Jump to content

A Plantation Act (film)

From Wikisource
For works with similar titles, see Plantation Act.
A Plantation Act (1926)
by Philip Roscoe
A Plantation Act (1926) is an early Vitaphone sound-on-disc short film starring Al Jolson, the first film that Jolson starred in. Its premiere took place on October 7, 1926, at the Colony Theatre, New York, where it concluded a program of short subjects that accompanied Warner Brothers' second feature-length Vitaphone film The Better 'Ole. The "Intermission" card which appears at its end derives from that use.
Key (info)
Dialogue
In scene
Storyline
SongPerformer
"When the Red, Red Robin" ()Al Jolson
"April Showers" ()Al Jolson
"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody" ()Al Jolson
Cast and Crew
Cast
RoleActor
Al Jolson
Crew
Production companyWarner Bros.
DirectorPhilip Roscoe
The following is a transcription of a film. The contents below represent text or spoken dialogue that are transcribed directly from the video of the film provided above. On certain screen sizes, each line is represented by a timestamp next to it which shows when the text appears on the video. For more information, see Help:Film.
3983936A Plantation Act1926Philip Roscoe

AL JOLSON
in
A Plantation Act


359

Al Jolson

I heard a robin this morning,
I'm feeling happy today.
I'm gonna put my cares in a whistle,
Blow them all away.

What if I've been unlucky,
Really I ain't got a thing.
But there's a time I'll always feel happy
As happy as a king.

When the red, red robin
Comes bob, bob, bobbin' along, along,
There'll be no more sobbin'
When he starts throbbin'
His old, sweet song.
Wake up, wake up,
You sleepyhead.
Get up, get up,
Get out of bed.
Cheer up, cheer up,
The sun is red.
Live, love, laugh and be happy!

What if I've been blue,
Now I'm walking through
Fields of flowers.
Rain may glisten,
But still I listen,
For hours, and hours.
I'm just a kid again,
Doin' what I did again,
Singin' a song.
When the red, red robin
Comes bob, bob, bobbin' along.

When the red, red robin
Comes bob, bob, bobbin' along, along.
There'll be no more sobbin'
When he starts throbbin'
His old, sweet song.
Wake up, wake up,
You sleepyhead.
Cheer up, cheer up,
The sun is red.
Cheer up,
Oh, get out of bed.
Live, love, laugh and be happy!

What if I've been blue,
Now I'm walking through
Fields of flowers.
Rain may glisten,
But still I listen,
For hours, and hours.
I'm just a kid again,
Doin' what I did again,
Singin' a song.
When the red, red robin
Comes bob, bob, bobbin' along.

Al Jolson
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Give me a chance, folks. Ahahaha! You ain't heard nothin' yet—you ain't heard a thing. And, now, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna sing you a little song I haven't sung for about two or three years—a little ballet. I think you'll like it. "April Showers", if you please, professor.

Al Jolson

Life is not a highway strewn with flowers,
Still it holds a goodly share of bliss;
When the sun gives way to April showers,
Here's a thought we shall never miss.

Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
And if it's raining, have no regrets,
Because it isn't raining rain you know, it's raining violets.
And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils;
So keep on looking for a blue bird and listening for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.

Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
And if it's raining, have no regrets,
Because it isn't raining rain you know, it's raining violets.
And where you see clouds on the hills,
No, no, they're not clouds!
Oh, no, they're crowds of daffodils;
So keep on looking for a blue bird and listening for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.

Al Jolson
Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet—you ain't heard a thing. And now, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna sing you a little song that the ruler folks love to hear me sing. It's a little mammy song. And, very funny thing—people have been making fun of mammy songs, and I don't really think that it's right that they should. Why, after all, mammy songs are the fundamental songs of our country. And, not only that, you take John McCormack. John McCormack, the famous radio singer—he sings "Mother Machree", and that's a merry song. And folks, he ain't bad. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna sing you my little mammy song—"Rock-a-Bye Your Rock-a-Bye Baby with a Dixie Melody", if you please.

Al Jolson

Mammy mine, your little rolling stone that rolled away, rolled away
Mammy mine, your little rolling stone is home today, there to stay!
I want to see your smiling face, smile a welcome smile
I want to feel your fond embrace, listen, mammy mine!

Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody.
When you croon, croon a little tune from the heart of Dixie,
Just hang that cradle, mammy mine,
Right on that Mason-Dixon Line,
And swing it, swing it from Virginia to Tennessee,
With all of the soul that's in ya.

"Weep No More, My Lady", mammy, sing it again, for me,
And "Old Black Joe", just as though you had me on your knee.
A million baby kisses, I'll deliver,
If you will only sing the "Swanee River".
Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody.

Rock-a-bye—oh, rock your little baby—with a Dixie melody.
When you croon, croon a little tune from the heart of Dixie,
Just hang that cradle, mammy mine,
Right on that Mason-Dixon Line,
And swing it, swing it from Virginia to Tennessee,
With all of the soul that's in ya.

Mammy, listen to what they're playing,
"Weep No More, My Lady"—sing it again, for me,
And you remember, you remember "Old Black Joe",
God love you Mammy, you sang when I was on your knee.
A million baby kisses I'll deliver,
Sing the "Swanee River".
Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby with a Dixie melody!

INTERMISSION


This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse