Hollywood and Vine

I always like films wih Frank Pangborn.. here, he's Reggie, pharmacy owner, next to the studio. Wanda McKay is Martha, who is headed for hollywood. (Although McKay's real claim to fame is that she was married to musician Hoagy Carmichael.) Ralph Morgan (the wizard's brother) is Mr. Lavish, head of the studio. We watch as Martha tries to get a start in hollywood, but it just isn't happening. Larry (James Ellison ) follows her around, and keeps trying to return her dog, which isn't really hers. The whole story is pretty corny, and it barely holds together, but it's fun if you go along for the ride... kind of an insider's look at hollywood. Cameo by Dewey Robinson, the banana surprise guy. It's all silly, but fun. A shortie from PRC, at 58 minutes. Directed by Alex ThurnTaxis... one of the five films he directed; didn't seem to spend much time in hollywood, unlike everyone else in this film! apparently ThurnTaxis was related to the royal family of Austria, and was on the committee that investigated the murders of the russian Tsar's family. Now THAT's a movie !

According to the DVD sleeve summary, "A small-town girl heads to Hollywood in the hopes of making it as a starlet on the big screen. Hanging out at a soda counter in the hopes of being discovered, she befriends the soda jerk not knowing he's really a screenwriter looking for material on a script." Yes, this is a variation on one of filmdom's most frequently wagged tales. This time, the emphasis is on comedy, and the star turns out to be a dog. It's very occasionally funny, with Wanda McKay and James Ellison likable in the leads. The supporting cast works harder at getting laughs, especially Franklin Pangborn and Emmett Lynn. And, newsboy Billy Benedict gets more lines than usual. The location footage of 1940s Hollywood is a plus.

***** Hollywood and Vine (4/25/45) Alexis Thurn-Taxis ~ Wanda McKay, James Ellison, Franklin Pangborn, Emmett Lynn

This was a pretty decent movie--the acting was very good (the male and female leads, and the dog of course, all did an amazing job!), but the storyline seemed almost like it was too pieced together. The storyline didn't exactly "flow", and the movie seemed like it should have been a little bit longer, but I'd still suggest watching it. Although the comedy in it is very general and not very unique, a lot of it still had me laughing. If you're into older movies, I would definitely suggest watching this one. It was the first black and white movie I've ever seen, and I did actually like it. Now that I've watched it, I'm interested in the older kind of movies, and now I want to watch more :)

Daisy must have been the most overworked animal star of the 1940s. She appeared in over 40 films starting with "Blondie" in 1938 and finishing with "Badman's Gold" in 1951. Her bread and butter was, of course, the Blondie series but she still found time to appear in films like "The Perfect Snob" (1941) where she was uncredited as "Beano" and "Hollywood and Vine" (1945), where as Emperor, the story revolved around her.

Daisy is the real star of this movie. She plays a cute pooch, Emperor, who goes to Hollywood with a starstruck young hopeful and is the one who makes it big. The movie isn't much but the story of the dog has some novelty. Emperor becomes a big star - dining at all the fancy restaurants, his picture in the gossip pages, even being investigated for tax evasion. Thrown in is the missing dog angle and a dog hating spinster who tries to claim him and takes the studio to court!!

Wanda McKay and James Ellison (looking a dead ringer for Ralph Bellamy) supply the tepid romance and two stars from the past - June Clyde as Gloria, who came to Hollywood with stars in her eyes only to end up as a stand-in, and Ralph Morgan, who was a great villain in the early thirties, he plays the head of Lavish Studios.

Delightful little comedy from an unlikely source, PRC. Except for the charming Wanda McKay and a likable James Ellison, it's a wacky cast, featuring such specialists in exaggeration as Pangborn, Belasco, Lynn, and most of all, little Daisy. Seems Martha (McKay) wants to break into movies, and with her brilliant smile I'd hire her in a minute. Seems too, screenwriter Larry (Ellison) would like to help, but he's too busy being an inept soda jerk. Meanwhile, Daisy shows she can twirl and dance like any two-legged critter, and so gets hired on immediately. Show-biz is nothing if not fickle. So, will our lovey-dovey twosome finally find happiness and success on Hollywood and Vine. Stay tuned. No, this is not Grant or Hepburn or MGM, but it is a minor little gem, just right for an hour's worth of harmless amusement.