Lucky Boy (1929 Film)
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''Lucky Boy'' is a 1929 American sound
part-talkie A part-talkie is a sound film that includes at least some "talking sequences" or sections with audible dialogue. The remainder of the film is provided with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. These films more often than not contain ...
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film directed by
Norman Taurog Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Skippy (film), Skippy' ...
and Charles C. Wilson, most notable for starring George Jessel in his first known surviving feature picture. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects along with English intertitles. The sound was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone system using RCA Photophone equipment. The film's plot bore strong similarities to that of the hit 1927 film ''
The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...
'', which had originally been intended to star Jessel (the star of ''The Jazz Singer'' stage production) before
Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...
took over the role. Due to being a film published in 1929, it entered the public domain on January 1, 2025.


Summary

A young Jewish man works in his father's jewelry business, but he does not like it at all—he wants to be an entertainer, something he knows that his father would never approve of. He comes up with a scheme to put on his own show in a theater and show his father that he can be a success, but things do not work out quite as well as he planned.


Cast

* George Jessel as Georgie Jessel *
Gwen Lee Gwen Lee (born Gwendolyn Lepinski; November 12, 1904 – August 20, 1961) was an American stage and film actress. Lee began her career as a model before being discovered and signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She was typically cast in supporting ...
as Mrs. Ellis *
Richard Tucker Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913January 8, 1975) was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States. Early life Tucker was born Rivn (Rubin) Ticker ...
as Mr. Ellis *
Gayne Whitman Gayne Whitman (born Alfred D. Vosburgh; March 19, 1890 – August 31, 1958) was an American radio and film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1904 and 1957. In some early films, he was credited under his birth name. He was bor ...
as Mr. Trent *
Margaret Quimby Margaret Quimby (1904–1965) was an American stage actress, stage and film actress. Lussier p. 123 She appeared in both lead role, lead and supporting roles during the silent era, silent and early sound era. Filmography * ''Fight and Win'' (192 ...
as Eleanor *
Rosa Rosanova Rosa Rosanova (June 23, 1869 – May 29, 1944) was a Russian-born stage and film actress. She appeared in American films including as a starring or supporting actress in the 1920s and 1930s Biography Born in Russia, Rosanova completed he ...
as Mamma Jessel * William H. Strauss as Papa Jessel *
Mary Doran Mary Doran (September 8, 1910 – September 6, 1995) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 80 films from 1927 to 1944. Biography Doran was born in New York and attended public schools there before graduating and going to Columbia ...
as Becky *'Patty and Fields' (amateur night act) *Joe Sevely (amateur night act) *
Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classic Hollywood films. Her career spanned more than 50 years, and she appeared in numerous Broadwa ...
as a secretary (uncredited) *
William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 16, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...
as Bit Part (uncredited) *
Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...
as Bit Part (uncredited) * Charles C. Wilson as a stage emcee (uncredited)


Production

The film was originally developed with the title ''The Schlemiel'' based on a story by Viola Brothers Shore. It was initially filmed without sound by director Norman Taurog under the
working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...
of ''The Ghetto'' in April 1928, reportedly in a "record time" of twelve days. Based on his role in the original stage production of ''The Jazz Singer'', Jessel was billed as "The Original Jazz Singer" in advertisements. Jessel was credited with writing the spoken and intertitle dialogue.


Music

The film's theme song (featured four times) was "My Mother's Eyes", which (along with the titular song "Lucky Boy") was composed by
Abel Baer Abel Baer (March 16, 1893 – October 5, 1976) was an American songwriter, associated with Tin Pan Alley. Biography Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Baer graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, specialising in dentistry. Baer left ...
with lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert. The film also featured a score by
Hugo Riesenfeld Hugo Riesenfeld (January 26, 1879 – September 10, 1939) was an Austrian-American composer. As a film director, he began to write his own orchestral compositions for silent films in 1917, and co-created modern production techniques where film ...
; "You're My Real Sweetheart" and "In My Bouquet of Memories" by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, and
William Axt William Axt (April 19, 1888 – February 13, 1959) was an American composer of nearly two hundred film scores. Life and career Born in New York City, Axt graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx and studied at the National Conservat ...
; "Keep Sweeping the Cobwebs Off the Moon" by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, and
Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor (music), conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian, and actor. He had roles in the films ''Rhapsody in Bl ...
; and "My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now" by
Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 17, 1996) was an American lyricist and composer primarily for theater who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", " Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", ...
and
Cliff Friend Cliff Friend (October 1, 1893 – June 27, 1974) was an accomplished American songwriter and pianist. A member of Tin Pan Alley, Friend co-wrote several hits including " Lovesick Blues", "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" and " The Merry-Go-Roun ...
. Alongside ''Lucky Boys theatrical release, "My Mother's Eyes" was released by
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
as a single (Victor 21852), backed with "When the Curtain Comes Down" written by Carl Hoefle, Al Lewis & Al Sherman. As well as becoming Jessel's signature number, the song was re-recorded several times, including an instrumental version by
Tab Smith Talmadge "Tab" Smith (January 11, 1909 – August 17, 1971) was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best remembered for the tracks " Because of You" and "Pretend". He worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Bo ...
(1952),
Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...
's debut 1953 single (which also featured in the 2005 jukebox musical ''
Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...
'' and its 2014
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
), and the titular song from the
Sonny Stitt Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...
album, '' My Mother's Eyes'' (1963).


Preservation

Considered to be lost for many years, ''Lucky Boy'' is still in existence with a copy of the film held in the
UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...
.


See also

*
List of early sound feature films (1926–1929) This is a list of early pre-recorded sound and part or full talking feature films made in the United States and Europe during the transition from silent film to sound film, sound, between 1926 and 1929. During this time a variety of recording syst ...


References


External links

*
Lobby cards
at Vitaphone Varieties (blog) * {{Norman Taurog 1929 musical comedy films American black-and-white films American musical comedy films 1920s English-language films Films about Jews and Judaism Films directed by Norman Taurog Tiffany Pictures films 1920s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films 1920s American films Part-talkie films Films scored by Hugo Riesenfeld English-language musical comedy films