Joe Lane kills another man in a fistfight after learning that the man has made improper advances towards his wife. Joe goes to prison for the murder. When Joe gets out of prison, he visits ... (95 min) Released 1929-08-06
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Stars: Al Jolson, Davey Lee, Marian Nixon
Genres: Musical
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020366/
By '29 the awkwardness of sound recording really was smoothing out. The unfamiliarity of these faces still jumps out (NO one on the cast list is familiar after AJ); it's like a PovRow/indie production several years later. (I was analyzing Columbia musicals in more detail today, and they had a lot with "stars" I don't know. In the genre Musicals, Columbia was not a major studio.)
Jolson is great with the child, the same actor as The Singing Fool ('28); the kid has only 6 credits, so this is likely my last view of him. Marian Nixon is new to me, plays AJ's wife, and has 74 film credits ('23-'36); this one is about halfway on her list, is the only one I own, and I've rated one other (a 5 in my Netflix days).
The story is rather sad, as the plot summary above suggests. AJ sings on the radio (his job before prison), he sings in prison (to sooth the savage breast), and he's broadcasting on radio from there. Things get really ugly when he gets out of jail, so AJ has plenty of opportunity to act. We get plenty of plot, and a bit of a surprise at the end.
Warner, dir. Bacon; 6+
