By Violet LeVoit
Say It with Songs
Brief Synopsis
When he accidentally kills a man coming on to his wife, a singer goes to jail and loses his family.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lloyd Bacon
Director
Al Jolson
Joe Lane
Davey Lee
Little Pal
Marion Nixon
Katherine Lane
Holmes Herbert
Dr. Robert Merrill
Kenneth Thompson
Arthur Phillips
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Drama
Release Date
Aug
24,
1929
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Brothers Pictures
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 35m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Black and White
Film Length
8,324ft
(10 reels)
Synopsis
Joe Lane, radio entertainer and songwriter, learns that the manager of the studio, Arthur Phillips, has made improper advances to his wife, Katherine. Infuriated, Lane engages him in a fight, and the encounter results in Phillips' accidental death. Joe goes to prison for a few years, and when he is released he visits his son, Little Pal, at school and is begged by him to run away together. Because Joe earns little money, Little Pal helps by selling papers but is soon struck by a truck, causing the paralysis of his legs and loss of his voice. Joe takes his boy to a specialist named Dr. Merrill, presently married to Joe's former wife, whom Joe divorced while in prison in order to save her good name. After obtaining Joe's promise that he will return Little Pal to his mother, Merrill operates and restores the use of his legs. His voice is regained later when the boy awakens to one of his father's recordings. Keeping his promise, Joe goes on his way with only his melancholy whistling to comfort him.
Director
Lloyd Bacon
Director
Cast
Al Jolson
Joe Lane
Davey Lee
Little Pal
Marion Nixon
Katherine Lane
Holmes Herbert
Dr. Robert Merrill
Kenneth Thompson
Arthur Phillips
Fred Kohler
Joe's cellmate
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Drama
Release Date
Aug
24,
1929
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Brothers Pictures
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 35m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Black and White
Film Length
8,324ft
(10 reels)
Articles
Say it with Songs -
The success of The Singing Fool (1928) made Jolson his own tough act to follow. At the third birthday party for Vitaphone, Warners brass and Jolson were all smiles, but behind the scenes Jolson was angling for more money, in the form of a profit sharing deal. When Warners wouldn't pony up, Jolson threatened to leave - until Warners paid out a $500,000 salary for this melodramatic musical about a radio star (Jolson) whose life takes a sharp dive into one misfortune after another after he kills a man with a knockout blow for trying to woo his wife (Marian Nixon). While full of high-vitality Jolson numbers like "I'm In Seventh Heaven", as well as a winning pairing with child star Davey Lee (also of the Jolson picture Sonny Boy (1929)), several songs were deleted from later prints because of rights disputes. Unique in the Jolson filmography for having no African-American characters (and no blackface numbers), Say It With Songs made $2.25 million worldwide even though Daryl Zanuck met criticism for the shamelessly sentimental story.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Say it with Songs -
The success of The Singing Fool (1928) made Jolson his own tough act to follow. At the third birthday party for Vitaphone, Warners brass and Jolson were all smiles, but behind the scenes Jolson was angling for more money, in the form of a profit sharing deal. When Warners wouldn't pony up, Jolson threatened to leave - until Warners paid out a $500,000 salary for this melodramatic musical about a radio star (Jolson) whose life takes a sharp dive into one misfortune after another after he kills a man with a knockout blow for trying to woo his wife (Marian Nixon). While full of high-vitality Jolson numbers like "I'm In Seventh Heaven", as well as a winning pairing with child star Davey Lee (also of the Jolson picture Sonny Boy (1929)), several songs were deleted from later prints because of rights disputes. Unique in the Jolson filmography for having no African-American characters (and no blackface numbers), Say It With Songs made $2.25 million worldwide even though Daryl Zanuck met criticism for the shamelessly sentimental story.
By Violet LeVoit
