe's cafe, who writes a hit song and sky-rockets to success as a Broadway headliner. Looking ahead to unlimited success, Al falls in love with scheming golddigger Molly Winton (Josephine Dunn), whom he marries. When Molly gives him a son, Sonny Boy (Davey Lee), Al is beside himself with love for his cutey-pie offspring. But when Molly deserts him for small-time gangster John Perry (Reed Howes) and takes Sonny Boy with her, Al is heartbroken. His spirit shattered, Al becomes a bum and, after a time, regains his singing waiter job at Blackie Joe's. Back at the dive, Grace (Betty Bronson), a cigarette girl secretly in love with Al, convinces him to make a comeback. Al struggles and regains his confidence and hits the stage like a trouper -- even when he hears that his beloved Sonny Boy has died in a hospital ward. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Enormously popular in its day, The Singing Fool has dated badly over the ensuing decades, but it still is worth watching for reasons other than its historical significance. Technically, of course, the film is almost unbearably crude, which makes it difficult for audiences used to clear, crisp sound and inventive cinematography to sit through it. The script is mawkish and manipulative, filled with soap opera set-ups that today are overly obvious and unconvincing, and neither the dialogue nor the title cards contains much of substance. At 105 minutes, it's too long for the story it has to tell, and Lloyd Bacon's direction is static and uninteresting. (To be fair, Bacon was badly limited by the immobility of the new sound cameras.) Fortunately, there's still Al Jolson and some memorable songs, including "I'm Sitting on top of the World." Viewed through contemporary eyes, Jolson tries too hard and over-emotes at the drop of a hat; yet there's still something compelling about him. One watches him in Fool and is aware that much of what he is doing is technically poor, but it holds a real fascination nonetheless. This is especially true during "Sonny Boy," a song with which Jolson is forever associated. In its time, this number (sung three times in the film) moved audiences to tears, whereas today the result is more apt to be laughter; yet it's impossible to not be impressed by Jolson's unselfconscious commitment to selling himself in every note. The star's vitality and overpowering chutzpah make for a unique viewing experience. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Like The Jazz Singer, The Singing Fool was a melodrama with musical interludes, and as such was one of the film industry's first musical films. Produced during the transition period between silent film and talkies, this movie (like its predecessor) was released in both sound and silent versions. And the film was once again a major hit and is credited with helping to cement the popularity of both sound and the musical genre.
Plot
After years of hopeful struggle, Al Stone (Jolson) is on his way. "I'm Sittin' on Top of the World", he sings to an appreciative speakeasy crowd. But, as Al discovers, getting there is one thing. Staying there is another. Singing waiter Stone gets his huge break on a magical night when his song wows a big-time producer and a gold-digging showgirl he fancies. Broadway success and marriage follow, but sure enough, hard times are on the way. Al's fickle wife abandons him, taking the beloved son he calls Sonny Boy with her. Heartbroken, Al becomes a devastated loner until friends from the speakeasy that launched his career rescue him from a life on the streets. Soon, Al is back in lights. But another crisis awaits: Sonny Boy is in the hospital and dying....
The Singing Fool Al Jolson's first film after his history making The Jazz Singer (1927 film), solidified the dynamic performer's position atop the movie world. Not until Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (film) would any Sound Era film be more financially successful than this audience-pleasing blend of sentiment and show biz.
For the majority of movie audiences, "The Singing Fool" became their first experience with a talking film because so few movie theaters had been equipped with a sound system in 1927.
Like his previous film, The Jazz Singer, "The Singing Fool" was a part-talking feature, which featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects along with synchronized musical and talking sequences. Al Jolson's first all-talking feature, Say It With Songs would appear in 1929.
The movie was a smash hit, with a worldwide gross of $5.9 million. It would remain the most successful film in Warner Bros. history until the release of Sergeant York in 1941.
"Sonny Boy" became the first song from a movie to sell over a million copies. It eventually sold over 3 million copies of sheet music, piano rolls and phonograph records.
Al Jolson's rendition of "The Spaniard Who Blighted My Life" is missing from extant prints of the film. This is due to a lawsuit initiated by the song's author, Billy Merson. Merson claimed that he, as a performer, owed his income to his own renditions of the song, and that Jolson's version would diminish his ability to earn a living. The song was removed from all prints of "The Singing Fool" shown in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the only surviving copies of the film are also from the U.K., hence are missing the song. Only the soundtrack survives on extant Vitaphone discs.
