Hollywood and Vine

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.

Had Hollywood And Vine not been done by poverty row PRC studios I might have given this a better rating. It's a nice comedy about a couple of hopefuls trying to break into pictures.

James Ellison is a writer and Wanda McKay an actress, but it's a stray dog that Ellison mistakenly believes belongs to McKay that makes it big in Tinseltown. Ralph Morgan playing a dual role as a pair studio executives decides this is the dog to rival Lassie over at that big studio that has a lion logo.

Such players as Franklin Pangborn, Emmett Lynn, and even 'Prince' Michael Romanoff make this a pleasant hour of film making.

This could have been done at MGM and would have been a bigger hit there.

Delightful little comedy from an unlikely source, PRC. Except for the charming Wanda McKay and a likable James Ellison, it's a wacky cast, featuring such specialists in exaggeration as Pangborn, Belasco, Lynn, and most of all, little Daisy. Seems Martha (McKay) wants to break into movies, and with her brilliant smile I'd hire her in a minute. Seems too, screenwriter Larry (Ellison) would like to help, but he's too busy being an inept soda jerk. Meanwhile, Daisy shows she can twirl and dance like any two-legged critter, and so gets hired on immediately. Show-biz is nothing if not fickle. So, will our lovey-dovey twosome finally find happiness and success on Hollywood and Vine. Stay tuned. No, this is not Grant or Hepburn or MGM, but it is a minor little gem, just right for an hour's worth of harmless amusement.

I always like films wih Frank Pangborn.. here, he's Reggie, pharmacy owner, next to the studio. Wanda McKay is Martha, who is headed for hollywood. (Although McKay's real claim to fame is that she was married to musician Hoagy Carmichael.) Ralph Morgan (the wizard's brother) is Mr. Lavish, head of the studio. We watch as Martha tries to get a start in hollywood, but it just isn't happening. Larry (James Ellison ) follows her around, and keeps trying to return her dog, which isn't really hers. The whole story is pretty corny, and it barely holds together, but it's fun if you go along for the ride... kind of an insider's look at hollywood. Cameo by Dewey Robinson, the banana surprise guy. It's all silly, but fun. A shortie from PRC, at 58 minutes. Directed by Alex ThurnTaxis... one of the five films he directed; didn't seem to spend much time in hollywood, unlike everyone else in this film! apparently ThurnTaxis was related to the royal family of Austria, and was on the committee that investigated the murders of the russian Tsar's family. Now THAT's a movie !