Hollywood Newsreel

Yes it dumps be hip and cool and modern and all of this but in reality the movie is to all because of this the documentary doesn't work anymore I'm fortunately because of people are still better than and they're all very happy singing and fake happiness and all the states but that's Hollywood for you and that's a documentary and of course you can see many things you like but but you couldn't say is that this movie isn't good even though you could try to see something bad about the movie but that isn't worried about your going to find here because movies done really well because of this I like the movie little bit yes

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!"

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.

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.

Hollywood Newsreel (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Back when Hollywood was ran like a factory, often times the major studios would produce shorts just to show off the talent that they owned. It seems like Warner and MGM were the ones most often doing this and this one here has the Big W. showing off some of their players. We start off seeing the 1934 Rose Bowl Champtions, Columbia University, showing up at the studio where they're greeted by the Busby Berkeley girls, which keeps a smile on the men's face. They also meet Ricardo Cortez but obviously they're not as thrilled with him. Up next we see Guy Kibbee, Dick Powell and Margaret Livingston out mining for gold. Joan Blondell, we're told, is just coming back from work after a month off due to an illness and she addresses the camera and thanks her fans. Also on hand are Huge Herbert, Hal LeRoy, Sammy Fain, Irving Kahan and many others. Again, if ones looking for some sort of story then they're going to be highly disappointed because this 8-minute short is just here to show off the stars. I always enjoy these type of shorts no matter how silly they are because you get to see so many famous faces and usually we're seeing them in ways we're not used to.