Is Everybody Happy? (1929)
Directed by Archie Mayo
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Inimitable, top-hatted clarinetist Ted Lewis stars in Is Everybody Happy? (the title, of course, was a Lewis catchphrase). Lewis plays Tod Todd, a Hungarian-emigre violinist who disdains the classics in favor of jazz, much to the dismay of his traditionalist parents (didn't we already see this plot in The Jazz Singer?) Upon discovering that his son is playing in honky-tonks and not with the New York Symphony, Todd's old-world papa Victor (Lawrence Grant) blows his top and disowns the boy. All is forgiven when Todd is headlined in a jazz concert at Carnegie Hall. Surprisingly, such trademarked Ted Lewis tunes as "When My Baby Smiles at Me" and "Me and My Shadow" are not included in Is Everybody Happy?
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Keywords
career, disinheritance, jazz, music, violinist