Hollywood Party

I thought this Golden Oldie was great fun. Puzzling how it gets short shrift from IMDb reviewers, as it sustains itself throughout the 75 minutes with a consistently high level of humor and music. It is also puzzling how few people have actually seen it in comparison to the goodly number of reviews.

In any case, I love Laurel and Hardy and Charles Butterworth always adds a great deal to any picture with his befuddled 'Tom Smothers' brand of humor. The main star is old reliable Jimmy Durante doing his familiar schtick, and there are a couple of good musical numbers, especially one with Eddie Quillan and June Clyde called "I've Had My Moments", and also the title song written by Rodgers&Hart.

It is a fast-moving 75 minutes, too fast and too entertaining for such a low IMDb rating. If you're a fan of movies, especially old movies, I recommend this one. And there's no 'message' here; it's just old-fashioned entertainment, accent on the 'old-fashioned'.

What a hoot. Hilariously bad musical comedy that was butchered by MGM and dumped as a B film stars Jimmy Durante as a failing actor whose Schnarzan character needs a boost. So they decide to buy new lions (with teeth) to beef up his screen image. But his rival, Liondora, also wants the lions. So Durante throws a Hollywood party to lobby the lions' owner, Baron Munchausen, for a sale.

A great cast and some terrifically snappy production numbers and funny bits make this a total trip. Along with Durante we get Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy who got cheated out of the lions, Lupe Velez as Durante's spitfire Jane, Polly Moran and Charles Butterworth as Oklahoma oil millionaires, Arthur Treacher as a butler, Jack Pearl as the Baron, Ted Healy and the Three Stooges as autograph fiends, Eddie Quillan and June Clyde as the lovers, Frances Williams in the great "Hollywood Party" number, Shirley Ross, Harry Baris, and Robert Young as themselves, and a ton of small-part actors like Ferdinand Gottschalk, Nora Cecil, Clarence Wilson, Leonid Kinskey, Tom Kennedy, Gilbert Emery, Jed Prouty, Richard Carle, Edwin Maxwell, Ray Cooke, George Givot and Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse! "Hollywood Party" and "My One Big Moment" are great songs. Jimmy Durante is fun, Laurel and Hardy get a funny sketch with Lupe Velez and eggs, Polly Moran gets to sing, and then there's leggy and glittery Frances Williams and her great jazzy voice!

Hollywood jungle king Jimmy Durante (as "Schnarzan") is getting a little lion in the tooth. After seeing Greta Garbo's famous close-up conclude "Queen Christina" (1933), audiences pan a preview of Mr. Durante's newest loin-cloth adventure "Schnarzan the Conqueror!!!" Durante concludes the film franchise needs livelier lions, and has a "Hollywood Party" to celebrate the fact. Contrary to the promotional and opening credits, this film does not star Laurel and Hardy. You will see The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) and wonder where you missed Stan and Ollie. They are featured later, with Mr. Hardy wearing a torn suit jacket (understandably, considering). This is a "revue" picture hanged around a spoof of MGM's "Tarzan" with Durante starring. And Jimmy Durante's movie "Jane" is Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller's wife Lupe Velez...

The party goes on too long - well, it seems too long even in a short movie. After a good opening, highlights occur sporadically. Don't miss the clever "I've Had My Moments" song and dance sequence by Eddie Quillan (as Bob) and June Clyde (as Linda). It occurs after about 30 minutes, just before The Three Stooges appearance; this Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn song became the film's only "new" hit, making the Hit Parades in a version by Lew Sherwood with Eddie Duchin's orchestra. The "I've Had My Moments" melody resembles the later hit "How About You?" (1941-42). Later, an animated Mickey Mouse introduces the color cartoon "The Hot Choc-Late Soldiers" by Walt Disney. Lastly, Laurel and Hardy become involved; some (not I) think their "breaking eggs" scene with Ms. Velez is a classic. For the end, MGM lions take over...

***** Hollywood Party (5/24/34) Allan Dwan ~ Jimmy Durante, Lupe Velez, Eddie Quillan, Stan Laurel

I don't often laugh out loud at movies but I found myself chuckling at several spots in this corny old film. It's one of those feel-good depression era flicks where they jammed lots of stars and production numbers together, without much of a plot, except for the fact that Jimmy Durante's having a party and everyone's invited.

But...who cares? Durante is hilarious, especially in the faux movie trailer for 'Schnarzan.' In a few of his scenes he comes across almost like Groucho in terms of lines and attitude. Lupe Velez is a hoot, especially when she gets excited and starts reaming people out in Spanish. And where else can you find the (uncredited) Three Stooges (with Ted Healy) and Laurel & Hardy under the same roof? With Mickey Mouse? And there's a very surreal color Disney cartoon right in the middle, with an odd song by Brown/Freed.

Use your fast-forward button to get through some of the tedious musical numbers, but make sure to catch the wild set with the orchestra members each on his own mini-balcony (and four pianists). There are some interesting special effects here and there, along with a heavy usage of "swipes" between scenes.

Robert Young and Arthur Treacher are in here, along with many others whom I suppose I would have recognized if I had been a moviegoer in the 30s. And there are a number of lines that must have slipped right past the censors, like Velez saying something about someone's "cook being goosed" or the closing barb by Durante's wife. He asks if he looks like a horse's head (based on an earlier dream sequence). She says, "No, not like a horse's HEAD" (very knowingly).

It's a hairbrained, silly plot but worth it just to watch all the stars go by.

The hilarious Jimmy Durante, known for making fun of his own large schnozzola, sings his signature song in this film, "Inka Dinka Doo." Along the way some great songs by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart (before Rogers teamed with Oscar Hammerstein II to create some of America's greatest musicals), including the title song performed by Frances Williams, "Reincarnation" performed by Durante, and "Hello" performed by Durante and Jack Pearly. --Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013