Wonder Bar (1934)
Overview
Harry and Inez are a dance team at the Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he is in love with Liane, the wife of a wealthy business man. Al Wonder and the conductor/singer Tommy are in love with Inez. When Inez finds out that Harry wants to leave Paris and is going to the USA with Liane, she kills him.
Cast
Al Jolson
Al Wonder
Kay Francis
Liane Renaud
Dolores del Río
Inez
Ricardo Cortez
Harry
Dick Powell
Tommy
Guy Kibbee
Henry Simpson
Ruth Donnelly
Emma Simpson
Hugh Herbert
Corey Pratt
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- Reviews
I found this movie to be a bid off-putting. The plot line of the woman crazed with love for her gigolo boyfriend while two potential paramours waited in the wings was fairly standard. However, Jolson's portrayal of Al Wonder, nightclub owner who not only covers up the murder of Inez's partner but seems impervious to the news that his driver has also been killed in an auto accident, makes his character appear psychopathic instead of compassionate.
Many of today's viewers will be upset with the grand finale, which has Jolson and backup singers and dancers in blackface. This is obviously a scene that is meant to showcase Al Jolson. The number actually seems contrived and out of place in the movie, and is a bit of a distraction from the story line.
In the end, Dick Powell's character wins Inez's heart, leaving Wonder to live with the knowledge that he helped a murderess get away and got nothing for his efforts. But his last line, "There's nothing more for me to do but go home" reinforces the idea that empathy or a conscience are lacking.
