Wonder Bar

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Movie
Original title Wonder Bar
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1934
length 84 minutes
Rod
Director Lloyd Bacon
script Earl Baldwin
production Robert Lord for Warner Brothers
music Harry Warren
Lyrics: Al Dubin
camera Sol Polito
cut George Amy
occupation

Wonder Bar is an American film musical with a star cast . Leading roles include Al Jolson and Kay Francis . The film was distributed before the Production Code came into force , so that, for example, one scene could openly allude to male homosexuality .

action

The story takes place in one evening and tells the intricate relationships of the protagonists. Al Wonder is the operator of an exclusive nightclub in Paris' Montmartre. Al always greets his guests personally and guides them through the program himself, of which he is also the most important performer. One of the attractions is the duo Harry and Inez, who bring a very erotic version of tango to the stage. Al secretly loves Inez, who has fallen for Harry, who exploits her sexually and at the same time cheats with Liane, the bored wife of a very rich and very old industrialist. The second storyline tells of the bankrupt Baron von Ferring, who plans to commit suicide after a luxurious evening in the pub. These two stories culminate and come together when Inez stabs Harry, who dies unnoticed by Inez in his dressing room, in a touch of jealousy. Al tries everything to protect Inez from the police. To do this, he hides the body of Harry in the baron's car, who shortly afterwards, as Al knows, wants to throw himself over a slope with the car to his death. Inez does not find out that Harry found death through her and towards morning finally finds happiness and contentment in the arms of Tommy, who has always loved her.

background

The film is based on a 1931 Broadway production of the same name in which Al Jolson also played the lead role. This show was an adaptation of the Viennese Singspiel Die Wunder-Bar from 1930 by Géza Herczeg and Karl Farkas with music by Robert Katscher . Immediately after moving from Paramount to Warner Brothers in 1932, Kay Francis had risen to become a popular actress of independent, self-confident women who fight for their love and do not submit to standard moral codes. Since 1933, her career has been in serious jeopardy with some inferior appearances in B-movies. The role in Wonder Bar is less than 7 minutes and Francis refused with all his might to take on the part of a bored wife. In her opinion, any other contract actress could have played this role, but it was unworthy of a star of her stature. After endless arguments, she eventually took over the part, only to find the studio slashed her role once again in favor of Dolores Del Rio . Del Rio had joined Warner Brothers shortly before from RKO and the studio was trying to make the actress a big star. The filming took place under considerable tension between the actors. Al Jolson, who in 1933 was the country's highest-paid film star alongside Constance Bennett with a weekly salary of $ 25,000 a week , had the reputation of an autocrat who didn't allow any other actor besides himself a good scene.

The musical scenes were choreographed by Busby Berkeley . According to today's understanding, the ten-minute sequence of Goin 'to Heaven on a Mule is racist and of bad taste. Jolson appears in blackface and sings with Afro-American children who are dressed up as angels with small wings on their backs. The lax adherence to censorship regulations makes it possible for Inez to get away with murder and even find happiness and inner peace. Sexual minorities could also be more or less openly portrayed. The most famous scene of the strip today comes when a young, dark-haired, well-built man approaches a dancing couple, pushes the lady aside and asks the blonde dancer:

May I cut in?

The two men continue to dance, closely entwined and Al Wonder comments on the event, which otherwise attracts little attention on the dance floor, with the famous words:

Boys want to be boys. Woo Woo!

The portrayal of sexual bondage between del Rio and Cortez, who whipped his lover during the stage show and threatened him with a knife, was no longer possible after the tightened Production Code came into force .

Music numbers

  • Vive la France - sung by Al Jolson
  • Wonder Bar - sung by Dick Powell
  • Why Do I Dream Those Dreams? - sung by Dick Powell
  • Don't Say Goodnight - sung by Dick Powell; danced by Dolores del Rio and Ricardo Cortez
  • Goin 'to Heaven on a Mule - sung by Al Jolson; danced by Hal Le Roy

Theatrical release

Production costs were $ 675,000 for a total revenue of $ 2,035,000.

criticism

The New York Times was impressed:

“Al Jolson's latest film […] tells of the events, romances and tragedies of a night in a cabaret in Montmarte, the“ Wonder Bar ”. The whole thing follows the style of " people in the hotel ", but the studio focuses on the cabaret show, in which the individual numbers reflect the funny or sad episodes of the plot. "

source

  • Stanley Green, Elaine Schmidt: Hollywood musicals year by year . 2nd edition, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999. p. 30. ISBN 0-634-00765-3 .
  • Scott O'Brien: Kay Francis I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten - Her Life On Film and Stage . Bearmanor Media, 2006. ISBN 1-59393-036-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Al Jolson's latest film […] tells of the frolics, romances and the tragedies of one night in a Montmartre cabaret known as the "Wonder Bar '". It is set forth in much the same manner as "Grand Hotel" but the studio experts see fit to emphasize here the cabaret show, touching, when it suits them, on the mirthful or melodramatic phases of the narrative.