Lucky Boy
“The Original Jazz Singer”
About Lucky Boy
Georgie Jessel, a jeweler's son in the Bronx, wants the stage. His father does not. Managers turn him down, so he rents a neighborhood theater for one night and sells tickets to neighbors. He still cannot make the rent and cancels the show. He goes to San Francisco, sings in a nightclub, and falls in love with Eleanor Ellis. When his mother is ill he comes back to New York, gets the lead in a Broadway musical, and, after a kindness to Eleanor's mother, is allowed to marry her.
Cast & crew
More about Lucky Boy
Norman Taurog shot a silent version in April 1928 in twelve days, under the working title The Ghetto, from Viola Brothers Shore's story "The Schlemiehl." Tiffany-Stahl released that silent cut on 1 August 1928. Charles C. Wilson shared the direction of the part-talkie, which Tiffany released on 2 February 1929. Sound was Tiffany-Tone on RCA Photophone equipment: talking scenes, songs, effects, and a score, with English intertitles left in. AFI gives the length as 10 reels, 8,708 feet. Wikipedia lists a budget of $90,000.
Themes
Background
Jessel had starred in the stage Jazz Singer. Warner Bros. cast Al Jolson in the 1927 film. Lucky Boy is Tiffany's later vehicle built on the same singer-and-father idea.
Making
The silent picture was already out before the studio added talking and singing sequences for the 1929 release.
Music
Hugo Riesenfeld scored the part-talkie. Abel Baer and L. Wolfe Gilbert wrote the song "Lucky Boy." Jessel sings on the Tiffany-Tone track.
Preservation
A print circulates. The film entered the public domain in the United States on 1 January 2025. A timed copy runs 1 hour 19 minutes.
Notes
- George Jessel plays a character called Georgie Jessel. Ads billed him as the original Jazz Singer, from the stage play Al Jolson took to the screen.
- Gwen Lee plays Mrs. Ellis. Richard Tucker plays Mr. Ellis. Mary Doran, Glenda Farrell, and Sig Ruman are in the cast.
- Hugo Riesenfeld is the music credit. The title song "Lucky Boy" has music by Abel Baer and lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert.
- Isadore Bernstein is credited as a writer.
- Tiffany-Stahl production number TS32.
- Published in 1929, the film entered the public domain in the United States on 1 January 2025.
Scenes
- Georgie sells tickets for a one-night show, then has to cancel because he cannot pay the theater.
- He comes back from San Francisco and takes the lead in a Broadway musical.
Influenced by
- The Jazz Singer (stage play)
Also available
- Internet Archive (lucky-boy-1929)
- Wikimedia Commons (Lucky Boy (1929, U.S.).webm)
