Make Me a Star

This one is slow to get going, as a small town guy who wants to be a movie star (Stuart Erwin) doesn't have any charisma, and his attempts at a couple of pratfalls are weak. Early on it seemed like this would be a pale reflection of a film that came out a few months later in 1932, 'Movie Crazy', starring Harold Lloyd. However, where that film goes for madcap laughs, this one goes for pathos, and it's in Erwin's bumbling but sincere character that we find an awkward, earnest charm. Amidst a few touching scenes in this guy's story, it's also got some behind the scenes looks at Hollywood sets, several cameo appearances from stars of the day, and a small critique of the industry.

Three well-executed and touching scenes stand out:

• After an actress (Joan Blondell) takes pity on him and gets him a part as an extra, we see him get a single line to deliver, which he nervously flubs a few times before being asked to leave by the director. He does the line one more time and nails it, but while triumphantly looking around, sees the stage has emptied for lunch.

• In desperation he begins sleeping on the lot in the hope he'll get another break, and disheveled and broke, he digs through the trash to try to find food. Blondell finds him this way, and treats him with great kindness and dignity, getting him breakfast. Her looks of empathy reminded me of her 'My Forgotten Man' performance in 'Gold Diggers of 1933.' Being down and out and suffering hunger was a theme in Depression era films, and filmgoers were likely moved by Erwin's plight at a very basic level. He plays this scene very well too, with the perfect touch of humility, and little things like his hands shaking while he lifts his coffee cup.

• Fast forwarding a bit, after getting the starring role in a movie he believes is a classic Western, he attends the preview, only to find he's been duped and the movie is a farce. He's been set up to look like a fool not only by the director, but by Blondell. The scene in the theater where the film cuts to shots of audience members guffawing and then back to him squirming in discomfort is brilliant - and it should remind modern audiences of James Franco in 'The Disaster Artist', which perhaps owes a debt to it. We see several scenes on the big screen after having seen them on the set earlier, including a 'blue screen' scene on a horse, and it's really nice work.

If you watch closely, you'll also see many stars, including Maurice Chevalier, Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, Tallulah Bankhead, Frederic March, and Sylvia Sidney, adding another bit of interest. The film pokes a little at the phoniness of the industry, epitomized by the cowboy star Erwin idolizes (George Templeton), who isn't such a nice guy in reality. Blondell is charming in her part but Erwin, well, he's almost too damn sincere and milquetoast to really love the film. Its ending is also a bit abrupt. Still, worth seeing, and an interesting little pre-code curio.

I must first point out that I have never seen the silent version or the Red Skelton remake (both titled "Merton of the movies"), so I really cannot compare this film to the previous or later versions.

The film begins in a small town. Local boy, Merton (Stu Erwin) has ambitions to become a cowboy star in movies and has just completed his correspondence course in acting. However, it's obvious to the viewer that Merton, though likable, is a terrible actor and a bit of a boob. So, when he heads off for Hollywood it's not surprising he is in way over his head. However, a lady at the studio (Joan Blondell) feels sorry for him after weeks of coming in to the casting office and helps him get a job. But, he's terrible at acting and they haven't the heart to tell this nice guy. In fact, he's so bad they decide to cast him in a comedy--but not tell him it's NOT a serious western. In the end, he discovers the ruse and feels heartbroken...and then the movie unexpectedly ends.

This film has kernels of a good film but doesn't quite make it. Sure, Erwin in likable (as usual) but he's too serious and pathetic in the film to make this a comedy--and at times, I felt uncomfortable watching him. He was, instead of funny, quite pathetic. I assume Skelton played it more for laughs--and that's probably a better way to have played it. In addition, the film has no real ending...it just stops and seems quite incomplete. An interesting but flawed concept.

By the way, Harold Lloyd made a similar film but it was much, much, much better. "Movie Crazy" is a terrific film about a boob who arrives in Hollywood and has no idea that the folks are laughing at his dramatic performances--and he becomes an inexplicable star.

Here I am, in 2007, and I'm a huge Joan Blondell fan. Yes, Zasu Pitts appears in MAKE ME A STAR – daffy and confounding – but only for a bit. I think it's Joanie's movie.

Stuart Erwin stars as Merton Gill, a.k.a. 'Whoop' Ryder, a kid from a small town who wants to make it in Hollywood as a serious actor in Westerns. He gives it a huge effort, but he's dismissed as the rube he actually is. Flips Montague (Joan) is sympathetic. She gets him a job, with a Mack Sennett-like director whose big star is that "cross-eyed man" Stuart dislikes so much. Merton thinks he's acting in a serious film, but it is edited and spliced, his voice changed to make him sound effeminate, and turned into a farce.

Merton proposes to Joan before the film's big opening, but she feels guilty and fakes sickness. He goes to the opening by himself and is humiliated.

I won't give away the ending, and the film is resolved by the closing scene, but it's nice to imagine his future if he takes the course which involves the girl.

This is a fun film.

"Make me a Star" is a heartrending film, one that superbly demonstrates the sincerity, honesty, and versatility of Stuart Erwin. Although many of the early scenes are farcical and satirize slapstick comedy, specifically the kind directed by Mack Sennett, the movie turns serious when it delves into the boorish behavior of the Hollywood studio system moguls, who prey upon starstruck acting hopefuls. And Stuart Erwin, as one of these unworldly hopefuls, handles both the farce and the drama equally adroitly. The final scene between Erwin and Joan Blondell is heartbreaking. In fact, I was so impressed with the movie that I decided to devote much of one chapter to this remarkable film in my book on Stuart Erwin.

Billed as a comedy about a gormless man who becomes a Hollywood star, this is actually a moving drama about the savageness of the film industry. Stuart Erwin is very fine as the young man, an innocent lost in the wilds of Hollywood. His performance is reminiscent of the performances of Charles Ray in silent films, a winning combination of warmth and naivety. The character wants to be a a serious actor, but his attempts at drama cause only laughter. After describing one such incident Blondell responds to "That must have been funny" with "Only if you find coal-mine explosions funny". Blondell, as a fellow actor, understands Erwin's pain - her performance is also excellent.

Finally Erwin is tricked into making a comedy film - which he believes is a drama. His devastation at the preview, as the crowd roar with laughter around him, will move you to tears.

Sadly the film ends too abruptly without resolving these complex issues. And the stars making "guest appearances" actually just walk through - a shame that something more imaginative wasn't done with them - and Zasu Pitts only has a tiny role (still funny though).

Great to see how early talkies were made - look at the size of the camera with all that casing to mask the noise. Make sure you see this moving "comedy" - most worthwhile. And afterwards see "Show People" (1928) to see how the talkies transformed Hollywood so quickly.