Um Ano em Hollywood

If you're a film buff, "365 Nights in Hollywood" is well worth watching. It's hokey, frenetic and plot-wise doesn't always make sense. But you won't find a better example of where movies were at just a few years after the introduction of sound. Alice Faye, in her second screen role, plays a star-struck kid from Peoria who's conned into signing up with a phony Hollywood talent school. Back when "365 Nights..." was made by Fox (sans Twentieth Century,) she was just hitting her stride as an actress. But she nails the production numbers -- as a succession of singing sirens in one sequence and a chorus of Alice Fayes in another. James Dunn co-stars as the down-on-his-luck movie director, fronting for the school, who sets out to outwit his employer and give her a shot at stardom. And before the fun is finished, he returns to his hoofing days to join Faye in a climactic song-and-dance routine that's a pleasure to watch.

Negligible low budget very early Alice Faye musical which is in terrible shape. The picture is full of scratches, very washed out and over-bright so that it's rather hard on the eyes of the viewer. This is from the period where the studio was still trying to push Alice as a musical Jean Harlow so she looks awful with too much makeup and ridiculously thin and distracting eyebrows. As for the plot, it's the old saw about a girl from the sticks looking for her big break and the down and outer who helps her get it. Still Alice sings well and the view of Hollywood it presents is interesting in a historical aspect. But if you're just looking for an enjoyable Alice Faye musical go for one of her later films where the production values were higher and she was presented in a more flattering way

James Dunn plays a down and out film director. While he's won the Oscar in the past, currently he's unwanted in Hollywood and goes to work for a fly-by-night acting school run by Grant Mitchell. However, when a genuinely talented lady (Alice Faye) enrolls, Dunn is in a bind when his boss wants him to con her out of money. You see, the angle is to pretend to make a movie with her and take her money--but Dunn can't bring himself to do this and plans on REALLY making a movie with Faye. Will his scheme work?

As for the quality of this film, it's pretty obvious that Faye was yet to become an A-list star for Fox Studio. The writing is rather pedestrian, the two idiots provided for comedy relief were (to put it bluntly) just awful and the film very, very uneven. A few of the groan-inducing moments included the Tarzan/Mae West bit as well as anything involving the two idiots. As a result, this film is one mostly of interest to die-hard Alice Faye fans. Not terrible but also not very good.

This is pretty much a collection of vaudeville bits stapled together. It's a film within a film, and the teachers at the film academy want to bilk a rich guy (Mr. Young) out of his money. Sound quality is pretty shredded in this oldie black and white from 1934. At the opening, "Alice" (Alice Perkins) walks into the film academy and meets the teachers Jimmy (James Dunn) and Delmar (Grant Mitchell). At one point, Grant Mitchell makes a reference to Shirley Temple.... James Dunn had actually worked with Temple several times. Frank Melton is "Young", and talks about coming from Pineapple Alabama... he actually WAS born there (but sadly croaked at 43 from a heart attack). Keep an eye out for Clarence and Percy at the talent show (Jack Durant and Frank Mitchell ); they had done vaudeville together for years, as well as appearing together in NINE films! Some silliness with them as two goofy ice delivery guys... The plot and the song & dance numbers are pretty hokey, but it's all just an opportunity for us to see the actors and vaudeville guys doing their acts. Directed by George Marshall, who had been around forever, and done about every role there is in the industry. It's all pretty silly, but if you hang in there, you'll get to the end. It's pretty much a "How-Not-To-Make-a-Film" !

This a quite an enjoyable early Faye effort. At 19, she's quite the trouper and gives a convincing, compelling performance. The big production number of "Yes, To You" is a real show-stopper and I think this is one of Faye's best songs. She gives a playful, comic touch to her impersonations of a Dutch girl, French Chanteuse, and exotic Asian doll. The plot is pure make-believe and everyone seems to be having fun with it. Jimmy Dunn is good and well as such stand-bys as Grant Mitchell. The comic duo Mitchell and Durant are tolerable at best. It's good someone saved this film from obscurity -- it's good entertainment -- now when can they do the same for NOW I'LL TELL? The Faye/ Spencer Tracy Fox film needs the same treatment.