It's the Follies, with Zasu Pitts as the star comic and Lilyan Tashman as the beauty queen. When Tom Moore -- who reminds me of Paul Douglas -- comes to Zasu with a song, she puts it in her turn, and it's a huge hit. Now Lilyan wants a song from Moore, and almost gets it and him, until he realizes that she may look good but Zasu has an inner beauty. A year later, they're married with a baby, and Miss Tashman still wants a song..... and him.
Zasu gets to do some dramatic acting, and she's so good, you can understand why von Stroheim and Milestone cast her in serious roles.... and why the audiences rejected her: being a star means you take roles with some consistency. I am as curious as anyone as to what Miss Pitts would have done with a dramatic career. Would she have been Beulah Bondi? That would have been a nice career -- except for Miss Bondi -- and we might now mourn the hints of comic genius which were never followed up on.
Although large chunks of the movie are unavailable, there's also some nice casting otherwise. Ann Pennington is here, as is Norma Shearer, and in her first credited role, Joan Crawford (as Lucille Le Sueur). Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy are also supposed to be there, but it will give you a hint at how poor the print was that I could not spot Myrna.
Zasu gets to do some dramatic acting, and she's so good, you can understand why von Stroheim and Milestone cast her in serious roles.... and why the audiences rejected her: being a star means you take roles with some consistency. I am as curious as anyone as to what Miss Pitts would have done with a dramatic career. Would she have been Beulah Bondi? That would have been a nice career -- except for Miss Bondi -- and we might now mourn the hints of comic genius which were never followed up on.
Although large chunks of the movie are unavailable, there's also some nice casting otherwise. Ann Pennington is here, as is Norma Shearer, and in her first credited role, Joan Crawford (as Lucille Le Sueur). Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy are also supposed to be there, but it will give you a hint at how poor the print was that I could not spot Myrna.