Hollywood and Vine

This is a real oddity...a film from tiny PRC Studio that I really liked! While most of PRC's pictures were rather awful, this one was terrific all due to Daisy. Who is Daisy? It's an adorable and well-trained dog that gained most of its fame in the Blondie and Dagwood films...and it really rescued this film.

The film is about Larry Winters...a big-time Hollywood writer who becomes infatuated with a lady. They meet each other and at the same time they meet a homeless dog (Daisy). Larry takes the dog with him and searches for the girl. But she thinks he's just some poor schmuck and so he pretends to be so that he can win her heart. In the meantime, the dog goes off to Hollywood and becomes a sensation!

The reason I liked the film is that without Daisy the film was pleasant. But with this great trained dog, it was absolutely charming. Well worth seeing.

Delightful little comedy from an unlikely source, PRC. Except for the charming Wanda McKay and a likable James Ellison, it's a wacky cast, featuring such specialists in exaggeration as Pangborn, Belasco, Lynn, and most of all, little Daisy. Seems Martha (McKay) wants to break into movies, and with her brilliant smile I'd hire her in a minute. Seems too, screenwriter Larry (Ellison) would like to help, but he's too busy being an inept soda jerk. Meanwhile, Daisy shows she can twirl and dance like any two-legged critter, and so gets hired on immediately. Show-biz is nothing if not fickle. So, will our lovey-dovey twosome finally find happiness and success on Hollywood and Vine. Stay tuned. No, this is not Grant or Hepburn or MGM, but it is a minor little gem, just right for an hour's worth of harmless amusement.

First of all, critic db Burroughs, who didn't seem to know what he was watching, didn't know who he was watching. The actor he called Frank Morgan was Ralph Morgan, Frank's brother. Read the credits.

Producers Releasing Corporation usually made Monogram look like MGM, but every now and then they came out with a gem.

I'm fairly familiar with the studio. My father had a one man printing press on the lower east side - Active Printing, yet. Most of his work were one sheeters for clothing manufacturers, but he also printed sheet music for some of the biggies around 52nd St. - that's how I met W. C. Handy - and he did the NYC work for PRC.

This Producers Releasing Corp. item was certainly pretentious-less and, certainly a helluva lot of fun, at times, completely nutty

There was enough corn to fill a couple of Del Monte crates, and most of it produced a lot of laughs.

More laughs from a cast of some of the funniest character actors of the time, essentially playing themselves. The topper, of course, was Franklin Pangborn, always put upon, and, thankfully, given more time in this flick.

Making the most of a little time on screen was Dewey Robinson who always played a not-too-bright tough. His love of a banana surprise was a hoot.

The leads were just fine. James Ellison who played leads in a few major musicals but had no staying power, was coupled with Wandy McKay, a cutie beauty who kept very busy but did not top major marquees. The pair had good on-screen chemistry.

The star, of course, was good old Daisy, on loan from the Bumstead family. Button cute, it did every doggie trick in the books. This movie was made before movie animals talked. Kids today must think animals have mastered the English language.

Bottom line - this, obviously, was a low-budgeter, but who cares? It did what it set out to do - created a lot of laughter.

I always like films wih Frank Pangborn.. here, he's Reggie, pharmacy owner, next to the studio. Wanda McKay is Martha, who is headed for hollywood. (Although McKay's real claim to fame is that she was married to musician Hoagy Carmichael.) Ralph Morgan (the wizard's brother) is Mr. Lavish, head of the studio. We watch as Martha tries to get a start in hollywood, but it just isn't happening. Larry (James Ellison ) follows her around, and keeps trying to return her dog, which isn't really hers. The whole story is pretty corny, and it barely holds together, but it's fun if you go along for the ride... kind of an insider's look at hollywood. Cameo by Dewey Robinson, the banana surprise guy. It's all silly, but fun. A shortie from PRC, at 58 minutes. Directed by Alex ThurnTaxis... one of the five films he directed; didn't seem to spend much time in hollywood, unlike everyone else in this film! apparently ThurnTaxis was related to the royal family of Austria, and was on the committee that investigated the murders of the russian Tsar's family. Now THAT's a movie !

According to the DVD sleeve summary, "A small-town girl heads to Hollywood in the hopes of making it as a starlet on the big screen. Hanging out at a soda counter in the hopes of being discovered, she befriends the soda jerk not knowing he's really a screenwriter looking for material on a script." Yes, this is a variation on one of filmdom's most frequently wagged tales. This time, the emphasis is on comedy, and the star turns out to be a dog. It's very occasionally funny, with Wanda McKay and James Ellison likable in the leads. The supporting cast works harder at getting laughs, especially Franklin Pangborn and Emmett Lynn. And, newsboy Billy Benedict gets more lines than usual. The location footage of 1940s Hollywood is a plus.

***** Hollywood and Vine (4/25/45) Alexis Thurn-Taxis ~ Wanda McKay, James Ellison, Franklin Pangborn, Emmett Lynn