Windy Riley Goes Hollywood (1931)

A driver on a non-stop race from New York to San Francisco gets detoured to Hollywood, where he winds up working as a publicity man for a movie studio and assigned to revive the career of a beautiful but fading star.

Director:

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Writers:

Ernest Pagano, Jack Townley

Stars:

Jack Shutta, Louise Brooks, William B. Davidson

Cast

Cast overview:
Jack Shutta	...	Windy Riley
Louise Brooks	...	Betty Grey
William B. Davidson
Wilbur Mack
Dell Henderson
Walter Merrill
E.H. Allen

Storyline

Arrogant driver Windy Riley is crossing from New York to San Francisco in his car. However a wrong traffic plate in the desert misguides him and her goes to Hollywood instead. Windy loses his car to the bank since he has not paid the last installment, but the Repo Man runs into the car of a Hollywood executive and falsely blames Windy for the accident. The man sends Windy to work in the Publicity Department to pay for the damages in his car. Meanwhile, actress Betty Gray is in trouble with the studio due to bad publicity and the studio will call off her contract if she gets in trouble again. When Windy Riley arrives in the department, he believes that he is expert in publicity and he kidnaps film director Joseph Ross expecting to promote the film and Betty Gray. But snoopy reporter Lane finds that the director is missing and Windy needs to bring the director back in the studio otherwise Betty Gray will be fired.

---

Plot Keywords:

hollywood | character name in title

---

Genres:

Short | Comedy

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Gas Bag

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack White

Technical Specs

Runtime:

18 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)

User Reviews

Wrong Place

The story is about a fellow who ends up in the wrong place, directed by someone (fatty Arbuckle) who was in the wrong place because he previously was in the wrong place. And the reason to watch it is Lousie Brooks of course. She had already had an amazing rise and fall in the US, then to Europe where she found her greatest roles. Then immediately back here in this meatball, this weedpatch.

Its her first talkie. She had been in a Philo Vance mystery that was horrid. (One of the subsequent ones is on my list of films you must see.) Like there, as here, she's charmless, which is darn interesting.

She's the same beauty, but its a different eye. This eye isn't looking for the afterglow, the savor of the lingering survey, the woman hidden beneath the woman who pretends she is seductively visible.

Wrong place. Its as interesting as being in the right place.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.