Life in Hollywood No. 5

Life in Hollywood No. 5 (1927)

*** (out of 4)

The fifth of seven episodes in this series takes us to MGM studios where we get a terrific several minutes worth of footage tour of the studio. Before we get to the tour we start off seeing Max Reinhardt, Dolores del Rio, Victor McLaglen and Raoul Walsh during the filming of LOVES OF CARMEN. From here we see various other celebrities including Lupino Lane, Cullen Landis, Edward Connelly, George Siegmann, Harold Shaw, Rupert Hughes and William Orlamond.

Of the first five episodes this one here is certainly the weakest but it's certainly worth viewing and especially if you're a film buff. The majority of the names displayed here aren't all that well-known today, which is why getting to see them on full display here is so interesting. There's certainly not too much footage of them so getting to see it here is worth the price of admission. The highlight is certainly the tour footage at the end as we get some terrific shots of MGM.

Stage producer Max Reinhardt visits the set of THE LOVES OF CARMEN; a camera shows some lizards playing dinosaurs; and at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, some of the stars leave for lunch, and a camera rambles along the vast outdoor sets.

Was this episode in the series released in 1927 shot fresh? The MGM lot is topped by a sign proclaiming it the Goldwyn Studios, and part of the lot looks like they've just finished THE BIG PARADE. The lizards look like they're a sequence from 1925's THE LOST WORLD. True, THE LOVES OF CARMEN was released in 1927, but might the other sequences be old clips, given new titles?