louisb-399-524629 Big Boy was a complete shock to me, a 1930 picture that was vibrant, funny,bizarre and very entertaining. I bought it expecting to see a train-wreck,a politically-incorrect minstrel show featuring a white actor performing in black-face. Not just for a scene or two mind you, but for the entire picture(save for the very end)!!! What I got was a fabulous performance by Al Jolson,who is frankly so good here it's almost scary. He's funny, charming, sings wonderfully and performs with a sort of wink-wink to the audience, as if he knows he's in a ridiculous situation as an actor and wants everyone else to know it. His asides are often hilarious,and frankly he is so good overall that if he had chosen to play the part in normal black makeup, without the exaggerated lips common with black-face, I honestly think he would've disappeared into his role completely and truly transcended his makeup. The plot is almost completely beside the point-it exists simply to provide a frame-work for a series of wonderful musical interludes.There is one extended flashback sequence that appears almost out of nowhere, and is so wild and broadly played that I don't think anyone who sees it will ever quite forget it. Print quality is sometimes excellent, and often-times poor. This picture is in definite need of some restoration. I have to applaud those who decided in this sensitive age to release a movie as bizarre and potentially offensive as this one,and I'd like to think that it's because they trust us to be adults and apply some context to what we're watching. If the very idea of black-face portrayals offend you, this picture is to be avoided at all costs. If you can place the use of it into a proper context, this picture might still offend you, but at least you won't keep yourself from watching a wonderfully bizarre and surreal little curio. The ending to my mind is fabulous,by the way.

wes-connors Descended from slaves, horse trainer Al Jolson (as Gus) wants to ride "Big Boy" all the way to the Kentucky Derby, and help his master's family regain their fortune. Criminal forces conspire to get Mr. Jolson off his high horse, although he is the only one who has a chance to win. Jolson is exceptionally close to his horse, claiming he has, "Greta Garbo's eyes and Clara Bow's legs." Not coincidently, both actresses were ahead of Jolson in Quigley Publications' "Money-Making Stars" for 1930 list. Jolson's #7 position was nothing to scoff at, but fewer people were seeing him in "Big Boy" than in still exhibited hits like "The Singing Fool" (1928).One of the reasons for this film's relative failure may be the original Broadway show's altered and lackluster soundtrack. Jolson was the first in a Crosby/Sinatra/Presley continuum of pop recording artists. But now his usual string of million selling #1 hits was no longer in evidence. The attempt to make "Tomorrow Is Another Day" a hit was unsuccessful. Bing Crosby was taking over.None of the veteran character actors make much of an impression alongside Jolson. Helping more are John Harron (as Joe Warren), who romances pretty Claudia Dell (as Annabel Bedford) while helping her brother Lloyd Hughes (as Jack) and Jolson expose the criminal element. At the end of this film, Jolson is asked to sing "Sonny Boy" but declines - and there is nothing here even remotely approaching the quality of that song. "Big Boy" was also notable in that Jolson plays in "blackface" until appearing as himself in the end. He actually looked better with the darker skin, and sang with dignity, but his white lips are too pronounced in this picture.*** Big Boy (9/11/30) Alan Crosland ~ Al Jolson, Claudia Dell, John Harron, Lloyd Hughes

bkoganbing Big Boy was one of two Al Jolson films that were taken from Broadway shows Jolson starred in. The other one was Wonder Bar. In this case it allows us the only filmed record of the kind of character Jolson played in his shows.As it is here, the character is usually named Gus and he's black and Jolson does him in blackface as sadly he's identified today. On Broadway Big Boy ran for 176 performances during the 1924 season and in his usual fashion Jolson always interpolated his own material in it, sometimes discarding songs and adding them during the run. One song he discarded was one he felt was not working for him during the Broadway run and he gave it to his number one rival Eddie Cantor. It turned out to be If You Knew Susie.The film follows the plot of the stage show. Jolson plays the old family retainer of a Kentucky bluegrass family and part of his duties is to ride and take care of the horses, most especially their thoroughbred contender for the Kentucky Derby named, Big Boy.But there's skullduggery afoot. There's a plot by some gamblers to fix the Derby for another horse. That calls for separating Al from his beloved equine charge. Of course you know it all turn out right in the end.During the play and the film, there's a flashback sequence in which Jolson plays his own grandfather and saves a young bride from the lecherous advances of Noah Beery. In the film Beery identifies himself as a Klansman and I have to say that Jolson, servile and all as he is, does in fact save the day. Of course while doing his shuffling act, he gets quite a few zingers in. When the story ended as it did for Jolie on Broadway, he'd remove the blackface and usually sing a medley of his hits per request from the audience. That's what happens here also though none of the songs from Big Boy the film gained any popularity.One thing I cannot figure out is during the Broadway run, Jolson got two reasonably big hits from the show, Hello 'Tucky Hello and Keep Smiling At Trouble. Why they weren't sung in the film is beyond me.It's not a great film, Big Boy contains a lot of racial stereotypes that people would find offensive. But to see what Jolson was like on stage, this is the closest we'll ever come to it.

Hotoil This movie is most notable as the film where Al Jolson plays the lead role in black face, which - in case you don't know - was the way any black lead role was because black people weren't allowed to have starring roles in Hollywood. Of course, if you can beyond the disgusting display of a white actor playing an over-the-top black stereotype...well, it's a pretty bad movie anyway.