Comments on: Creative Loafing on Film

By: TCM’s Classic Movie Blog

TCM’s Classic Movie Blog — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:02:03 +0000

[...] Turner Classic Movies’ October programming event “Hard Times: Life During the Depression” is offering up several relative obscurities (THE CRASH [1932], LOOKING FORWARD [1933), PROSPERITY [1932]) as well as a few new-to-TCM premieres such as O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? [2000] and HALLELUJAH, I’M A BUM [1933] which Morlock Moira covered so succinctly in her July post “Creative Loafing on Film” http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/07/29/creative-loafing-on-film [...]

By: attilio faroppa

attilio faroppa — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:27:50 +0000

Thank you! I hope I shall be able to watch Halleluja some day..not an easy thing in Italy.
But I did watch dozens of times Wonder Bar . As a Kay Francis addicted, I was a little disappointed at first since the wavishing star has not too much to do in the film, however she’s always …divine. But then, what a scandalous film! I entirley enjoy it each time I watch it: so daring, so funny, so fast paced (the whole story takes place in one single day!), plenty of beautiful music and songs and fantastic Bubsy Berkley caleidoscopical dancing numbers and the last surrealistic Goin’ to Heaven on a mule. A lot of sex innuendos (most of them quite bald)of any kind, and also some references to the ruinous financial crash which drives one of the charachters to commit suicide. But then again this is no tragedy since it perfectly helps to transform a murder (commited by superglamourous and gorgeous Dolores Del Rio) and the suicide itself in a banal car accident….just a very little bit of romance which means no real happy ending…..you definetly cannot ask for more!
Al Jolson is excellent with the only default that he speaks very loudly even when no audience is supposed to listen to him, however this always happens when he says funny words that can be heard by the guests of his Wonderbar.
All in all, a real great musical

By: Jacqueline T Lynch

Jacqueline T Lynch — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:10:05 +0000

A very interesting post, and intriguing from our modern perspective that Hollywood was open to treating the subject of poverty and homelessess in such unusual and open-hearted ways. We might be able, especially in these precarious economic times, to appreciate the treatment of long-ago casualties of the Depression, even in musical form, but will we ever quite understand how huge a star Al Jolson was on stage and as a recording artist from these film appearances? Probably not.

By: Jeff (Atlanta)

Jeff (Atlanta) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:47:22 +0000

Beautiful article on this movie which I’ve always wanted to see and finally have a chance to in October on TCM. One of my favorite Depression era movies is A MAN’S CASTLE. It’s a shantytown fantasy, not reality, but the reality bleeds through like good poetry should.

By: Medusa

Medusa — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:03:32 +0000

The rhyming dialogue/songs of the movie remind me of the 1934 Three Stooges short “Woman Haters” which is a true oddity in their canon but fascinating! Great write-up on the movies and on Jolson himself, one of the absolute top entertainers of the early and mid-20th Century, who now still has name recognition perhaps, but few have actually seen his work, I’d venture to say.

Always good to give a shout-out to the originals! Lovely post, Moira! And interesting historical info, too!

By: Suzi Doll

Suzi Doll — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:23:11 +0000

Excellent post. I saw HALLELUJAH a few years ago in a class at Facets, and we all thought it was so interesting. Jolson was certainly charismatic and energetic, even if — like you say — he’s always playing to the back of the house. I once again find myself interested in Depression-era films, probably because of the current economic crisis.