“I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World” was published in 1925 – words by Ray Henderson, lyrics Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young.
Al Jolson recorded the song in 1925, and then sang it in the 1928 part-talkie film The Singing Fool and in his biographical movie The Jolson Story in 1946.
As for “part-talkie” films, and this makes perfect sense, there was a transition between 1927 and 1929 when some audio was added to otherwise silent films – a bit of dialogue or some singing. During this period, it took movie houses about a year and a half to fully transition to talkies. In the interim, as the commercial value of talkies became apparent, studios began adding bits of sound where possible (hence the “See and Hear” tag in the movie poster at left).
One interesting point is that the so-called “first talking picture”, The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson, is in fact only a part-talkie with about fifteen minutes of singing and talking – the rest the standard silent fare with “title” cards and recorded orchestral music. The clip “I’m Sitting on Top of the World” below from The Singing Fool is of this type.
The Singing Fool plot synopsis: A singing star tries to recover from heartbreak when his wife deserts him and takes away his beloved son.