"Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" (or "Dirty Hands! Dirty Face!") is a song from the 1921 musical ''

Bombo Bombo may refer to: Music * ''Bombo'' (musical), a 1921 Broadway production starring Al Jolson * "Bombo" (song), by Norwegian singer Adelén *Bombo criollo or just bombo, a family of Latin American drums *Bombo legüero, an Argentine drum *An 18th ...

''. The lyrics were written by

Grant Clarke Grant Clarke (May 14, 1891, Akron, Ohio – May 16, 1931, California) was an American songwriter. Clarke moved to New York City early in his career, where he worked as an actor and a staff writer for comedians. He began working on Tin Pan Alley, ...

and

Edgar Leslie Edgar Leslie (December 31, 1885 – January 22, 1976) was an American songwriter. Biography Edgar Leslie was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1885. He studied at the Cooper Union in New York. He published his first song in 1909, starting a l ...

; with music by

James V. Monaco James Vincent Monaco (January 13, 1885 – October 16, 1945) was an Italian-born American composer of popular music. Life and career Monaco was born in Formia, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States when he was six, and he grew up i ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

is often credited as a lyricist; it was common for popular performers to take a cut of the popularity of a song by being listed as a lyricist. The song is about the love that a father has for his son.

Jolson version

Jolson performs the song in the 1927 film ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music score as well as lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated ...

'' in character as Jack Robin (formerly Jakie Rabinowitz). The film concerns the attempt of Jolson's character to become a vaudeville performer against opposition from his religious Jewish family. It was the film's second musical number, and occurs 18 minutes into the film in a scene at Coffee Dan's nightclub in San Francisco. Jolson subsequently recorded the song in March 1928. Gerald R. Butters in his 2002 book ''Black Manhood on the Silent Screen'' wrote that "the symbolic link with blackface (dirtiness) is obvious"; the film later featured Jolson wearing

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

. After he sings the song Jolson responds to the audience's applause by saying in improvised dialogue, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You ain't heard nothing yet" a phrase he often said in his

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performances. Jolson's words were the first words spoken on camera in a feature film.

Michael Rogin Michael Paul Rogin (June 29, 1937 – November 25, 2001) was an American political scientist who taught at the University of California, Berkeley.Janet Gilmore, University of California Press Relations"UC Berkeley professor Michael Rogin, politica ...

describes them as "These first words of feature movie speech, a kind of per-formative, announce-you ain't heard nothing yet-the birth of sound movies and the death of silent film". Rogin wrote in the journal ''

Critical Inquiry ''Critical Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Department of English Language and Literature (University of Chicago). While the topics and historica ...

'' in 1992 that ""The "desire" that carries forward this "interiorized, moralized" oedipal narrative...is Jack's "innocent and dirty" desire-sung as "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" to become a histrionic, vaudeville performer". The "innocent and dirty" quote was derived from the writings of

Pascal Bonitzer Pascal Bonitzer (; born 1 February 1946) is a French screenwriter, film director, actor, and former film critic for '' Cahiers du cinéma''. He has written for 48 films and has appeared in 30 films since 1967. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1978 fi ...

. Jolson's performance of the song was extensively analysed in the 2005 book ''Style and Meaning: Studies in the Detailed Analysis of Film'', with "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" being perceived as "an extraordinary revelation of the entire narrative structure of the film".

Other recordings

It was recorded in August 1923 by Isabella Patricola with the Ben Selvin Orchestra. Selvin also recorded a version with Irving Kaufman.

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

recorded it with an arrangement by

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

for her 1957 album '' Judy''. Garland's version was described as "corny...inspired by, yet also transcending, Jolson's style". She also performed it for an April 1956 episode of ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' was an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations. Radio After an audition show ...

'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and the 23rd episode of her CBS television show, taped in February 1964.

References

{{Reflist 1921 songs 1928 singles Al Jolson songs Judy Garland songs Brunswick Records singles Songs about children Songs with music by James V. Monaco Songs written by Al Jolson Songs written by Edgar Leslie