Going Hollywood (1933)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writer:

Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 December 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Plot:

Sylvia is the French teacher at Briarcroft's School for Girls, but she wants to find romance. When she hears Bill on the radio...

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | French | Racial Impersonation | Radio Broadcasting | Drunkenness

Cast

Marion Davies	...	Sylvia Bruce
Bing Crosby	...	Bill 'Billy' Williams
Fifi D'Orsay	...	Lili Yvonne
Stuart Erwin	...	Ernest Pratt Baker, Picture Producer
Ned Sparks	...	Mr. Bert Conroy, Director
Patsy Kelly	...	Jill Barker
Bobby Watson	...	Jack Thompson, the Press Agent
Three Radio Rogues	...	Group Performing Imitations
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Armetta	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Cinderella's Fella (Australia)
Paid to Laugh (USA) (working title)
Paid to Love (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

Marion Davies requested Bing Crosby as her co-star, but William Randolph Hearst, the financial backer of Cosmopolitan Productions, refused because he did not like Crosby's singing style. Composer Arthur Freed, however, convinced Hearst that Crosby would be good for Davies' sagging career. Davies also requested Fifi D'Orsay be cast as "Lili", and Hearst agreed despite his wish to cast Lili Damita in that role.

Quotes:

Bill 'Billy' Williams: [singing] Out where they say, "Let us be gay," I'm goin' Hollywood. I'll ballyhoo greetings to you, I'm goin' Hollywood. Hey, while you sleepyheads are in that hay, I'll be dancing - I'm gonna be dancing with a sun-kissed baby. And I'm on my way - here's my beret, I'm going Hollywood!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Beautiful Girl

Exhilarating Start, Enervating Finish!

"Going Hollywood" is one of countless 1930s musicals that Hollywood made about itself, or rather about its own myths. It begins with Marion Davies being so enchanted by Bing Crosby's voice on the radio that she rebels against the stuffy girls' school where she teaches French and goes looking for Der Bingel. The film has all the era's cliches, including Patsy Kelly's butch buddy with a heart of gold, Ned Sparks' caustic sidekick with a heart of bronze, and the usual compliment of corny songs and soft-shoe chorines, but there's no surprise about where this film is going. Marion Davies, enjoying perhaps a 2002 reappraisal because of Kirsten Dunst's fine portrayal of her in "The Cat's Meow," is not all that interesting here and, frankly, is upstaged by her rival Fifi D'Orsy, whom I'd rather spend a night with if I had the choice. Crosby is saddled with mostly forgettable songs (with the exception of "Temptation"), but at least his character shows a dark side behind his easy charm. But overall the flaccid story, Hollywood hokum and badly dated entertainment sink "Going Hollywood" like a stone.