Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults

Joan Collins hosts this entertaining look at cut scenes from 20th Century Fox films, explaining that many of them were cut because of a film running too long. Most of the scenes were musical numbers, which are, of course, the easiest to cut.

There was a long acting scene with Walter Brennan from "We're Not Married" which was cut that was quite funny, and a scene in a music store with Betty Grable in "I Wake Up Screaming" that was cut when her profession was changed from music saleswoman to stenographer.

People were confused by the original title of the film, "Hot Spot," and thought they were seeing a musical with Grable. Her singing to sell a song didn't help.

The most interesting cut scenes were those of Bill Bojangles Robinson in "Cafe Metropole." He plays an entertainer at the café. He has two wonderful dance numbers that were probably cut because some audiences weren't ready to accept a black person as anything but a servant.

There's also a test from a film that was never made with Joan Collins and Robert Wagner. It looks like it would have been a true horror.

Other cut scenes included songs in "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Springtime in the Rockies," and "Rose of Washington Square."

I personally would have preferred more outtakes where you could get a glimpse of the star's personality. A Betty Grable dance number, where she kept having to stop, did give us some idea of her and the work process, but more of that would have been great. Also I would have liked more acting scenes.

However, if you're a fan of musicals, you can't beat this.

Well, I just watched my new DVD of Hidden Hollywood (I have a Vol. II not seen yet); Anyway, the deletion of these scenes of the great and near-great (Durante, Temple, Power, Faye, Bojangles Robinson, Ethel Merman, and others) reflects sound judgment of the great movie moguls. One notable exception is a Durante-Temple duet. But don't reject this compilation too quickly: there are many brief shots of what the stars do just before and after the scene is acted (cameras are rolling a bit before and after); also some newsreel footage of premieres I hadn't seen despite a decent familiarity with that kind of material. I'm not sorry I sat through it, but it's certainly miles away from many other compilations I've seen, but then again, those have excerpts from available movies, while this one is a unique source. In short, only you know how big a movie nut you are, so only you know whether you want to obtain and watch this film.

There are some wonderful dances on these two disks, NOT cut because they were in any way inferior material, but for other less admirable reasons. Well worth getting if you're a dance fan. I forget which are one each disk, but there are: (1) Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's two dances deleted from "Cafe Metropole". Fox promised to give him a chance to really show what he could do when not dumbing down his dancing to spotlight Shirley Temple, then double crossed him and cut the scenes from the film, apparently afraid that America still wasn't ready to acknowledge mature black talent. The tap scene is classic Bojangles, elegant and precise. But the other scene ... oh brother! he does a tap "Apache" dance (that 40s dance form where the man tosses the woman around the stage)! The combination of forms doesn't really work that well, but is worth watching just for its uniqueness. (2) The original "Shiek of Araby" scene from "Tin Pan Alley", cut because the Hayes office thought the costumes were too revealing. Since the movie isn't currently available for viewing in any form one can't tell how much remains in the released version, but the outtakes are (a) the original harem scene with those scanty see-through costumes (tame by modern standards), a decent production type number, (b) the Nicholas Brothers dancing as djinns: classic high-energy tap in their usual style (but without their usual tuxedos) (c) Betty Grable & Alice Faye also teasingly clad singing "Shiek of Araby" with Jack Oakie - fun! (3) Ginger Rogers doing a high energy charleston. I forget what it was cut from - maybe Roxie Hart? - but it shows off her dancing skill. (4) Betty Grable dance outtakes from "Springtime in the Rockies". She could also dance better than she's given credit for.

This first of two video compilations of musicals from the Fox studio showcases big stars Alice Faye and Betty Grable, but also provides a glimpse of other contract players in the golden age doing what they do best. As a compilation of musical sequences, it isn't a patch on the three retrospectives of MGM musicals, or 'That's Dancing', but it gives a fairly broad idea of what the Fox players and creatives were doing at the time.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more from behind the scenes, and a bit less of Joan Collins introducing and linking the material, but there's enough gems here to keep you watching. Not fantastic, and no great discoveries here (although it is always nice to see Bill Robinson's dances), but if you like musicals, there should be something to tempt you.