PLAZA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 687, 12 June 1929, Page 14

PLAZA

“THE SINGING FOOL” I The greatest American film critic wrote of “The Singing Fool.” the great talkie now at the Plaza Theatre: “After seeing and hearing ‘The Singing Fool,’ I could not help becoming convinced that talking pictures arc here to stay. They fill a definite need in the show world. I doubt if a picture has been made to this day that has brought more tears to the eyes than brings The Singing Fool.’ “The emotion-stirring situations are numerous. But the most effective of them all are those that show Mr. Jolson and little Dave Lee together Master Lee takes the part of the hero's child. He is given an opportunity to talk now and then. His talk is charming in the extreme. And among these the one that shows David Lee die and the father broken up as the result, will rock the soul of everybody, particularly of fathers and mothers. The scenes at the theatre where the hero goes on with the show, even though his heart was breaking, will impress themselves in the mind so deeply tha: one will remember them for years to come. “The story revolves around a hero, working in a cabaret as a waiter, who eventually .rises to great fame as a singer and ballad writer. “Mr. Jolson is superb, not only as a singer, but also as an actor. He sings several songs. But "Sonny Boy' is the one that makes the muscles of one's thorax contract the most. Josephine Dunn is the heartless wife, and Betty Bronson is the cigarette girl.” As is only fitting such a fine production is accompanied by an equally fine supporting “talkie” programme. Mischa Elman, the great violinist, plays two numbers exquisitely—they are “Humoresque” and Gossec’s “Gavotte.” He is followed by Giovanni Martinelli. the leading dramatic tenor of the Xew York Opera Company. Other items are “The Tannhauser Overture,” by the New York Philharmonic Society, songs and patter by the Howard Brothers, and songs by a male quartet entitled, “In a Monastry Cellar.”