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The Singing Fool cemented the place of talkies in the entertainment industry. Suddenly all the studios wanted in on talkies. Enter George Jessel. He fits nicely into our history because he was the actor who played the lead in the original Broadway production of The Jazz Singer. Several sources have pointed out that Jessel turned down the film role due to disputes over salary. Upon seeing the successes of his replacement, Al Johnson, Jessel wanted a talkie of his own.
Produced by Tiffany-Stahl Studios, Lucky Boy does not have the same charm or appeal as the earlier films it is trying so desperately to emulate. It is clearly, and sometimes painfully, a star vehicle for Jessel, summed up by the early line, “I bet if he had a chance he’d be the biggest actor in the world”. Whilst Jessel is a focused and charming actor, he does not have Al Johnson’s charisma, and as a result, the film falls flat. As Jeff Cohen writes on the Vitaphone Varieties blog, if Jessel had indeed starred in The Jazz Singer, “it would have been a very different film, and perhaps so would have film history”. This film’s flatness is furthered by a predictable plot that is almost entirely the same as The Jazz Singer, with a few minor differences, forgettable songs, and a drudgingly slow pace.
The score is comprised mostly of ballads, most notably “My Mother’s Eyes”, which is repeated without effect throughout the film. Like The Singing Fool, the songs attempt to show Georgie’s emotions, however they are not successful in capturing the audience’s heart. Dance is utilised only a few times in the film - once in the opening with scenes of children in the Bronx dancing to a gramophone, and again toward the end of film in the stage show of “Lucky Boy”, where we are treated to a kick line of ladies in pretty dresses. In terms of song and dance, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about this film. We do begin to see some innovative use of sound, such as off-screen sounds to enhance the plot or action (mostly the sound of audience cheers and clapping), and some interesting editing choices that move away from the stilted melodrama one shot set ups of silent films, but these devices are used sparingly, and the effects are lost amidst the slow and stilted overall pace of the film.
In stark contrast to The Jazz Singer or The Singing Fool, there is little information readily available onLucky Boy, further suggesting that it was not commercially successful. Furthermore, the film has been classified on IMDB as lost, though I was able to obtain a DVD copy through Reel Classic DVD. According to an interview with Mike Wallace in 1957 (which I highly recommend watching, if only for the hilariously obvious product placement and advertising of some cigarettes...), New York Times reviewer Orville Presott described George Jessel as “a vain man, an egoist who loves flattery and fame and the sound of his own name. A sentimental man whose sentimentality reaches saccharine depths.” For me, this nicely sums upLucky Boy. Overall the film is stilted and sentimental, and lacking in the magic that the earlier talkies managed to capture.
[This film is not actually on the AFI List, however it was from an earlier list I compiled when I was feeling adventurous and wanted to watch every movie musical ever made... from the next movie on, it shall be the AFI List only!]
Produced by Tiffany-Stahl Studios, Lucky Boy does not have the same charm or appeal as the earlier films it is trying so desperately to emulate. It is clearly, and sometimes painfully, a star vehicle for Jessel, summed up by the early line, “I bet if he had a chance he’d be the biggest actor in the world”. Whilst Jessel is a focused and charming actor, he does not have Al Johnson’s charisma, and as a result, the film falls flat. As Jeff Cohen writes on the Vitaphone Varieties blog, if Jessel had indeed starred in The Jazz Singer, “it would have been a very different film, and perhaps so would have film history”. This film’s flatness is furthered by a predictable plot that is almost entirely the same as The Jazz Singer, with a few minor differences, forgettable songs, and a drudgingly slow pace.
The score is comprised mostly of ballads, most notably “My Mother’s Eyes”, which is repeated without effect throughout the film. Like The Singing Fool, the songs attempt to show Georgie’s emotions, however they are not successful in capturing the audience’s heart. Dance is utilised only a few times in the film - once in the opening with scenes of children in the Bronx dancing to a gramophone, and again toward the end of film in the stage show of “Lucky Boy”, where we are treated to a kick line of ladies in pretty dresses. In terms of song and dance, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about this film. We do begin to see some innovative use of sound, such as off-screen sounds to enhance the plot or action (mostly the sound of audience cheers and clapping), and some interesting editing choices that move away from the stilted melodrama one shot set ups of silent films, but these devices are used sparingly, and the effects are lost amidst the slow and stilted overall pace of the film.
In stark contrast to The Jazz Singer or The Singing Fool, there is little information readily available onLucky Boy, further suggesting that it was not commercially successful. Furthermore, the film has been classified on IMDB as lost, though I was able to obtain a DVD copy through Reel Classic DVD. According to an interview with Mike Wallace in 1957 (which I highly recommend watching, if only for the hilariously obvious product placement and advertising of some cigarettes...), New York Times reviewer Orville Presott described George Jessel as “a vain man, an egoist who loves flattery and fame and the sound of his own name. A sentimental man whose sentimentality reaches saccharine depths.” For me, this nicely sums upLucky Boy. Overall the film is stilted and sentimental, and lacking in the magic that the earlier talkies managed to capture.
[This film is not actually on the AFI List, however it was from an earlier list I compiled when I was feeling adventurous and wanted to watch every movie musical ever made... from the next movie on, it shall be the AFI List only!]