Wonder Bar

This film was considered one of the finer musicals in its genre; with a top talent roster and some style flair that was quite 'au courant' for the time. First of all, the plot was an excellent backdrop for the talents of Al Jolsen; playing the entertainer "Al Wonder" who owns and operates a London nightclub. Delores Del Rio, the exotic dancer, is the center of all the attention on the dance floor and plays the fallen woman next to Kay Francis'. There is romances, a stabbing, a suicide and other pecadillos to make this musical plump with wonderful characters.

Musically, this film is top rate, with the songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, who create some musical moments for the voices of Al Jolsen and William Powell. Some of them are "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule" one of the infamous blackface numbers in which Al Jolsen plays an old southern field hand who takes his favorite mule to Paradise when he dies. Over 200 boys and girls play angels in Berkeley's vision of heaven-not politically correct today! A trendy Spanish dance number was performed by the "hot tamale" of the moment, Dolores Del Rio and her partner, Ricardo Cortez. The song "Tango Del Rio" was one of the many latin numbers that Harry and Al, (two guys who were definintely not Latin!) wrote to re- create the feel, rhythm and tempo of the Latin culture. All things latin were the rage, and the hot sexiness of this dance number sizzled for its time - and is still great today.

The song "Don't Say Goodnight" was a spectacular vision which starts in reality, then spins into fantasy. With revolving mirrors sequenced so that they never reveal the camera, this number was photographed from the "inside out" in an octagon format. The reflections of the dancers stretch into infinity and seem like thousands in number. With a magic forest of silver trees and a white reindeer, the fantastical magic of the scene was assured. However, Busby always manages to put the magic of the movies and the technology of the filmmaking process, on its side. In shooting a sequence like this, he made a believer out of the studio and assured his continued demand. The results were an amazing feat for their time, and one which helped coin the phrase movie magic.