AL JOLSON 'SONNY BOY' from 'The Singing Fool' 1928

Jolson's second talkie featured his huge song hit "Sonny Boy". "The Singing Fool" was Jolson's most successful film musical and it had the highest box office ratings for ten years, until it was overtaken by Gone With The Wind in 1939!

[ismaelcohen]

Another great classic song by that great al jolson, no room for idiotic racist remarks.its about a father loosing his 3 year son. Sonny Amen.

[danielcraig]

"The World's Greatest Entertainer."

[samsonzitha]

Sounds even much better with Mary Pickford

[minewheaties]

Though heartfelt, Davey Lee's characters of Sonny Boy and Little Pal also contributed too much to a generation of male chauvinism. The roles promoted the idea that preference should be to sons. Al Jolson should've been willing to play a character who had a daughter that was in similar situations as Sonny Boy and Little Pal. 20th Century Fox had an advantage with Shirley Temple. Even Jack Warner would later have a daughter and wouldn't have Warner Bros. release Jolson's two biopics. By 1955, the same studio that released Jolson's most prominent films, Warner Bros., was willing to switch to rock and roll aiding Rebel Without a Cause. It also wasn't just male Jews who were later sent to Nazi gas chambers either. There was indeed a lot of sexism, whether intentional or not, in Davey Lee's 1928 and 1929 roles as a son to a Jolson character. Like the rest of humanity, the Jewish culture doesn't need to have old fashioned male dominance. Younger Jews like James L. Brooks and Harry Shearer have been more willing to mock Jolson with The Simpsons.