Hollywood Party

This short serves as both a fashion show and as a demonstration of the beauty of Technicolor. It's interesting as the former and terrific as the latter. As others have pointed out, the color is superb--clear, crisp and deep as only three-strip Technicolor can be, and while I've never been much of a connoisseur of '30s fashions, I actually liked some of the stuff I saw here. There's one segment with a bevy of showgirls passing in a sort of "Miss America" review dressed in some Las Vegas-type costumes that rank among the skimpiest I've ever seen in a non-stag movie of that period--not that I'm complaining--that serves to show off both the costumes' spectacular colors and the girls' spectacular bodies (which it does to a very satisfying degree; I don't know how MGM got away with showing so many almost-nude women back then). There's a rather boring hula by a woman who fortunately looks good but unfortunately can't dance very well, a forced and unfunny "novelty" Spike Jones-type number by the Al Lyons Band, a rather pedestrian tap dancing act, a few other musical interludes--none of them even remotely memorable--and some VERY brief cameos by such MGM stars as Clark Gable and Joan Bennett. The film's main drawback, however, is the premise--a group of white actors dressing up and acting like "Chinamen" (comedian Charley Chase is particularly embarrassing doing an awful Fu Manchu/Charlie Chan impersonation), including everyone from the band to the waiters. Leon Errol does his patented drunk routine but it doesn't seem to really have anything to do with the movie--it just involves him and a waiter for a minute or two and then they're gone--and a quartet of black singers does a clever "hum" of "Chinatown My Chinatown". Even for the "unenlightened" 1930s, this short really pours on the stereotypes about Asians, especially Chinese. It gets embarrassing every so often--well, okay, it gets embarrassing A LOT--but even so, it's extremely interesting as an historical document. I gave it four stars: two for the beautiful color (and zero for the lame musical numbers, the witless "comedy" and the offensive and insulting racial stereotyping) and two for the all-too-brief appearance of the luminous Anna May Wong, who looks sexier than I've ever seen her (and in color, yet!) modeling a beautiful blue (apparently silk) gown and then an even more beautiful yellow one. She just radiates charm, grace and class, three things this short is completely devoid of. It could have used much more of her and much less of everybody else.

This is a 20 min short Chinese-themed outdoor garden party hosted by Elissa Landi and Charley Chase playing Charley Chan Chase. The performers are vaudevillian depictions of Chinese culture. It does have Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong doing a short presentation. Otherwise, it's mostly white performers dressed in Chinese costumes and one black comedy musical group.

On the technical side, this has the brilliant Technicolor. The green is brilliantly green. The primary colors really pop. It's a great example of early color on film. The production value is good for an outdoor party. Most comments are concentrating on the racial insensitivity. Let's be clear. This is racially insensitive... for today. They are however not mean-spirited in their depictions. It is a show of its time. Making the point even more clearer is the presence of Anna May Wong. I'm not saying it's right but it wasn't wrong back then. It's just very icky now. Otherwise, this is standard vaudeville of that era and it's hard to judge the skill level. It doesn't make me laugh but I do understand the attempted concepts. The colors are great and I always applaud any movie that would have Anna May Wong.

The 3-strip technicolor is the real star of this musical/comedy hodgepodge. The hosts are Elissa Landi and Charlie Chase in an oriental-themed program. We see glimpses of Joan Bennett, Clark Gable, Joe E. Brown and a nice fashion display with Anna May Wong. The real talent is in a quartet of black singers doing a rendition of "Chinatown, My Chinatown". There is a nice scene with a hula-motiff and the song "South Sea Island Magic". Some rather routine dance numbers and so-so Leon Carroll sketch to fill it all out. Watch for it on TCM.

This short may seem a bit simple to us, but it must have been quite elaborate back then! Filmed in color and almost entirely outside, it is full of colorful wardrobes. My favorite parts are the too few scenes with Charley Chase, and the brief part with Joe E. Brown.

If you like musicals, you will probably still like this short. I rate it rather low only because after a while it gets a bit tedious. Much of the singing and dancing is not 100% prime cut Hollywood.

But it sure looks good!

Hollywood Party (1937)

* (out of 4)

One hopes a real Hollywood party wasn't as boring as this mess of a short from MGM. The main reason to tune in is the three-strip Technicolor, which was just starting out. In the film Charley Chase and Elissa Landi are introducing various music acts and a few Hollywood A-listers with it all set to a Chinese theme. The Chinese theme also means Chase slanting his eyes, wearing some funny facial hair and throwing around rather stereotypical slang. The movie, no matter how you look at it, is a real embarrassment and one can't help but feel bad for Chase, a veteran of over 250 films, for having to appear in it as MGM certainly didn't do him any favors. The biggest problem is that the film never knows what it wants to be. It starts off appearing to just want to make fun of Chinese customs. It then turns into a music and features some very bad songs. It then tries to be a fashion show, which is fails at miserably even though we see some nearly naked women, which makes one wonder how this got passed by the Hayes Office. Everything this film tries it fails at and the cameos by Joe E. Brown, Anna May Wong, Freddie Bartholomew, Joan Bennett and Clark Gable can't help.