Customer Reviews

Singing Fool [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The movie is clearly designed as a Jolson vehicle. It is obvious that the star came first, and everything else followed.

Although made in 1928, the film holds up remarkably well today, the humour being one aspect that hasn't dated. Jolson sings Sonny Boy to great effect three times, although he puts so much emotion into it that I was left wanting him to sing is straight just once. The film may seem over-sentimental but if you engage with this and look at it from the point of view of a contemporary audience you will enjoy it more, and the film's shock ending is, in my opinion one of the bravest I have seen Hollywood do. In fact the only shock endings which I think compare with this are Terry Gilliam's Brazil or Doctor Who: Earthshock.

The supporting performances are competent, but there's no other actor who has the charisma of Jolson. It's apparent to me that nowadays, the film's leading lady, Josephine Dunn, playing a singer, would have been given one or two songs to sing, but the producers rightly realised that the audience was there to see Jolson and Jolson alone.

The film is also of historical interest, being one of the first films to use synchronised sound. This is used sparingly, howver, and much of the soundtrack is mere accompaniment. Like The Jazz Singer (made the previous year), the opening parts use caption slides in place of speech.

Enjoy it for its Jazz age settings, the grand costumes (Miss Dunn's gowns are particularly exquisite) and of course for Jolson's singing.

Dave

I bought The Singing Fool because one video catalog said that it is a sequel to The Jazz Singer. That was not true, since the main character is different. But I enjoyed it anyway.

Some of the emotions looked real and convincing, even though it contrasts with cinematographic techniques over 70 years later. It's been about three years since I saw it, and some of the scenes remain vivid in my memory. On the other hand, it was a little hard to take the singing styles seriously, to get into the mindframe that people of that era had.

If this ever comes out on DVD, I might purchase it then. And I might explore Jolson films further. Not sure yet if I would want to actually own the others, but we'll see.

While working as a singing waiter at Blackie Joe's Cafe, Jolson writes a best-selling song for a club performer (Josephine Dunn) whom he loves unrequitedly..........This may seem hard for modern-day viewers to conceive, but this film grossed an incredible (for its day) $ 5 1/2 MILLION at the box-office, a feat unequaled until a little flick entitled GONE WITH THE WIND outdid its receipts 11 years later! THE SINGING FOOL, just like Jolie's 1927 landmark talkie THE JAZZ SINGER, had a corny plot even for 1928. Al hopelessly overacted to milk every drop of sentiment for the naive tale. While saccharine is the best adjective to describe this primitive talkie, the film DOES come alive when Jolson sings. Hits included I'M SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD, THE SPANIARD THAT BLIGHTED MY LIFE & KEEP SMILING AT TROUBLE. But, incredibly, the film's greatest hit was the almost unbearably maudlin SONNY BOY, a contrived tear-jerker which was originally written as a joke. When Jolson recorded it for BRUNSWICK, it sold a whopping 3 MILLION copies. Tastes DO change after nearly 75 years!

How can a Reviewer *not* call this 1928 drama with songs a "tearjerker"?

Apparently, the public loved it, tears and all, and the big reason was the man himself, Al Jolson: his acting is often stiff and amateurish, but let's remember he thrived in front of a live theatre audience and the less-than-spontaneous studio atmosphere of the early "soundies" must have been a challenge; the main attraction, Jolson singing live - and what great songs! talkin' 'bout "It All Depends On You", "I'm Sittin' On Top Of The World" (with pre-Rock and Roll backbeat!), "There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder", I'm Sttin' On Top Of The World", "Golden Gate", and a slow "Keep Smiling At Trouble" (I guess more Jolson fans are aware of the uptempo, 1940s remake. And many takes on "Sonny Boy" - all over the top, ofcourse. This song was originally written as a near-novelty, with the effusive one doing his sentimental thing).

The movie moves along nicely, with good dialogue to support the great tunes. But the last 10 minutes or so suddenly detour to a depressing and unnecessary territory, in which, I surmise, all involved wish they stayed away from, commercial success aside: Jolson's reactions are robotic, almost surreal, as he finally tracks down Sonny and his Mother who left home (while he played the life of the New Year's eve party, at the Club). Betty Bronson, as the opportunist star-wife, rescues a very sombre scene with a miraculous moment of both self-awareness and discovery of a man with whom she shared a life; as she watches him exit the hospital room, we feel sympathy for her for the very first time.

Don't want to give away the wrap-up to the uninitiated but a simpler, happier ending would have worked much better.

Poor to acceptable video quality.

This is a Warner Archive product. It is an unrestored copy of the film on DVD-R with no frills other than a trailer. There are no chapter stops - you can only go forwards and backwards in ten minute increments.

"The Singing Fool" is relatively unknown compared to the previous year's "The Jazz Singer", probably because it was the first feature film with synchronized dialogue. However, 1928's "The Singing Fool" is important for a number of reasons. For one, it was the first talking picture many people ever saw. Remember that in order to exhibit a talking picture special equipment had to be installed in the theater, and theater owners weren't sure enough of the future success of talking pictures to invest in that equipment until well after "The Jazz Singer" came and went. Also, "The Singing Fool" was the top box office draw of 1928. In fact, with the Great Depression just over the horizon, no film made more money until "Gone with the Wind" in 1939. Finally it is one of the very few talking pictures that survive from the year 1928 due to the ease of breakage of the Vitaphone discs.

The story behind "The Singing Fool" is not that remarkable. It is overly sentimental and you can see from the start exactly where it is headed. Jolson plays singing waiter Al Stone who loves snobby Molly, a singer at the night spot where he works. Likewise, Al is loved in secret by the cafe's cigarette girl. When Al makes a big hit with an agent, Molly suddenly finds Al - and his money and fame - very attractive. Of course Al is blind to Molly's poisonous ways until it is too late. You have to remember that the whole purpose behind the film is to give you a chance to see and hear the world's greatest entertainer, Al Jolson, singing on screen in his prime. In this film you get that in bigger doses than you got in "The Jazz Singer". So, if you are a Jolson fan, you are in for a big treat. However, be warned this film is what was known in 1928 and 1929 as a "goat gland" movie. That is, it is part silent. The exact ratio is about 75% talking, 25% silent. How it is chopped into sound/silent portions is particularly baffling. Some dialogue is sound, then will abruptly transition to silent. Warner's had already made an all-talking picture, in fact they made the first - 1928's "The Lights of New York". That film was supposed to be a two reel short that grew to six reels when Jack Warner was out of town, but it was a huge hit and sent the march towards talking pictures into overdrive. With the technical challenges of making an all-talking picture behind them, you would have thought Warner Bros. would have made Jolson's second talking picture an extra special effort and given it the all-talking treatment too. They didn't, but it was still a huge success.

In conclusion, if you are a Jolson fan and you are interested in the early sound era of motion pictures, you'll love this film. However, also note that this particular release has had no restoration done to it and to me it looks and sounds like my VHS copy that was merely transferred to DVD. Al's songs come off wonderfully, but there is considerable hissing and popping in the dialogue portions. The video looks good but not great. This Archive release has a trailer of what appears to be the announcement of a 1960's theatrical run of the film. It's odd and even a little sad that in 1960 the announcer can assume that the audience knows what "The Singing Fool" is when most people today have never even heard of it.

This is a Warner Archive product. It is an unrestored copy of the film on DVD-R with no frills other than a trailer. There are no chapter stops - you can only go forwards and backwards in ten minute increments.

"The Singing Fool" is relatively unknown compared to the previous year's "The Jazz Singer", probably because it was the first feature film with synchronized dialogue. However, 1928's "The Singing Fool" is important for a number of reasons. For one, it was the first talking picture many people ever saw. Remember that in order to exhibit a talking picture special equipment had to be installed in the theater, and theater owners weren't sure enough of the future success of talking pictures to invest in that equipment until well after "The Jazz Singer" came and went. Also, "The Singing Fool" was the top box office draw of 1928. In fact, with the Great Depression just over the horizon, no film made more money until "Gone with the Wind" in 1939. Finally it is one of the very few talking pictures that survive from the year 1928 due to the ease of breakage of the Vitaphone discs.

The story behind "The Singing Fool" is not that remarkable. It is overly sentimental and you can see from the start exactly where it is headed. Jolson plays singing waiter Al Stone who loves snobby Molly, a singer at the night spot where he works. Likewise, Al is loved in secret by the cafe's cigarette girl. When Al makes a big hit with an agent, Molly suddenly finds Al - and his money and fame - very attractive. Of course Al is blind to Molly's poisonous ways until it is too late. You have to remember that the whole purpose behind the film is to give you a chance to see and hear the world's greatest entertainer, Al Jolson, singing on screen in his prime. In this film you get that in bigger doses than you got in "The Jazz Singer". So, if you are a Jolson fan, you are in for a big treat. However, be warned this film is what was known in 1928 and 1929 as a "goat gland" movie. That is, it is part silent. The exact ratio is about 75% talking, 25% silent. How it is chopped into sound/silent portions is particularly baffling. Some dialogue is sound, then will abruptly transition to silent. Warner's had already made an all-talking picture, in fact they made the first - 1928's "The Lights of New York". That film was supposed to be a two reel short that grew to six reels when Jack Warner was out of town, but it was a huge hit and sent the march towards talking pictures into overdrive. With the technical challenges of making an all-talking picture behind them, you would have thought Warner Bros. would have made Jolson's second talking picture an extra special effort and given it the all-talking treatment too. They didn't, but it was still a huge success.

In conclusion, if you are a Jolson fan and you are interested in the early sound era of motion pictures, you'll love this film. However, also note that this particular release has had no restoration done to it and to me it looks and sounds like my VHS copy that was merely transferred to DVD. Al's songs come off wonderfully, but there is considerable hissing and popping in the dialogue portions. The video looks good but not great. This Archive release has a trailer of what appears to be the announcement of a 1960's theatrical run of the film. It's odd and even a little sad that in 1960 the announcer can assume that the audience knows what "The Singing Fool" is when most people today have never even heard of it.

Pretty good for a movie made in 1928! Surprised at the "silent" portions, but overall super. Love Jolson!

"The Singing Fool" is relatively unknown compared to the previous year's "The Jazz Singer", probably because it was the first feature film with synchronized dialogue. However, 1928's "The Singing Fool" is important for a number of reasons. For one, it was the first talking picture many people ever saw. Remember that in order to exhibit a talking picture special equipment had to be installed in the theater, and theater owners weren't sure enough of the future success of talking pictures to invest in that equipment until after "The Jazz Singer" came and went. Also, "The Singing Fool" was the top box office draw of 1928. In fact, with the Great Depression just over the horizon, no film made more money until "Gone with the Wind" in 1939. Finally it is one of the very few talking pictures that survive from the year 1928 due to the ease of breakage of the Vitaphone discs.

The story behind "The Singing Fool" is not that remarkable. As in "The Jazz Singer" it is overly sentimental and you can see from the start exactly where it is headed. Jolson plays singing waiter Al Stone who loves snobby Molly, a frequent guest at the night spot where he works. Likewise, Al is loved in secret by the cafe's cigarette girl. When Al makes a big hit with an agent, Molly suddenly finds Al - and his money and fame - very attractive. Of course Al is blind to Molly's poisonous ways until it is too late. You have to remember that the whole purpose behind the film is to give you a chance to see and hear the world's greatest entertainer, Al Jolson, singing on screen in his prime. Unlike "The Jazz Singer", in this film you get that in big doses. So, if you are a Jolson fan, you are in for a big treat. However, be warned this film is what was known in 1928 and 1929 as a "goat gland" movie. That is, it is part silent. The exact ratio is 75% talking, 25% silent. How it is chopped into sound/silent portions is particularly baffling. Some dialogue is sound, then will abruptly transition to silent. Warner's had already made an all-talking picture, in fact they made the first - 1928's "The Lights of New York". That film was meant as an experiment and it is not something you would want anyone you love or like to be put through. With the technical challenges of making an all-talking picture behind them, you would have thought Warner Bros. would have made Jolson's second talking picture an extra special effort and given it the all-talking treatment too. They didn't, but it was still a huge success.

In conclusion, if you are a Jolson fan and you are interested in the early sound era of motion pictures, you'll love this film. If you are neither of these, you should pass on this one. Also be warned that the VHS tape of this film and anything derived from it has some pretty bad hissing and popping in the audio. It would be nice after the success of last year's Jazz Singer DVD set if Warner Home Video would clean up the video and audio and put this film out on DVD too.