Wonder Bar
| Wonder Bar | |
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| Directed by |
Lloyd Bacon Busby Berkeley |
| Written by |
Play: Geza Herczeg Karl Farkas Robert Katscher Screenplay: Earl Baldwin |
| Starring |
Al Jolson Kay Francis Dolores del Río Ricardo Cortez Dick Powell Guy Kibbee |
| Music by |
Harry Warren (music) Al Dubin (lyrics) |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Edited by | George Amy |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $675,000 (est.) |
| Box office | $2,035,000 (rentals-world) |
Wonder Bar is a 1934 American pre-Code movie adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created by Busby Berkeley.
It starred Al Jolson, Kay Francis, Dolores del Río, Ricardo Cortez, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Ruth Donnelly, Hugh Herbert, Louise Fazenda, Fifi D'Orsay, Merna Kennedy, Henry O'Neill, Robert Barrat, Henry Kolker, and Spencer Charters in the main roles. For its time, Wonder Bar was considered risqué, barely passing the censors at the Hays Office. The title is a pun on "wunderbar," which is German for "wonderful."
Wonder Bar is set in a Parisian nightclub, with the stars playing the ‘regulars’ at the club. The movie revolves around two main story points, a romance and a more serious conflict with death, and several minor plots. All of the stories are enlivened from time to time by extravagant musical numbers. The more serious story revolves around Captain Von Ferring (Robert Barrat), a German military officer. Ferring has gambled on the stock market and lost, now broke after dozens of failed investments, he is at the Wonder Bar to try and pull a one-night stand before killing himself the following day. Al Wonder (Al Jolson) knows about Ferring's plan.
Meanwhile, an elaborate romance is unfolding. The bar's central attraction is the Latin lounge dancing group led by Inez (Dolores del Río). Al Wonder has a secret attraction to Inez, who has a burning passion for Harry (Ricardo Cortez). However, Harry is two-timing her with Liane (Kay Francis), who is married to the famous French banker Renaud (Henry Kolker). The story comes to a climax when Inez finds out that Harry and Liane plan to run away together and head to the United States. Inez, in a haze of jealousy, kills Harry.
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Wikipedia