Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (film)

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
Directed by	Lewis Milestone
Written by	S.N. Behrman
Story by	Ben Hecht
Starring	Al Jolson Madge Evans Frank Morgan
Music by	Richard Rodgers
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	February 3, 1933 (1933-02-03)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum is a 1933 American Pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Lewis Milestone and set in the Great Depression.

The film stars Al Jolson as Bumper, a popular New York tramp, and both romanticizes and satirizes the hobo lifestyle into which many people were forced by the economic conditions of the time. It is noted for its heavy leftist overtones and freewheeling style. Amongst its supporting cast were Frank Morgan, silent comedian Harry Langdon and Chester Conklin of the Keystone Kops. (Morgan, who would later play the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz foreshadows a famous line in the later film when he says to Al Jolson, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home.") Jolson, known for his history of supporting black entertainment, hired black vaudevillian Edgar Connor to play his buddy.

Poster for 1941 reissue, retitled The Heart of New York

Cast

• Al Jolson as Bumper
• Madge Evans as June Marcher
• Frank Morgan as Mayor John Hastings
• Harry Langdon as Egghead
• Chester Conklin as Sunday
• Tyler Brooke as Mayor's Secretary
• Tammany Young as Orlando
• Bert Roach as John
• Edgar Connor as Acorn
• Dorothea Wolbert as Apple Mary
• Louise Carver as Ma Sunday

Music

The music was composed by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The score includes the jazz standard "You Are Too Beautiful", which is played several times throughout the movie.

The complete list of musical numbers in the film is:

• "I Gotta Get Back to New York"
• "My Pal Bumper"
• "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum"
• "Laying the Cornerstone"
• "Sleeping Beauty" (dropped before the film was released)
• "Dear June"
• "Bumper Found a Grand"
• "What Do You Want With Money?"
• "Kangaroo Court"
• "I'd Do It Again"
• "You Are Too Beautiful"

See also

• List of United Artists films

External links

• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum at IMDb
• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum at AllMovie
• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum at the TCM Movie Database