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| Wonder Bar (1934) | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 28 2009, 08:47 PM (74 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Oct 28 2009, 08:47 PM Post #1 |
Revered in the UK
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Al Jolson is Al Wonder, who runs the Wonder Bar in Gay Paree. In one memorable night, "15 famous stars!" (according to the trailer, which exaggerates somethin' fierce) gather for music, deceit, romance, and... murder. I couldn't follow the plot, which I'm sure had nothing to do with trying to simultaneously check to see how badly the Phillies were slapping around the Yankees. Ricardo Cortez is Harry the Giggolo, and c'mon... with a name like that, Kay Francis and Delores Del Rio should know better. Dick Powell is in love with one of 'em, I forget which one, Cortez maybe. Jolson loves somebody, too, but you won't care. Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert, Ruth Donnelly and Louise Fazenda are a pair of feuding married couples and he film's comic relief, which (a) shows the shabby state of the comedy, and (b) proves what I said about the exaggeration of claiming the film had "15 famous stars!" Hell, it counts Fifi D'Orsay as a star. Sheesh. Busby Berkeley directed the music sequences, so there are hundreds of pretty girls in wigs on a "nightclub stage" that must've been big enough to house a zeppelin. Mostly, though, there is "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule." Oh, my. Now, I've always defended Jolie's blackface act as in the minstrel tradition, etc., but it is absolutely impossible to defend this appalling musical sequence, which features dozens (hundreds?) of blackfaced white folks in hebbin eatin' off the pork chop trees and dancin' with giant watermelons and shootin' craps in church. One of the most horrific, tasteless pieces of cinema embarrassment you'll ever writhe through. Yikes. |
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| rodney | Oct 29 2009, 04:24 AM Post #2 |
Charter Member
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There is also a Merrie Melodie called Goin' To Heaven On a Mule. The plot isn't terribly different. |
| Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer! | |
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| Chandu | Oct 29 2009, 10:17 AM Post #3 |
Knowledge Seeker and rascal at large
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And you can't judge history by today's standards. Yes, all that stuff is despicable, but it seemed to be the thing to do at the time. |
| Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me... | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Oct 29 2009, 10:44 AM Post #4 |
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Revered in the UK
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Technically, yes, but this goes beyond ignorant and racist into the realm of tasteless and vulgar. |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Oct 30 2009, 08:26 AM Post #5 |
Mouth Breather
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At one time, Wonder Bar was thought of by some as a lost film and the fact that it exists is something of a miracle, considering how censorable it is; but after all, it is Jolson in his prime, even if you don't like the material, and the minstrel show tradition of blackface was always part of his thing. To me, "Going to Heaven on a Mule" is a stunning artifact that shows how far we have come in a way that mere words could never do.
Edited by panzer the great & terrible, Oct 30 2009, 10:39 AM.
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| We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater | |
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7:11 AM Nov 27
