The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)

An all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.

Director:

Charles Reisner

Writers:

Al Boasberg (dialogue), Robert E. Hopkins (dialogue),

Stars:

Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, John Gilbert

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Conrad Nagel	...	Himself - Master of Ceremonies
Jack Benny	...	Himself - Master of Ceremonies
John Gilbert	...	Himself / Romeo
Norma Shearer	...	Herself / Juliet
Joan Crawford	...	Herself
Bessie Love	...	Herself
Cliff Edwards	...	Himself (as Ukulele Ike)
Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
Anita Page	...	Herself
Nils Asther	...	Himself
Brox Sisters	...	Singing Trio
Natova and Company	...	Themselves
Marion Davies	...	Herself
William Haines	...	Himself

Storyline

Conrad Nagel, representing the Hollywood movie community, and Jack Benny, representing the Broadway stage community, act as the interlocutors of a musical comedy revue. A plethora of chorus boys and girls are featured front and center in some of the song and dance numbers, and provide back-up to some other acts. But the revue primarily is a vehicle to highlight a cavalcade of Hollywood movie and Broadway stage stars. One early running gag has both Nagel and Benny playing straight man to Cliff Edwards, who just wants a nice introduction to his act. Edwards would return later to be featured along with the Brox Sisters in one of the highlights of the second act, a production number around the song "Singin' in Rain", complete with rain soaked stage. A reprise of the song with the entire cast acts as the revue's finale.

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Plot Keywords:

rainbow | digit in title | two strip technicolor | variety | number in title

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Taglines:

25 of the screen's greatest stars - chorus of 200 - amazingly revolutionary motion picture!

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Genres:

Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hollywood Revue

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 118 min (Turner library print) 130 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Norma Shearer plays Juliet in the "Romeo and Juliet" sketch, with John Gilbert as Romeo. Shearer would later play Juliet, opposite Leslie Howard as Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet, the last movie produced by her husband, Irving Thalberg, before his untimely death.

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Goofs

After Cliff Edwards' opening number, one of the chorus girls in the background is chatting away with the girl next to her, when a sudden cut appears, and the same girl is now stone still (apparently the director told her in between to stop talking, and pay attention).

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Quotes

[To Chorus girl.]
Emcee: Haven't I met you before in Omaha?
[Chorus girl recognizes him, slaps him, leaves.]
Emcee: I never forget a face.

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Connections

References London After Midnight (1927)

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Soundtracks

"O sole mio"
(1898) (uncredited)
Written by Giovanni Capurro, Eduardo Di Capua and Alfredo Mazzucchi
Played and Sung in "The Italian Trio" number with modified lyrics

User Reviews

Lavish, But Dated All-Star Revue

I have seen this film a few times and always think boy they were the good old days. In 1929, for their first talking film, MGM put together this lavish, all-star revue with absolutely no plot. It contains guest appearances from many of MGM's top silent film stars. If you do ever see this you will notice many of them did not make it through the transition of the talking pictures. Joan Crawford stands out doing her horrible dance and singing routine, but the best is the technicolor SINGIN' IN THE RAIN finale. This is a must for any film buff.