Mammy

'Mammy' did have at least three things going for it.

There is the presence of Al Jolson, a great entertainer with a terrific voice. It has music penned by one of the greatest song-writers of all time Irving Berlin. And it was directed by Michael Curtiz, who directed favourites such as 'Casablanca', 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' and 'White Christmas'.

It is interesting to watch now, and is certainly not a bad film. However it is very easy to see why people will have, and have had, issues with it. Things work very well, but there are parts that have aged badly and make modern viewers cringe while still somewhat appreciating what the film tries to do.

Best things about it are Jolson and especially Berlin's music. Jolson is restrained but still electrifying, he also sounds great and puts his all into the songs. While not among his best ever song scores, the songs are still terrific, with a lot of energy and emotion, clever lyrics and they are gorgeously melodious too so Berlin's talent as a composer/song-writer is more than evident here. Most of the musical numbers are well staged, Jolson's musical scenes work very well and while the minstrel scenes don't work on the whole "Yes I Have No Bananas" is quite fun.

With that being said, the supporting cast are also competent, with an entertaining Lowell Sherman, Hobart Bosworth and a restrained, dignified and sympathetic Louise Dresser coming out on top. Lois Moran has a thankless and underwritten role but brings some charm to it. 'Mammy' still looks good, with lovely 2 strip Technicolor in two scenes and the black and white for the rest of the film looking remarkably crisp. Much of the film has a good deal of energy, and there are a few amusing parts.

Other things don't come off so well. Some of the story is silly and drags in spots, while the mother and son relationship sees Jolson and Dresser behave in a way that is much more suited to a pair of lovers than mother and son and it just doesn't feel right and most of the comedy falls flat because of being overly corny, very of the time and flat in timing.

As for the minstrel scenes, they were acceptable back in 1930 but while historically interesting somewhat they don't hold up very well now. They do go on too long, are not for the easily offended and how most of them are written and staged will make a lot of people cringe and reach for the fast forward button (personally was tempted). Curtiz's direction is not as inspired as in the best of his films and like his heart wasn't completely in it.

Concluding this review, an interesting film that is worth watching for Jolson's performance and Berlin's music but it's a wildly uneven film where some parts just don't hold up very well. 6/10 Bethany Cox

... that being Al Jolson. This film adapts the play "Mr. Bones" along with its Irving Berlin songs to the screen, with Al Jolson doing much of the singing as lead Al Fuller in "Meadows Musical Minstrels". Jolson's last film, "Say it with Songs", from 1929 had a real dive in revenue compared to his first two films. Maybe that was because of the changing times and the novelty of sound had worn off, maybe it was because, with that novelty wearing off, Jolson had looked somewhat ridiculous in his scenes with little Davey Lee in Say It With Songs.

So this time around, no melodramatic scenes with an ailing child. Jolson is largely shown doing what he did best - perform musically on the stage, except in a film. Director Michael Curtiz adds some visual flair to this one with some parade scenes, including one in "the rain" in which nobody seems to get that wet. Also there is a train scene with a babbling brook nearby as the locomotive lumbers past, and clouds going by overhead. Not the usual Warner stock footage that they did in their early years after escaping their poverty row roots.

A very basic story is added to the minstrel musical scenes. Al has a mother that he seems to visit just to say goodbye to. He is secretly in love with Norma, the daughter of the owner of the show, who is engaged to a man (Lowell Sherman) who never saw a skirt he didn't want to chase. And to top it all off, Al is framed for an attempted murder.

It was interesting to see Lowell Sherman here as the skirt chasing interlocutor. He has a much more restrained presence than he usually has in his films where he is best known as being flamboyant, plus he was a director himself. It would be interesting to know how he and Curtiz got along on the set.

I'd recommend this mainly for Jolson fans and for fans of the early talkies. Technically this IS a precode, but the only thing close to a precode moment is when Al goes into Norma's dressing room after her performance, and while they are casually talking, just starts helping her undress. They both have a moment of mild embarrassment when they realize she is standing there, talking to this casual friend, clad only in her underwear!

Mammy (1930)

** (out of 4)

Al Fuller (Al Jolson) is an entertainer in a minstrel show who just happens to be in love with a woman (Lois Moran) who can't have him because she's in love with another performer (Lowell Sherman). During the act there's a sequence where Fuller must shoot the "other man" but after doing so this night a real bullet comes out. Fuller runs off to his mother who tells him he should go back and face the music. Fans of Al Jolson swear up and down that the entertainer doesn't get the credit he deserves today because of the fact that he appeared in blackface. The actor will always be remembered by film buffs for THE JAZZ SINGER but I'm going to go against some of the fans and say that he's not better remembered today not due to the blackface but because of the fact that his movies simply aren't that good. MAMMY is the perfect example of this. The performances are bad. The story is downright silly. The talking sequences are all rather lame but this can be blamed on the technology of the time. Curtiz, one of the greatest directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, is absent throughout much of the running time. We can start with the story as it's just downright silly and it's easy to say that not much time was spent on it as the studio was clearly more worried about the music. That's understandable so we can let the bad story slide. Curtiz' direction really doesn't bring any of the material to life and just check out how poorly shot the opening sequence is in the rain. The other minstrel show stuff will probably offend most people but I've seen enough movies and know enough about history to realize that this type of thing was accepted in 1930. Still, seeing a bunch of actors in blackface singing "Yes! We Have No Bananas" is probably going to be too much. The music numbers are the only thing that makes this worth viewing as there's no question that Jolson has a terrific voice and it can be heard in some great songs including "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby," "Mammy," "In the Morning," and several others. Jolson does his best to keep the energy going but he's given some pretty poor dialogue including some really lame jokes. The supporting players don't help too much either but then again the screenplay isn't doing them any favors. MAMMY is probably best known for the two sequences shot in 2-strip Technicolor. The picture quality today is quite rough but at the same time I was rather shocked at how incredibly bad the blackface looked in color. It looks like they would have done some more tests because just take a look at it during the first color number.

If Mammy is remembered for anything it is for providing Al Jolson with one of his biggest song hits, definitely the biggest song hit he had written especially for the screen. Irving Berlin wrote this number for Jolson and he does it three times in his usual bravura style and on two of those occasions without black-face.

Al Jolson got his start in minstrel shows which were still popular at the turn of the 20th century. He's Al Fuller in this show, lead singer in this troupe and a man with a case of unrequited love for the owner of the show. From there springs the plot.

It's unfortunate for Jolson's current reputation that he did not abandon the black-face which was a carryover from his minstrel days. It's considered offensive now and rightly so. But listen to him sing Let Me Sing and I'm Happy and the rest of the score and you're hearing one of the great song stylists ever.

Irving Berlin wrote some original material for this film which was interpolated with some other standards. It is also good to hear Jolson do two of his comedy numbers, Who Paid the Rent for Mrs. Rip Van Winkle and Why Do They All Take the Night Boat to Albany. It's his ballads that he's remembered for today, but these numbers give you an idea of more of the kind of material he did on stage.

A lot of people will be rightly offended in seeing Mammy now, but like Bing Crosby's Dixie, it's an interesting piece of cinema history.

Just watched this on Warner Archive DVD. It also had the trailer for it in which star Al Jolson is "interviewed" by a reporter about his latest picture. I put "interviewed" in quotes because I'm sure that "reporter" was another actor helping plug the picture. Anyway, I enjoyed the story and performances though it's really Jolson's songs-mostly written by Irving Berlin-that help sell the movie on its merits. This version has the restored 2-strip Technicolor sequences that looked pretty good for its age. Some of those scenes had to be accompanied by sepia-toned black and white ones to show them complete which didn't distract me too much. In summary, Mammy-despite some now-politically incorrect stereotypes concerning the blackface sequences-was pretty entertaining.