The Singing Kid (Warner Bros.) (1936)

hy 2 fy) er hy ED ‘ 4S ae S¥ YY ; — »* =~ PUBLIC LLY Jolson So Full Of Pep He Tires Out Other Players Star Of ‘‘The Singing Kid” Filled With Irre pressible Enthusiasm Al Jolson is an actor of irrespressible enthusiasm and lim itless energy. The Jolsonian traits, which years ago grew into a theatrical tradition to the effect that ‘‘Al never gets tired of en tertaining his crowds,’’ are seen anew in the mammy singer’s current screen work. Al was no more zestful and zippy two decades ago, when he used to respond to encores far after midnight, than he was when he faced the lights, camera and mircrophone for the First National picture, ‘‘The Singing Kid,’’ which comes SOS 8 (Vc ap Re Sone oa pee ee Theatre In the early sequences of the new musical, Al worked with those high compression purveyors of pep, the Yacht Club Boys. Day after day, and evening after evening, Al stepped out ahead of the Yacht Club quartette in the pep-taking labor of creating a mad and merry song production number. After it was all over, and the four Yacht Club lads had finished their final take, they literally wilted. In harmony, they declared: ‘¢This is the hardest job we ever tackled.’’ But Al wasn’t feazed. Despite the fact that he’d been doing a big weekly radio show, with many rehearsals, as a side issue, it was an energetic Jolson who bade the drooping Yacht Clubbers good-bye when they entrained for New York. Then Al, with undiminished zeal, returned to the lot, and to his picture, prepared to wear down some more players to his size. The next candidate for an energy contest was none other than that hi-de-ho musical showman, Mr. Cab (Harlem) Calloway. And Cab, it is widely known, is famous as a singing orchestra leader who has never been known to weaken. Cab, with Al setting the pace, went into the hot hoofing and jazz singing sequences of a torrid songand-dance number with all the fiery enthusiasm and endurance of his race. For several days — and nights — it seemed that Jolson Swingin’ High And Mighty had at last met his match for endurance and speed. Cab and Al, after long and strenuous stretches of movie work, would . appear equally untired when other members of the cast and staff were ready to sink into chairs. But finally, it appeared, Calloway began to ‘‘weaken in the stretch.’’ Between scenes, when Al was leaping to the telephone to phone his broker or bookmaker, or was laughing and telling stories to members of the company, Cab could be seen slipping off to his stage dressing room furtively wiping his brow. Then came a time, when Jolson was engaged in joyously ribbing some of his friends on the stage and the Negro chorus was rehearsing for the ‘‘Save Me, Sister’’ finale, that somebody asked for Calloway. Cab wasn’t in sight. And his valet spilled the beans. ‘*Mistuh Calloway is layin’ down an’ takin’ a rest,’’ he ex plained. ‘‘He’s weary.’’ The valet rolled his eyes and added: ‘¢Tt don’t look like Mistuh Jolson ever do get weary.’’ ‘The Singing Kid’? is a powerful human interest drama which swings intermittently between hilarious comedy and heart wrenching pathos. There are two big production numbers staged by Bobby Connolly, with music and lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen. Besides Jolson the cast includes Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins and Claire Dodd, The picture was directed by William Keighley. Broadway and Harlem meet in Hollywood when Al Jolson and Cab Calloway, assisted by a dusky chorus, show what truckin’ really means in the spectacular ‘‘Save Me, Sister’? number of ‘‘The Singing Kid,’’ which opens at the .............. oe EEG CON isis osetia nse Mat No. 208—20c Scores Biggest Triumph Al Jolson, for years known as America’s greatest entertainer, has scored the biggest triumph of his career in his new starring role in ‘‘The Singing Kid,’’ the First National musicomedy now playing at the ............ Theatre. Mat No. 210—20c Jolson Realizes Ambition For A Home And A Baby Life Of Star Of “The Singing Kid” Parallels Story Of ‘“‘Abie’s Irish Rose” It is something more than seven years ago that Al Jolson, now playing in the First National picture, ‘‘The Singing Kid,’’ UR Seaeee.) emne. ieee Theatre, sang ‘‘Sonny Boy’’ into a erude microphone on the first of Hollywood’s sound stages. The plaintive ‘‘Climb upon my knee, Sonny Boy,’’ sounded real, even then. Jolson himself had written the words. But it was little Davey Lee and not a son of his own, who accepted the invitation. A few weeks later, the famous entertainer married Ruby Keeler in upstate New York and sailed for Europe on a honeymoon. It was a modified ‘‘Abie’s Irish Rose’’ marriage. Jolson is the son of a Jewish cantor. Ruby Keeler is the daughter of Irish Catholic parents, devout in her religious beliefs and devoted to her family circle. All that was needed to make the analogy complete was a child—or even better, a pair of twins. But it was seven years before this part of the story came true, seven years in which Miss Keeler won her own place as a star in the Hollywood firmament while her Mammy-singing husband alternated between picture and radio. During all those years the Jolsons have talked about adopting a baby. For an equally long period they have talked about establishing a permanent home where they could settle down to the serious business of raising a family. Now they have done both. It was Jolson who issued the most statements, but it was Ruby Keeler, his wife, who finally acted. It is known that they considered seriously the idea of adopting twins but they finally settled on a baby boy and announced that a sister would be found for him at a later date. They named the boy ‘¢Albert, Jr.’? although Jolson’s real name is not Albert but Asa, and they call him ‘‘Sonny.’’ ‘¢Climb upon my _ knee, Sonny Boy,’’ means something in that household now. The child is being brought up in the faith of his mother. That he is being given unusual advantages goes without saying. Long ago the Hebrew husband and the Catholic wife found a common ground for their family life. The child fits into that without causing complications. Jolson has been a generous contributor to Jewish and Catholic charities. Miss Keeler has given liberally to her own church and to Al’s. The difference in their creeds has been adjusted in a way that is satisfactory to them. Several months before little Albert became a member of this famous household, Al Jolson bought his first California home. It is an acreage near Encino, ten miles or more from Hollywood, and the grounds are planted to oranges, avocados, grapefruit and flowers. When the gardner, who had cared for the acres before Jolson bought the place, asked the new owner what he wanted done with the grounds, Jolson said: ““T’ll leave that to you. All I want to know is that I can have baskets of fruit and flowers from my own grounds whenever I want them—to send to anybody we want to send them to.’’ The Jolsons were in New York when the final decision to adopt a baby at once was made. They journeyed to Chicago together, selected the child and took the necessary legal steps to make him theirs forever. The child comes from Evanston’s famous ‘‘Cradle,’’ source of many of Hollywood’s adopted babies. ‘¢All I can say is that we are both tickled pink over him,’’ said Jolson. Ruby says, ‘‘he looks like me, dark I mean. He is the biggest thing in our lives now.’’ ‘‘The Singing Kid’’ combines hilarious comedy with heart throbbing drama and gigantic spectacles. Besides Jolson the cast includes Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins, Claire Dodd and Harlem Girls In Red Hot Rhythm Dance For Film ‘“Tt’s a good thing that we had fite extinguishers handy,’’ said Dance Director Bobby Connolly, after filming a scene on the First National musical, ‘‘The Singing Kid,’’ which comes to the ENGR = ON ce cece Though no conflagration actually started, there seemed a constant fire menace. Red-hot rhythm was the reason. More than 200 finger-snapping and hip-swinging young Negro girls stepped out in the flaming tempo of a struttin’, truckin’ step in a dance ‘‘interview’’ by Connolly for the picture. Each was given an individual hoofing tryout to the piano time of ‘‘Save Me, Sister,’’ new and unusual song written for the musical by E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen. From the 200, Connolly picked 50 girls, many of whom are veterans of ‘‘Blackbirds,’’ the ‘‘Cotton Club Revue’’ or other famous colored shows of New York’s Harlem, From an equal number of trained Negro boy hoofers, Connolly chose 50 dancers as partners for the girls. The 100 Negro boys and girls selected are used in one of the elaborate production numbers. They dance in the Cab Calloway Harlem Night Club sequence and form the audience in a ‘‘tabernacle scene,’’ dancing up the golden stairs in the spectacular finale of the song presentation. ‘“‘The Singing Kid’’ is a powerful human interest drama which swings intermittently between hilarious comedy and heart wrenching pathos. The cast includes Al Jolson, Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins and Claire Dodd. The picture was directed by William Keighley from the screen play by Warren Duff and Patsy Flick, based on the story by Robert Lord. You Tell ’Em, Al The blackfaced gentleman telling it to two of the scores of beauties in the dancing chorus of ‘‘The Singing Kid’’ which opens at the BASS ESS Eheatpeson ace. 5 is Al Jolson, the star of the production, who has made the biggest hit of his screen career. Mat No. 109—10c Wini Shaw. The Yacht Club Boys and Cab Calloway and his band also are featured. William Keighley directed the picture. Page Thirty-three