Hallelujah, Im a Bum (United Artists) (1933)

“HALLELUJAH, I’M A BUM” Publicity Section Great Comic Cast in Al Jolson’s Picture Ten Stellar Comedians Have Parts in “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum” In “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum,” his United Artists picture which comes to the. theatre on ., Al Jolson cor¬ ralled a cast of Hollywood comed¬ ians the like of which has never before been seen in one film pro¬ duction unit. The story of “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum,” written especially for Jol¬ son by Ben Hecht, lends itself ad¬ mirably to comedy, but it is the pa¬ thetic and poignant sort rather than slapstick. It is also the sort which had to be handled properly in order to get over. Cast a Winner Because of this several weeks were spent in selecting the cast of characters, and all sorts of care was exercised in choosing the right people. First Harry Langdon, com¬ edy star, was selected for one of the principal roles, and then Ches¬ ter Conklin and his walrus mous¬ tache were signed. Frank Morgan, Broadway stage star, came next, and Tammany Young, who has played both on Broadway and in Hollywood, stepped into the pic¬ ture, too. Bert Roach, who has been the comic appeal in scores of films, won one of the coveted roles, and Victor Potel, veteran film comed¬ ian, also was signed. There was one role however, which caused some difficulty. This was the part of a young Negro roustabout whose portrayal had to be of a high standard. Jolson, Lewis Milestone and Joseph M. Schenck, President of United Art¬ ists, interviewed countless appli¬ cants, but none fitted the bill. One night Jolson and Mr. Schenck heard of a young Negro playing in an outlying Los Angeles Theatre, so they went to that the¬ atre to see what he could do. But they never did see him. For, soon after they arrived, another young Negro of the company came upon the stage, and he won their hearts immediately. Jolson looked at Schenck and Schenck looked at Jolson, and both nodded know¬ ingly. A New Discovery The result was that Edgar (Blue Boy) Connor deserted the stage and became a member of the Jol¬ son company. And now almost every company fn Hollywood is trying to sign him for a picture. “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum” has not been slighted on the feminine side of comedy, either. The lead is filled by Madge Evans, and Dorothea Wolbert and Louise Carver have other important parts. Madge Evans Sat For Beer Ads As Child Jolson’s Leading Woman Also Posed For Popular Brand of Soap There’s a dark brown secret in Madge Evans’ life! She once advertised beer—real beer—back in the days when there wasn’t any Eighteenth Amendment and it was perfectly legal to raise a thirst. Miss Evans confessed the secret to Al Jolson during rehearsals of the United Artists picture, “Halle¬ lujah, I’m a Bum,” in which she plays the leading feminine role op¬ posite the singing star. The picture comes to the ----- theatre on .. When Madge was a golden¬ haired child actress, she frequently posed for advertisements of inter¬ nationally known products. Remember the blue-eyed elf who perched upon a snowy bar of soap, gazing appealingly at countless mil¬ lions of newspaper and magazine readers, bill-board gazers and peo¬ ple in subways, trains and street cars, and asking: “Have You a Little Fairy In Your Home?” That was Madge Evans. And now she admits she also posed for the calendar of the world’s largest brewery. Anita Stewart, then sixteen, posed as Madge’s mother. Al Jolson, stdr of "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" 1 —Tivo Col. Star Scene Head (Mat .10; Cut .50) JOSEPH M. SCHENCK presents AL JOLSON “HALLELUJAH, I’M A BUM” with Madge Evans, Frank Morgan, Harry Langdon Screen play by S. N. Behrman Based on an original story by Ben Hecht Music and Lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart A Lewis Milestone Production United Artists Picture BUMPER. JUNE MARCHER . MAYOR HASTINGS . . EGGHEAD . SUNDAY MAYOR’S SECRETARY . ORLANDO. JOHN . ACORN . APPLB MARY . MA SUNDAY . Art Director. Technical Director Musical Score . . . Photography . . . . . Sound Technician Costumes by. CAST SHORT SYNOPSIS .Al Jolson .Madge Evans . . . . Frank Morgan . . . Harry Langdon . . . Chester Conklin .... Tyler Brooke . Tammany Young ... Bert Roach ....Edgar Connor Dorothea Wolbert .... Louise Carver .Richard Day . V. L. McFadden . . . Alfred Newman . . . Lucien Andriot . Oscar Lagerstrom . . . Milo Anderson Bumper (Al Jolson) is a vagabond, leader of a strange group of tatterdemalions and eccentrics who hang around New York’s Central Park. Among his followers are Egghead (Harry Langdon), Sunday (Chester Conklin), Acorn (Edgar Connor), The General (Victor Potel), Orlando (Tammany Young), and Apple Mary (Doro¬ thea Wolbert). Bumper’s idol is the Mayor (Frank Morgan), whose life he once saved and who frequently has lunch in the Park Casino. The vagabond always is on hand to open the door of His Honor’s Rolls Royce, and the Mayor makes it a point to linger a moment at the Casino entrance and listen to the whimsical Bumper’s philosophy and ideas about life. Through his contact with the Mayor, Bumper is able to "fix” things when the other vagabonds get in trouble. The Mayor cannot fathom why Bumper, an unu¬ sually bright fellow, is satisfied to spend his time in the park, doing nothing. The Mayor, for all his power and popularity, is unhappy. He’s in love—^and madly jealous. He believes his sweetheart (Madge Evans), June, is "two-timing” him. At luncheon in the Casino, the Mayor slips a $1,000 bill in her purse. She loses it. He accuses her of giving it to another man. They quarrel. Bumper finds a purse containing a thousand-dollar bill and a girl’s name and address. Bumper, arriving at the address found in the purse, encounters the Mayor, who is drowning his sorrows in drink and brooding, over the fickleness of the fair sex. But when Bumper shows the thousand-dollar bill and the purse, which the mayor recognizes as June’s, he realizes his sweetheart was telling the truth- Bumper and one of his friends, walking near the park lane, see a girl jump from a bridge. Bumper leaps after her. Revived, she talks incoherently. A victim of amnesia, unable to tell her name or where she lives, she willingly accompanies Bumper, who takes her to the home of his friends, the Sundays, in a tenement. It is agreed to room and board the girl if Bumper can provide the money. Bumper, bubbling over with chivalry and responsibility, hastens to the Mayor and says he wants a job. The Mayor can’t understand Bumper’s sudden ambition. "A woman?” Bumper admits he has a new interest in life. The Mayor laughs, warns Bumper against women, but gets him a job in a bank. Bumper’s humble job makes him feel more important in banking circles than J. P. Morgan. June, still suffering from amnesia, is overwhelmed by the kindness Bumper showers upon her. He spends his earnings to make happy the girl he rescued from the lake, and whom he knows only as Angel. In the meantime, the Mayor, despondent over his inability to locate June, has been battling John Barleycorn. Bumper’s friends find the Mayor asleep in the park, take him home and notify Bumper. While Bumper is trying to get the Mayor sobered up, His Honor starts talking to a photograph. Bumper then makes, the discovery that the likeness is that of Angel, and that the girl of his dreams is the Mayor’s sweetheart. Bumper sadly tells the Mayor to come with him. At the tenement, the sight of the Mayor and the sound of his voice as he clasps her in his arms restores June’s memory. She pleads to be. taken away from "this awful place.” All she remembers is walking in the park at night. She asks who brought her to the tenement. Bumper is a stranger to her. The Mayor leads her away, out of Bumper’s life. Jolson Returns to Screen With New Cinema Technique “Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" Photographed with Musical Dialogue Never Before Attempted Jolson Like Tyro When Opening New Show Al Still Stage Stricken at Premiere of New Stage or Screen Production Al Jolson was born in St. Peters¬ burg, Russia, which is probably why he likes hot weather. The hotter the better. He is happiest working out doors when the California sun is blazing out of a cloudless sky, and perfectly contented on the set when everyone else is registering complaints about the heat. The man who made the world Mammy-conscious has been work¬ ing from twelve to eighteen hours a day at the United Artists’ Studio —practicing songs, going into hud¬ dles with everybody from Joseph Schenck, the big boss, to wardrobe men, rehearsing with Madge Evans, Harry Langdon and other players, and nervously awaiting the actual filming of his new picture, “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum,” which opens at the - theatre on -- In it he forsakes blackface en¬ tirely for the character of a vaga¬ bond and park loafer. Still Has Stage Fright Jolson, after a lifetime of troup- ing, still gets nervous during the first scenes of pictures or on his opening nights on the stage. He admits that he is as subject to stage fright as the veriest novice. Smoking and gum-chewing are Al’s chief dissipations. He does not go in for intoxicants. He packs a good punch in either hand, and has been able to take care of himself physically since his knock-about boyhood days. When he is nervous waiting for the scenes during those long waits when the lights are being adjusted and cameras set up, he munches on a raw turnip. He gets a fresh kick every time he enters an airplane, but will walk up flights of stairs to avoid elevators. In this he is like King Vidor, who goes him one bet¬ ter. He won’t even walk up. Just doesn’t leave the ground at all. Jolson has driven some of the world’s highest powered cars, and . can handle the wheel with profes¬ sional skill, but he drives around Hollywood bucking traffic in a small equipage of popular make. (Guess). Hates to Be Alone He hates to be alone. Jolson can usually be found in a crowd. At any good baseball or football game, boxing or wrestling match, Jolson is invariably in the front row with a party of friends, and yelling the loudest. He seldom writes letters but is the best friend and patron of the telephone and telegraph compan¬ ies. His telegrams usually run into several pages and he talks long distance from Hollywood to New York or vice versa, by the hour. He calls Mrs. Jolson every day. Jolson’s anonymous charities are legion. He has written the lyrics for many songs and given the roy¬ alties to charity, and he has do¬ nated his services to hundreds of benefits during his long career. He has a rather original idea that he should not do anything for him¬ self that he can let some one else do, if it will help them. For in¬ stance he never shaves himself “be¬ cause that’s why we have barbers.” 90 Per Cent Music Ninety per cent of Al Jolson’s long awaited United Artists pic¬ ture, “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum,” is singing and comedy. Hailed as the first screen offer¬ ing that embraces the revolution¬ ary idea of “photographic music” from start to finish, Jolson’s pic¬ ture gives him an opportunity to sing six new hit numbers. The star portrays the role of a happy-go- lucky vagabond, leader of a group of tatterdemalions and eccentrics who make their headquarters in Manhattan’s Central Park. in Motion Pictures Supported by a cast of personali¬ ties, including three international- ly-famous comedians who recently returned to the screen after ex¬ tended stage engagements, Al Jol¬ son will be seen at the. theatre on .—. in “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum”, his star¬ ring vehicle for United Artists. Thus the famed comedian will be seen upon the screen for the first time in more than two years. Jolson, first in the talkies, will introduce a new screen technique in “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum,” a tech¬ nique which is confidently expected to revolutionize picture making. Discarding most of the outworn methods of the motion picture stu¬ dios, the star will present his new story in what is variously called “musical dialogue” and “photogra¬ phic music”. Hecht Wrote Story In simpler words, his picture is something like 90 per cent musi¬ cal, but in every instance the music and lyrics are an inherent part of the story instead of being songs, as such. And there is only about ten per cent of spoken dialogue. The story of “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum,” written especially for Jolson by Ben Hecht, is being brought to the screen with Madge Evans in the principal feminine role and with Frank Morgan, Harry Lang¬ don and Chester Conklin in the principal masculine parts. And these are surrounded by Bert Roach, Tammany Young, Tyler Brooke, Edgar Connor, Dorothea Wolbert and Louise Carver. With the exception of Miss Evans and Morgan, the entire cast plays strange characters, tatterde¬ malions and eccentrics who glory in such names as Bumper, Egg¬ head, Captain Hell, Squee, Acorn, Ma Sunday and Apple Mary. Mor¬ gan gets one of his greatest op¬ portunities for his brand of subtle, sophisticated humor in the role of the gay banker who makes a vaga¬ bond his friend and confidante. The Story of New York The story is laid in modern-day New York, against the background of Central Park, Wall Street, the tenement districts and haunts of the rich. Jolson, minus blackface and playing a character totally un¬ like any he has ever brought to the screen or stage, will sing throughout the picture. The songs and musical dialogue are from the pens of Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, well-known composer-lyricist team of Broad¬ way and Hollywood. The pair stumbled upon the germ of their new musical idea while working on a Chevalier picture, and now they have fully developed the technique in the Jolson film. Most of the Jolson picture was photographed in the open, much of the action of the story occurring in a park. Hundreds of extras were piled into busses each day and transported to the beautiful Rivi¬ era Country Club grounds, between Los Angeles and the ocean, where they spent the day taking life easy. Technical Staff The screen play was adapted from Ben Hecht’s original yarn by S. N. Behrman, playwright, and the following technical staff assisted in making the picture: Art, Richard Day; technical director, V. L. Mc¬ Fadden; musical score, Alfred Newman; photography, Lucien An¬ driot; sound technician, Oscar Lagerstrom, and costumes, Milo Anderson. “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum” is a Lewis Milestone production. Al Jolson and Mac^eLvans, />7"Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" 6 —One Col. Scene(Mat .05; Cut .30)