Hollywood Graffiti

My review was written in February 1983 after a showing at a Times Square screening room.

After several years of testing odd reels (mainly obtained from collectors) on audiences at a local repertory theatre, "Hollywood Out-Takes & Rare Footage" emerges as a pleasant compilation feature aimed primarily at film buffs. There is enough humor, nostalgia and camp value in the package to attract wider audiences, however as demonstrated in its strong recent opening at a Greenwich Village first-run theatre.

Presented without narration (and with a minimum of identifying cards or titles), package consist of several types of footage: out-takes of familiar stars blowing their lines and then swearing; various public service pitches by stars, usually related to the World War II effort; and films of movie premieres and awards ceremonies boasting dozens of familiar faces.

Though prominent in the film's title, the out-takes here are its weakest element. Brief but repetitive, they feature mainly Warner Bros. Talent of the 1930s and 1940s and offer the trivia of seeing usually composed stars losing their temper, among them James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Pat O'Brien, Kay Francis, John Garfield, Edward G. Robinson, Errol Flynn and Barton MacLane.

Far better is the series of pitchemen short films. Shirley Temple's legendary screen presence is amply demonstrated in a spot for the Red Cross, Bette Davis impressively hawks war bonds and with the late Ruth Donnelly selling a 1935 G. E. dishwasher, Frank Sinatra sings and preaches a pro-tolerance message in an RKO short. Best of all is the priceless "At Home with Joan Crawfrod", as the much-maligned star puts her children to bed (an offscreen "Good night, mommy dear" is voiced over) and asks us to help kids in need by contributing to the Red Sox-Variety Clubs' anti-cancer "Jimmy Fund" campaign.

Camp value of the Crawford spot is topped only by a 1937 "Daily Beauty Rituals" short starring Constance Bennett. In yellow and blue-dominated Cinecolor, she intimately demonstrates her skin care secrets in a show-stopping segment.

Special segments give much attention to Bette Davis, Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney and Marilyn Monroe. Garland contributes a moving rendition of "Over the Rainbow" in a filmed radio show with Bob Hope, while Monroe is featured in an intriguing screen test opposite Richard Conte plus home movies shot at a party given by Ray Anthony.. Including some low-quality tv kinescope material, the awards and premiere segs are nostalgia trips including the 1954 "A Star Is Born" launch and 1939 Oscars ceremony. Best bit is the 1960 Golden Globe winners, with an impressively jiggly Jayne Mansfield interacting with host Ronald Reagan and Mickey Rooney.

Though generally upbeat, film climaxes with a ghoulish segent: Gig Young interviewing James Dean off the set of "Giant", in which Dean (providing almost a textbook of his physical and vocal mannerisms) warns of the dangers of fast driving on the highways. In common with the Crawford material, the black humor provided by the audience's hindsight is strictly a matter of taste.

Short compilation of actors flubbing dialogue, old ads or commercials made by stars and some gag footage made specifically for Hollywood insiders. Not very well put together and it has its dull stretches but some highlights are: The Marx Brothers in the MGM logo roaring like the lion (except for Harpo); Bud Abbott flubbing his lines and swearing a blue streak; James Dean doing a PSA for driving safely (shortly before his death in an auto accident); a truly hysterical Jimmy Fund ad with Joan Crawford wishing her children a good night (and you specifically hear them say "Good night Mommie Dearest); a very odd little film with Cecil DeMille and Porky Pig swearing! No great shakes but a fun little movie. I give it an 8.

"Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage" is a lot of fun for fans of old movies. The blooper section shows some iconic classic stars like James Cagney, Bette Davis, Leslie Howard, Claude Rains, and Errol Flynn flubbing their lines, mishandling a prop, or taking an accidental pratfall. Edward G. Robinson is refreshingly good-humored about his gaffs, but Humphrey Bogart takes his miscues more seriously. In one blooper from "Dark Victory" he apologetically explains to the director that he blew his line because he backed into a hot stove during the scene, burning his derrière. Easily the funniest clips feature singing cowboy Dick Foran. An apparently out-of-shape Foran fails to lift himself onto his horse several times, repeatedly exclaiming with frustration, "I can't get my ass off the ground!"

The source of these vintage bloopers is the editing department at Warner Brothers. During the 1930s, it routinely printed and kept the funniest outtakes from its films, which were edited into a blooper reel to show in-house to Warner personnel at an annual party each year. These compilations have been preserved, which is the reason that most of the flubs from the 30s that have survived to this day come from Warners.

Although many of today's self-indulgent stars intentionally create flubs for their own amusement, that practice was rare in the economy-minded studio system during the dark days of the Depression. Despite that, there are a few bloopers of the intentional variety here. Tough cons George Raft and James Cagney spontaneously break into a waltz in prison as warden George Bancroft asks to cut in a deleted scene from "Each Dawn I Die." Lou Costello deliberately uses obscenities to Brenda Joyce in "Little Giant," blowing take after take. Although it's not possible to know his motivations, it does seem somewhat mean-spirited on his part.

For years an out-take clip from "International House" with W. C. Fields was supposed to have recorded an earthquake striking the studio. The Great Man is seen evacuating the sound stage cautioning everyone to remain calm. Since this documentary was released in 1983, it has come to light that the earthquake was a hoax engineered by Fields with the earthquake effect achieved by the cinematographer shaking the camera.

Some of he "rare footage" are pleas for good causes and charities: Shirley Temple asking for support for the Red Cross, Frank Sinatra pleading for religious tolerance, and Bugs Bunny pitching War Bonds to his audience. However some of them seem strangely ironic. "At Home with Joan Crawford" is a 1953 promo for Ted Williams' charity for dying children, The Jimmy Fund. Crawford is seen lecturing her adopted children about sharing and generosity to the less fortunate. Her daughter Christine would later pillory her mother after her death in 1977 with the infamously bitter biographical memoir "Mommy Dearest." Another sequence originally filmed as a promo for safe driving to be broadcast on the 1955 TV show "Warner Bros. Presents" has Gig Young interviewing James Dean dressed in character as Jett Rink on the "Giant" set. Dean cautions young people to drive safely and ad-libs "because the life you save may be MINE." ironically he was killed shortly afterward, and the studio pulled the spot from the broadcast.

Another poignant clip shows Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall doing wardrobe tests for the proposed Warner comedy "Melville Goodwin, U.S.A." Initially, Bogie is smiling for the camera and his actress-wife but later is seen wincing in pain for several moments. After a while he relaxes back into a smile. The silent footage and its narration does not give us any explanation for Bogie's seeming apparent look of discomfort, but shortly thereafter he would be diagnosed with the fatal cancer that would take his life at age 57. The picture would eventually be made as "Top Secret Affair" with Kirk Douglas and Susan Hayward.

A variety of other enjoyable clips round out the film. The 1939 Academy Awards are highlighted by Hattie McDaniel's emotional acceptance speech. Short Mickey Rooney mugs and ad-libs while standing cleavage- high to a buxom Jayne Mansfield. Assorted premieres include the star-studded red carpet for 1954's "A Star Is Born" and Mae West's "I'm No Angel." W. C. Fields Pre-Code comedy "The Dentist" contains a salaciously hilarious scene with Fields and Elise Cavanna simulating sex during a tooth extraction. Bela Lugosi as Dracula vamps Mae Questal in her Betty Boop character from a "Screen Snapshots" short, and "Hollywood Extra Girl," a promo short for "The Crusades" depicts iconic dictatorial director Cecil B. DeMille browbeating his cast and crew on set.

"Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage" moves fast and will serendipitously delight every fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood.