Hallelujah I'm a Bum (1933)

Made in the Depression, This Movie Will Lift You Out of Yours

(This is a review of the VHS version.)

This movie is a real find. It's done in an unusual light opera format and features a lot of rhyming sing-song that almost anticipates some of the more clever rhyming action of modern rap artists.

The movie was ahead of its time in another way too. It shows a nearly egalitarian interracial friendship - the friendship between two hobo characters played by Al Jolson and Edgar Connor. The relative lack of a racial divide between them carries over to the rest of the film. When the Mayor of New York, wonderfully acted by Frank Morgan, hands out a job in a bank to Jolson, who's briefly determined to reform out of his idle hobo ways - the Mayor at the same time hands out a job in the bank to Jolson's black compatriot.

It's true the two are then shown working in different departments in the bank. Jolson has a white-collar job stamping forms, while his buddy is in the adjacent back room sorting sacks. Still, the degree of equality shown in this movie is remarkable for the period. I can't think of any comparable adult interracial friendship shown for several more decades - until possibly "The Defiant Ones" came along with Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier. And then, those two yoked men had a lot of baggage of racial discord they had to get rid of before they could become friends. In "Hallelujah," white man and black man are shown being easy, natural friends from the beginning.

Part of the reason for that might be the movie's willingness to entertain some of the Communist philosophy that was being bandied then as a solution to the poverty of that Depression era. While most of the hoboes shout him down, the marginally employed hobo played by the noted silent era comedian Harry Langdon recites a lot of Marxist doctrine about the necessity of unity among "working" men.

The people involved in the making of this film comprise a "Whos's Who" of the Hollywood/Broadway scene of the 20's and 30's. There are the stars already named, led by Al Jolson. Then the script was done by S. N. Behrman, based on a work by Ben Hecht. The famous duo of Rodgers and Hart wrote the score - and make a cameo appearance in the movie as press photographers. Watch for them!

None of the music they came up with for this film is very memorable. After a while though, I found I actually didn't mind this lack of catchy tunes. It gave me a chance to appreciate the unusual timbre of Al Jolson's voice all the more. For once, his sheer talent wasn't swamped by the overriding liveliness of the likes of "Swanee." I realized how he could read the phone book and make it into resonating melody.

Also, Jolson plays his character here with such unfailing good-nature and charismatic gusto - the film can't fail to give you a lift. No matter what sort of Depression you might be going through at the time, "Hallelujah" will bounce you out of it. September 9, 2008

fine Jolson vehicle

Hallelujah I'm A Bum let Al Jolson really flex his muscle in one of the earliest musicals after "talkies" were invented. Al Jolson sings numerous songs marvelously throughout the entire picture; and the plot moves along at a fine pace. The action and musical numbers held my attention. Some people may call this film an oddity but it's really a much better film than that. They released it on DVD when other great films still remain only on VHS; and that's proof enough for me that this is one film you definitely want to watch.

The action begins in Florida where the Mayor of New York John Hastings (Frank Morgan) is vacationing--at the same time that his homeless buddy Bumper (Al Jolson) is there with his sidekick Acorn (Edgar Connor). We see how they are friends and how both Mayor Hastings and Bumper passionately believe in their own lifestyles: Bumper wants nothing more than to be free--of money, that is; and he lives off the land in Central Park with pride (and a little financial help from none other than Mayor Hastings). Mayor John Hastings seems to be the ultimate capitalist ham who is remarkably wealthy as he poses for press "photo ops" even on vacation with a goose that he shot while hunting.

Soon, however, they all return to New York--the mayor by train, Bumper and Acorn by hitchhiking. Back in New York, Mayor Hastings has a huge misunderstanding with his lover June Marcher (Madge Evans); and the couple split up. June can't recover from the pain. When June tries to kill herself by jumping into the water in Central Park, Bumper just happens to notice and he saves her life. June lives; but she can't remember anything about her life. When she quickly falls for Bumper, he gets a job through the Mayor and pays for her to be able to rent a small room.

Of course, all throughout the movie there are great musical numbers; and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart have a great cameo in the film as photographers when Mayor Hastings must lay a cornerstone for a new public school. Perhaps you can figure how the plot winds toward the ending of the picture; but I won't give away any spoilers here!

The cinematography shows careful forethought in crowd scenes with all the homeless people in Central Park gathering around to celebrate the return of Bumper and Acorn to their "neighborhood" after their Florida vacation; and the choreography works wonders in the musical numbers that showcase Jolson and his sidekick Acorn (Edgar Connor) with the park people following them as together they all march and sing their way through the park.

The DVD comes with few extras: you get the theatrical trailer and optional subtitles in French and Spanish. However, the movie is so enjoyable that I will overlook this.

I highly recommend Hallelujah I'm A Bum for Al Jolson fans and fans of early Hollywood musicals. The razor thin plot just barely works; but the real reason you watch this movie is for the song and dance numbers. In addition, people who like silent films will delight to see Harry Langdon as Egghead the Communist litter man; and Frank Morgan gives a great performance as Mayor John Hastings.

Enjoy!
August 23, 2007

Not worthy of "The Greatest Entertainer"

Al Jolson was certainly one of - or possibly THE greatest entertainer of all time. His performance shines in this movie. But the story and disjointed flow do not even come close to being worthy of Al Jolson. Although he does an excellent job as usual - this show does little to highlight his amazing talent. Why he would choose to star in such a movie I can only imagine. May 12, 2007

Rodgers & Hart And Al Jolson Shine In This Early Hollywood Musical

Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart had just scored a critical and popular success with 1932's Love Me Tonight. They used their new leverage with their next film, Hallelujah I'm A Bum, to push further their idea of rhyming dialogue and more integrated songs. The movie starred Al Jolson and was a poignant tale of a happy-go-lucky bum who falls for a woman he rescues from a lake who has amnesia, only to lose her to a good friend of his who had been her lover. Despite the film's many charms, it was just too unusual and probably too bittersweet. It didn't do well at the box office. As a result, Rodgers and Hart were consigned to the fate of all the other Broadway songwriters who had come to Hollywood when the Depression cut the legs off much of the Broadway theater; they were given piecemeal assignments with the songs altered, cut, changed or dropped at the whim of the producers. Within a year and a half the pair had fled Hollywood, returned to Broadway and created a stunning series of hit musicals until the partnership finally came apart in 1943.

Bumper (Al Jolson) is a cheerful, resourceful bum, the leader of the Central Park lay-abouts. He has his standards, too. His friends call him the Mayor of Central Park, and among those friends is Mayor Hastings, the real mayor of New York City. Hastings keeps a mistress, June Marsden (Madge Evans), whom through a mistaken series of events he believes is being unfaithful. She tries to explain, he says he no longer wants to see her, and so she wanders to Central Park, jumps off the bridge into the lake and is rescued by Bumper. She has amnesia. Bumper falls for her, and falls hard. He even gets a job at a bank so he can take care of her. But Hastings realizes how much he loves June and how wrong he was about her. Bumper finds out the girl he calls Angel is really June Marsden, and honorably he brings her back together with Hastings. June recovers her memory, but now she sees Bumper only as this funny, harmless bum. The last we see of Bumper he has given up his coat and tie and returned to Central Park. He's leaning back on a bench and staring at the sky. Some how, we know, his innate cheerfulness and sense of what's right will pull him through.

Probably a third of the movie is made up of lengthy set pieces involving stretches of rhymed dialogue half sung, half spoken. Rodgers and Hart wrote several songs, but they are so much a part of the characters and the plot that only two can stand alone. One, You Are Too Beautiful, became a hit. The other, I've Got To Get Back to New York, became a standard among supper club saloon singers like Bobby Short.

Al Jolson does a first-rate job as Bumper. He had such an outsized personality that you can see how he could easily dominate a theater. In movies, you can also see how he could just be too much. Here, he's playing a nice guy, a little shy at times but basically a confident, fair-minded man with a sense of what's right. Jolson isn't exactly subdued, but you wind up liking his character. He's the point of the movie, and he makes the movie work. Frank Morgan does a fine job as the mayor, tired of his duties, a charming man, not realizing he loves June until it's almost too late. Madge Evans doesn't have a lot to work with, but she looks great and works well with both Jolson and Morgan. One of the standouts in the cast is Harry Langdon as Egghead, who picks up trash in the park. He's an innocent Red, a naive socialist, a friend of Bumper's most of the time. Langdon was one of the great silent comics of the Twenties until success went to his head. By the time the talkies came in Langdon was doing bit parts. Nothing came of his prominent role in Hallelujah, but you can see why he was big in his prime. He has a child-like face and a confused expression, he's a little helpless, he stumbles about some, and he is a master of small bits of business. Also on hand is Chester Conklin, once one of the Keystone Kops and a great silent movie clown, as a driver of a horse-drawn park carriage who has as forbidding a wife as you can imagine.

The movie is dated but is still great fun. If you're interested in the development of Hollywood musicals, or Rogers and Hart, or Al Jolson, or just movies that tried being unconventional, you might enjoy watching and owning this one. The DVD presentation is very good considering the age of the film. There are no extras.

We'll let Bumper have the last words:

Rockefeller's busy giving dough away;
Chevrolet is busy making cars;
Hobo, you keep busy when they throw away
Slightly used cigars.
Hobo, you've no time to shirk.
You're busy keeping far away from work.

The weather's getting fine.
The coffee tastes like wine.
You happy hobo, sing,
"Hallelujah, I'm a bum again!"
Why work away for wealth
When you can travel for your health?
It' s spring, you hobo, sing,
"Hallelujah, I'm a bum again!"
Your home is always near;
The moon's your chandelier;
Your ceiling is the sky,
Way up high.
The road is your estate,
The earth your little dinner plate;
It's spring, you hobo, sing,
"Hallelujah, I'm a bum again!" December 7, 2005

We arw waiting to look at it.

We are waiting to look at it.
We saw it on TV maney years ago. August 22, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...