Hollywood and Vine

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

This was a pretty decent movie--the acting was very good (the male and female leads, and the dog of course, all did an amazing job!), but the storyline seemed almost like it was too pieced together. The storyline didn't exactly "flow", and the movie seemed like it should have been a little bit longer, but I'd still suggest watching it. Although the comedy in it is very general and not very unique, a lot of it still had me laughing. If you're into older movies, I would definitely suggest watching this one. It was the first black and white movie I've ever seen, and I did actually like it. Now that I've watched it, I'm interested in the older kind of movies, and now I want to watch more :)

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.

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.

Weird Hollywood comedy about a young girl who tries to make a name for herself in Hollywood, meets a nice guy and then finds success as the owner of a dog that makes it big in the movies.

Funny but really strange. The humor and the performances often border on deranged (and I don't mean that in a good way). There were times when I didn't know if it was a comedy or not (though I suppose not knowing whether this was a comedy or drama going in didn't help). At other times I didn't know what type of comedy it wanted to be as it shifted gears through several styles (slapstick,screwball,punny) all at once. There are several great actors in it, Frank Pangborn, Charles Middleton (uncredited) and Frank Morgan who give it their all and make it fun to watch even if you get the feeling that they weren't too sure about the material either.

Its worth a try if you're in the mood for an off beat comedy, but I don't know what you'll make of it, I'm not sure what I did.