Hollywood Newsreel

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 amusing little item was produced in the heyday of the Hollywood studio system, and was intended to promote Warner Brothers' studio, its stars and upcoming releases. It plays rather like a live-action version of a frothy movie magazine, the sort of thing ladies flip through while sitting under hair-driers, as it breathlessly offers us "Intimate Glimpses of Your Favorite Stars Behind the Scenes of Movieland." Well, it isn't exactly intimate, but if you're the sort of buff who might enjoy casual, home movie-like footage featuring the likes of Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Ginger Rogers, etc., then you've come to the right place.

The first sequence concerns a studio visit by Columbia University's football team, fresh from a victory over Stanford. The guys grin at the camera and clown around a little awkwardly with Joe E. Brown, Ricardo Cortez, and a few other contract players, but they seem a lot happier visiting the Busby Berkeley girls on the set of Wonder Bar. Next we have an odd little sequence involving Dick Powell, Margaret Livingston, and Guy Kibbee. The narrator informs us that since the price of gold has doubled since F.D.R. was elected president, old timers are once again trekking to the hills of California to dig for it. So these three performers, we're told, have "dropped in" to a gold mine to investigate. Actually, of course, the studio publicity department has dispatched them there to pose for a few carefully composed shots while the narrator alternately lectures us on gold panning techniques and delivers wisecracks about tunneling into Mae West's boudoir. This sequence captures the silliness of the Hollywood ballyhoo machine quite aptly.

After a couple of brief moments with Joan Blondell (ever charming) and comedian Hugh Herbert (ever charmless), the film concludes with a musical sequence featuring Hal LeRoy and Patricia Ellis, the young stars of Harold Teen, i.e. the talkie remake of the 1928 silent feature. The duo visit the office of songwriters Sammy Fain & Irving Kahan, songs from the movie are sung, and then Hal LeRoy dances. LeRoy, who was originally a stage star, had a rather goofy presence on camera and never really made it big in pictures, but the guy sure could dance. His soft-shoe number is a pleasure to watch, and is far and away the highlight of this little potpourri.

It's amusing to hear the (unidentified) narrator rattle off his text with the edgy intensity heard in the newsreels of the period, especially considering how fluffy this material is . . . although, to be fair, the approach seems deliberately tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps the narrator sums up the entire enterprise best in one line delivered during the gold digging sequence: "What poise! What rhythm! What nonsense!"

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.

Unless you're an avid film buff, you won't get too much out of this Warner short which comes across as a silly bit of trivia meant to promote the studio's current roster of stars and especially newcomers Hal LeRoy and Patricia Ellis, both of whom get a chance to show whatever musical talent they have.

LeRoy has wings on his feet when he dances but otherwise comes across as a completely charmless and awkward screen personality. I've seen him in other shorts and each time he fails to convince me that he was star material after some success on stage, something that should have been obvious to the studio too.

The earnest narration makes it appear that this is supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek appraisal of the Warner studio and its "stars"--but it's a foolish short only of interest as a star-gazing peek at people like Ginger Rogers, Dick Powell, Joe E. Brown, Joan Blondell and Hugh Herbert.

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.