Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (1933)

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I must take exception to all the favorable comments for this AL JOLSON movie, HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM directed by Lewis Milestone.First of all, Jolson himself is hardly appealing as a screen personality, lacking the looks and charm of a leading man in every conceivable way.He may have been the man immortalized in THE JOLSON STORY by Larry Parks, but as a screen personality he's totally lacking in many ways. His tendency to mug doesn't make him believable as a Central Park bum cavorting with several other equally unappealing characters.Furthermore, it's a musical with two average songs and a script that features musical dialogue--which strangely enough comes from the pen of Rodgers and Hart, both of whom have bit roles.The only good things about the movie are seeing FRANK MORGAN in a relatively straight dramatic role without all of his bumbling excesses, and lovely MADGE EVANS as the woman Jolson and Morgan are in love with through a strange set of circumstances.It took a lot of patience for me to sit through this one. And frankly, I do love musicals--but this was the pits. An oddity if there ever was one. He may have been a great entertainer on the stage, but it's no wonder his film career as a lead was a brief one.

If anyone doubts that Al Jolson was one of Hollywood's greatest and most versatile performers, then watch this movie. Everything about this movie is excellent and entertaining. The movie has a great story, excellent, spirited acting, and an engaging, dynamic script, most of which is said in rhyme. The movie is also a remarkable commentary on social and economic inequalities in modern society as the "bum" is not only a victim but a hero who offers hope for the downtrodden and encourages all not to lose heart, to stay engaged and to try to enjoy life with as few worries as possible. Especially surprising was Frank Morgan who gives a powerful portrayal as a big-city mayor who is in love. Nothing in this movie is corny. It tells a story, has lots of action, has wonderful characters and is both uplifting and highly entertaining.Another interesting feature of this movie is that it is performed by actors and actresses who, for the most part, are all but forgotten today. Al Jolson is still an icon, but Harry Langdon, Madge Evans, Chester Conklin, Edgar Connors ... they were excellent, and all but forgotten. A really marvelous movie.

I'm not much of a fan of musicals but have always been partial to the stylish, sophisticated and sometimes dazzlingly experimental examples of the genre that emanated during the early years of Talkies - the Lubitsch films, Rouben Mamoulian's LOVE ME TONIGHT (1932) and also the delightful French films of Rene' Clair.To these I can now add this Al Jolson vehicle directed by one of the great exponents of American cinema (at his best during the 1930s, though he continued to work steadily till 1962). This was only my 3rd Jolson film - not counting THE JOLSON STORY (1946), the first of two biopics made while he was still living!; the others were his history-making debut THE JAZZ SINGER (1927), the pioneering Sound picture, and ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE (1939) - actually, his penultimate film, by which time he had been relegated to supporting roles! Anyway, the film under review here is something of an oddity in that, not only does it present such humdrum fare as the Great Depression through the eyes of a cheerful tramp and his 'colleagues', but it also makes use of rhyming dialogue (whch in the trailer included on the DVD is ballyhooed as a new fad, but it obviously couldn't last!) which was perhaps intended as a natural lead into the songs; in fact, rather than by official screenwriter S.N. Behrman (adapting a Ben Hecht story), these lines were written by lyricist Lorenz Hart! Unfortunately, however, the print utilized for the MGM/UA DVD is quite battered with the soundtrack coming off rather muffled as a consequence!! Still, its essential quality remains intact: while the plot may seem dated and even fanciful today (both its romanticized view of unemployment and the hero's eventual decision to 'reform' on account of a woman), atmosphere and characterization are as charming as ever: Jolson, dubbed by his cronies "The Mayor Of Central Park" truly comes off as larger-than-life here, but he's matched by the great Silent comedian Harry Langdon (in his only notable Talkie role) - as one of Jolson's pals, a politically-savvy street-cleaner named Egghead(!) who's picked on by the other tramps because he has a job - and Frank Morgan as the real Mayor of New York (whose life Bumper, the Jolson character, had saved during a protest).The film also involves a three-way romance between Jolson, Morgan and lovely leading lady Madge Evans: she's the latter's girlfriend but, having incurred his distrust, leaves him intent on committing suicide; she's saved by Jolson and, now an amnesiac, Evans is cared for by him who, in order to pay the rent of her new lodgings, even asks his friend Morgan for a job in a bank!; however, noticing Morgan's own concern about his missing girlfriend, Jolson tries to console him...until he realizes just who she is, after which he decides to re-unite the two of them and himself goes happily back to a life on the streets! Many films have dealt with the theme of the Great Depression but this one's certainly its most original treatment while also being, along with the marvelous screwball comedy MY MAN GODFREY (1936), one of the very best.

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum is the only film Al Jolson did in which he eschewed his blackface completely. He should only have done it earlier and stuck to it.This film was an experiment in something the producers call "rhyming dialog" Today I think it would be called rap. Audiences didn't really take to it in 1933, but today's audience would probably appreciate it more.A knowledge of history would help. Until the summer of 1932, New York City had a mayor who was something of a ladies' man whose favorite nightspot was a nightclub right in Central Park. It hasn't been there since the late thirties, Tavern on the Green is a poor substitute. Mayor James J. Walker's favorite dining spot was the Central Park Casino. And many homeless and jobless lived in Central Park in their own makeshift city as the recent film Cinderella Man so aptly demonstrated to today's audience.Frank Morgan before he became typecast as Mr. Befuddlement is the Mayor of New York. And Al Jolson is the unofficial mayor of Central Park. Through a chain of circumstances they both become involved with the same girl, Madge Evans.Rodgers and Hart wrote two songs in addition to the rhyming dialog, the title song and You Are Too Beautiful. The latter is a nice romantic ballad that Jolson delivers well. Later on in the 1940s both Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had primo versions of this song as well.In Great Britain the film was released as Hallelujah I'm a Tramp because in the British Isles, the word bum has a different connotation.It's an enjoyable film today if you can catch it by all means do so.