The Singing Fool is a 1928 American sound part-talkie musical drama motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon which was released by Warner Bros. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. The film stars Al Jolson and is a follow-up to his previous film, The Jazz Singer. It is credited with helping to cement the popularity of American films of both sound and the musical genre. The film entered the public domain on January 1, 2024.[6]
Plot
Full film
After years of hopeful struggle as a comedian/waiter at Blackies Cafe, Al Stone (Jolson) is on his way to stardom.
One night, he sings a song he wrote for his long time crush Molly, impressing the head of a Broadway theater that was in attendance that night. Molly immediately falls for Al, knowing that he will soon be a big star. Broadway success, marriage and a child (Sonny) soon follow. Before long, Molly begins an affair with John, a mutual friend. Molly eventually abandons Al, and takes Sonny with her to Paris. Before leaving, she announces she will seek a divorce while overseas. Heartbroken, Al becomes a loner until friends from Blackies rescue him from a life on the streets.
Soon, Al is back in lights. But another crisis awaits: Al gets a message at the theater that Sonny is back in town and dying. Al visits him in the hospital, and moments after singing "Sonny Boy" to him, Sonny passes away.
Al returns to the theater devastated, but decides to go on with the show that evening. As a tribute to his deceased son, he sings "Sonny Boy" to a huge ovation. Al collapses as the curtains close, but vows to his friend Grace to never give up on life again.
Carl M. Leviness as Carl, a Waiter at Clicquot Club (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien as Waiter at Blackie Joe's (uncredited)
Bob Perry as Doorman at Blackie Joe's (uncredited)
Production
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, the movie was released in both sound and silent versions.
The Singing Fool was a part-talking feature, which featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects along with synchronized musical and talking sequences, although in this film roughly 66 minutes of talking and singing were included.[3] Al Jolson's first all-talking feature, Say It With Songs, would appear in 1929.
Reception
The Singing Fool solidified Jolson's position atop the movie world; not until Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would any sound-era film be more financially successful than this audience-pleasing blend of sentiment and show biz. With a worldwide gross of $5.9 million,[5] it would remain the most successful film in Warner Bros. history until the release of Sergeant York in 1941.[3]
According to Warner Bros records the film earned $3,821,000 domestically and $2,095,000 foreign.[4]
For the majority of movie audiences, The Singing Fool became their first experience with a talking film, since few movie theaters had been equipped with a sound system in 1927. The film's positive reception was also viewed as a signifier that sound films were here to stay. "Here is complete vindication for the advocates of sound pictures", wrote Film Daily. "The Singing Fool is the finest example of sound pictures made to date."[7]Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times wrote that the dialogue was "a little halting" and that Dunn was "not convincing", but recognized that the main point of interest in the film was "not in its transparent narrative, but in Mr. Jolson's inimitable singing", and on that basis it was "capital entertainment."[8]John Mosher of The New Yorker also recommended the film, writing, "Fortunately, throughout this picture one has Al Jolson's own songs to listen to, for the story has been contrived to exploit to the full his special talents. Whenever the action begins to slump and lag, Al has only to step forward and do his stuff, and the day is saved."[9] One trade paper commentator stated that The Singing Fool "will be to talking pictures what The Birth of a Nation has been to silent pictures".[3]
For a time, the film also made Davey Lee, Jolson's 31⁄2 year old co-star, the most popular child star since Jackie Coogan. Lee was re-teamed with Jolson in Say It With Songs and starred in a few other films—including 1929's Sonny Boy—until his parents pulled him out of the movie business.[3]
"Keep Smiling at Trouble" – words by Al Jolson and B. G. DeSylva, music by Lewis Gensler
"Sonny Boy" – words and music by Lew Brown, B. G. DeSylva and Ray Henderson
"Sonny Boy" became the first song from a movie to sell over a million copies.[citation needed] It eventually sold over 3 million copies of sheet music, piano rolls and phonograph records.[citation needed]
Al Jolson's rendition of "The Spaniard That 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. These copies also have the majority of the original decorative Warner Brothers title cards replaced with simple British made ones which were used to remove Americanisms which the British would not understand or appreciate (a common practice during the silent era). Only the soundtrack survives on extant Vitaphone discs.
^ abcdeBradley, Edwin M. (1996). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. McFarland & Company. pp. 10–12. ISBN9780786420292.
^ abWarner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 7 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ abGlancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 15: 55–73. doi:10.1080/01439689500260031.
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