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The Silver Screen: The
Film Career of Al Jolson |
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This short ten-minute
film was released by Warner Brothers on October 7, 1926.
It was one of the first short films that Vitaphone made;
it was the first film that Al Jolson starred in. The
film is set on a plantation and Jolson is in blackface.
In this short he sings three songs that he made very
popular: "April Showers," "Rock-a-Bye Your
Baby with a Dixie Melody," and "When the Red Red
Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along."
This ten-minute short essentially served as a screen
test for Jolson, as he starred in "The Jazz Singer" the
very next year. |
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A PLANTATION ACT, 1926 |
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"A Plantation Act" was produced
at the Manhattan Opera House, just one month before it would
premiere at the Colony Theatre in New York.
On August 26, 1926, Jolson,
along with George Jessel et al signed contracts with Vitaphone
to appear in short films. Jolson reported to the Manhattan
Opera House in midtown Manhattan and filmed his short, in
blackface, seemingly in a Southern plantation, clad in a
checkered shirt, striped pants held up by suspenders, and a
straw hat.
The short was composed of
little action besides singing. Jolson tosses away his hat,
speaks a little bit, and sings three songs.
The song "When the Red Red
Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along" turned out to be one of
Jolson's big hits. It was written in 1926 by Tin Pan Alley
lyricist Harry Woods, who also wrote "I'm Looking Over a Four
Leaf Clover" and "Side by Side." |
Click on the earphones icon to hear Jolie sing "When the Red Red
Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along" during "A
Plantation Act." |
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The song "April Showers" was
written by Buddy De Sylva with the orchestra leader of the
Jolson Theatre Lou Silvers. De Sylva first found success
as a songwriter when Al Jolson sang his songs on Broadway in
the 1918 production of "Sinbad." Such songs included "I'll Say
She Does, " "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet," "Look For the
Silver Lining," "Avalon," "California, Here I Come," "Sonny
Boy," "Somebody Loves Me," "If You Knew Susie," and many, many
more. After meeting
Jolson and moving to New York, De Sylva then began working as
a songwriter in Tin Pan Alley, and in 1925 teamed up with
lyricist Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson, who was one of
the more successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the time. He
also wrote songs for such Jolson productions as "The Singing
Fool," "Bombo," and also wrote for many years for the George
White Scandals.
De Sylva later became a
producer of stage and screen musicals. |
Click on the earphones icon to hear Jolie sing "April
Showers" during "A Plantation Act." |
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"Rock-a-Bye Your
Baby with a Dixie Melody" was written by Sam M. Lewis
and Joe Young. It was also sung in the Broadway show "Sinbad"
in 1918.
Lewis was a New York City
native, born in 1885. He began his career singing in cafes,
but between 1912 and 1916, began writing songs. His principal
collaborator with the song lyrics was the aforementioned Joe
Young. Lewis would eventually also work on Jolson's film
"The Singing Fool." He also wrote such Jolson tunes as "Where
Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on a Saturday Night?", "Why
Do They All Take the Night Boat to Albany?", "How 'Ya Gonna
Keep Them Down on the Farm?", "Dinah," and a Jolson favorite,
"My Mammy."
Joe Young also collaborated on most of the songs mentioned
above, and wrote "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a
Letter" as well as "I'm Sitting on Top of The World." Over a
fourteen-year period, Lewis and Young collaborated with
such composers as Walter Donaldson, Jean Schwartz, Ray
Henderson, Harry Akst (who often served as Jolson's
accompanist) and Harry Warren. |
Click on the earphones icon to hear Jolie sing "Rock-a-Bye Your
Baby with a Dixie Melody" during "A Plantation Act." |
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