Hollywood Newsreel

Yes it dumps be hip and cool and modern and all of this but in reality the movie is to all because of this the documentary doesn't work anymore I'm fortunately because of people are still better than and they're all very happy singing and fake happiness and all the states but that's Hollywood for you and that's a documentary and of course you can see many things you like but but you couldn't say is that this movie isn't good even though you could try to see something bad about the movie but that isn't worried about your going to find here because movies done really well because of this I like the movie little bit yes

This was included as a bonus with the DVD "42nd Street". Also included were some NRA features describing a day at work in Hollywood. Most of this stuff is pretty self-serving but in the depths of the Depression who could blame Hollywood for putting their best foot (hoof) forward? In rapid fire succession we get candid glimpses of Jimmy Cagney (just a regular guy, they state, Dick Powell, and a host of Hollywood luminaries. Incidentally, Cagney must have been there to shine up Joan Blondell, who IMDb correctly identifies as having been madly in love with Blondell---who could argue with that? The 20's fascination with collegiate/campus life hadn't faded yet with the Columbia football team and a lot of sophomoric soft shoeing by Hal Leroy--is he related to Jim Carrey? All in all it was a nice TV Guide kind of visit to people from another world.

THE FACT THAT the cameras were rolling and committed the images of the persons present at the Warner Brothers lot made this at lest somewhat worthwhile. That would be perhaps the one and only redeeming bit of social importance present.

WITHOUT ACTUALLY STATING so, the one reeler passes itself off as a part of the newsreel genre. It follows the well excepted format of mixing voice over of silent footage with occasional dialogue from participants. The action moves rapidly from one situation and "Star" to another, with the occasional interruption of a title card or two.

ANOTHER DEVICE THAT is missing, but would have done well to have been included is a disclaimer stating that the producing company, the Vitaphone Corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Brothers and not so coincidentally, all of the actors appearing in and films coming out featured are Warner Brothers own.

IT'S NOT THAT we believe that this sort of shameless self-promotion to be banned, for we don't hold that position. After all, didn't Walt Disney make good use of this method in promoting his new pictures via the weekly DISNEYLAND TV Show.

This was an interesting short included on the 42nd Street DVD. It showcases several Warner Bros. stars. We start with the Columbia University football winners of the Rose Bowl visiting the Busby Berkeley girls. Then we see publicity shots of Guy Kibbee, Dick Powell, and a woman I didn't recognize "mining" for gold. Then Hugh Hubert and Elmer the lamb are hanging around the studio. Then Joan Blondell, who had to take some time off after a month-long illness, addresses her fans about her correspondence from them and thanks them. And finally, songwriters Irving Kahan and Sammy Fain showcases one of their numbers from Harold Teen before then having star Patricia Ellis sing another one and then other star Hal LeRoy dancing to one more. This was such a quaint and silly thing that I was pretty amused from frame to frame though I was highly entertained by the last segment. So on that note, this Hollywood Newsreel was worth the watch.

I don't know who's narrating this promo film for Warner Brothers' directors and stars, but given that it's 1934, and Warners Brothers movies were famous for tons of dialogue spoken faster than a hockey commentator, it's a lot of fun, with Busby Berkley playing baseball, Margaret Lindsay mining for gold, Joan Blondell posing by a vase of flowers and Hugh Herbert communing with a sheep.

Warners didn't do many of these "meet the stars" short subjects. Columbia's SCREEN SNAPSHOT series may have run from 1920 through the late 1940s, and Lew Lewyn may have been the producer-for-hire whenever MGM wanted to release one, but this one shows people hard at work, with previews that were calculated to get moviegoers talking about their stars and looking forward to seeing HAROLD TEEN.