Hallelujah I'm a Bum
by Lewis Milestone
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DVD details
Actor: Al Jolson, Chester Conklin, Frank Morgan, Harry Langdon, Madge EvansDirector: Lewis Milestone
Brand: JOLSON,AL
Cinematographer: Lucien N. Andriot
Editor: W. Duncan Mansfield
Producer: Joseph M. Schenck
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: S.N. Behrman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-02-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Hallelujah I'm a Bum
DVD Review: An Pleasant, Interesting Musical
Summary: 3 Stars
This may not be Al Jolson's best movie, but this very entertaining musical is certainly his most interesting.
Directed by Lewis Milestone and featuring a pleasant score by Rogers and Hart, the film casts the legendary performer as the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Central Park," the happiest hobo in New York City. His life changes when he falls in love with beautiful amnesiac Madge Evans, who just happens to be the mistress of his friend, the city's playboy Mayor (Frank Morgan).
What makes this film truly memorable, aside from Jolson's singing, is the script's rhyming dialogue and the character played by silent screen comedian Harry Langdon, who is consistently spouting statements that, in that Depression era, would definitely be considered "Red".
? Michael B. Druxman
DVD Review: Jolson At His Underplayed Best
Summary: 4 Stars
It is hard for me to review this film in the context of recommending it to everyone. I just can't say to a friend that they have to see this great film I watched. It struck me in a very personal way, at the film's halfway point, involving Jolson and the young woman (the very underrated and forgotten actress Madge Evans). I'm an easy mark for that sort of story line especially with such an ending.
I agree that it is Jolson's greatest performance....very likeable and underplayed. If you haven't seen it, watch it. You will either walk away not liking, or have a mediocre reaction, or liking it for a variety of reasons. For me, its uncompromised ending raises it above an enjoyable trifle.
DVD Review: Made in the Depression, This Movie Will Lift You Out of Yours
Summary: 4 Stars
(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.
DVD Review: fine Jolson vehicle
Summary: 5 Stars
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!
DVD Review: Not worthy of "The Greatest Entertainer"
Summary: 2 Stars
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.
Description of Hallelujah I'm a Bum
The legendary Al Jolson is the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Central Park" in this "stylized, sophisticated and lyrical" (Pauline Kael) comic operetta ?- one of the most decidedly different and delightful musicals ever made! A unique attempt to expand the boundaries of the format, Hallelujah I'm a Bum! captures Jolson at his charismatic best and "reveals more than any of his other surviving films just why [he] was so great a star" (The London Times)!Bumper (Jolson) is the happiest hobo in New York. He's just fallen head-over-heels in love with the beautiful young amnesiac (Madge Evans) he's rescued from a park lake. But when he discovers her true identity, the "Mayor of Central Park" suddenly finds himself competing for her affections with a rich playboy?...the Mayor of New York (Frank Morgan, The Wizard of Oz)!Al Jolson says, "You ain't seen nothin' yet," but this isn't The Jazz Singer. Jolson found one of his better movie roles in Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!, a curious 1933 artifact of the early-sound, pre-Code era, a movie replete with music, political comment, and occasionally risqu? humor. Jolie plays "the mayor of Central Park," a happy hobo who cleans up after he meets an amnesiac beauty. Alas, the workaday world isn't what it's cracked up to be, as his leisure-minded pals knew all along. Although never quite clicking into classic status, the movie is borne aloft on the Rodgers and Hart score (which includes "You Are Too Beautiful" and much rhyming dialogue) and director Lewis Milestone's fluid tracking shots of hoboes marching and singing through Central Park. That's Harry Langdon, former silent clown, as the Communist tramp warning about the impending revolution as he picks up garbage--a measure of this film's true oddness. --Robert Horton
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