Hollywood Hotel (1937)

Ronny Bowers, a saxophonist in Benny Goodman's band has won a talent contest an got a ten week contract with a film studio. On his first evening he is supposed to go with the studio's star ... See full summary »

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

Jerry Wald (screenplay), Maurice Leo (screenplay),

Stars:

Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Powell	...	Ronnie Bowers
Rosemary Lane	...	Virginia
Lola Lane	...	Mona Marshall
Hugh Herbert	...	Chester Marshall
Ted Healy	...	Fuzzy Boyle
Glenda Farrell	...	Miss Jones aka Jonesy
Johnnie Davis	...	Georgia
Louella Parsons	...	Louella Parsons
Alan Mowbray	...	Alexander 'Alex' Duprey
Mabel Todd	...	Dot Marshall
Frances Langford	...	Alice Crayne
Jerry Cooper	...	Jerry Cooper
Ken Niles	...	Ken Niles
Duane Thompson	...	Duane Thompson
Allyn Joslyn	...	Bernie Walton

Storyline

Ronny Bowers, a saxophonist in Benny Goodman's band has won a talent contest an got a ten week contract with a film studio. On his first evening he is supposed to go with the studio's star Mona Marshall to a movie premiere. But this lady doesn't want to go, so the bosses decide to use for Mona a double, Virginia. When Mona finds out next morning that happened, she insisted to fire her double and Ronny. Ronny finds work as singing waiter in a drive in, and is spotted by a director of the same studio, who wants him to lend his voice for an leading actor in a musical. After the first screening the actor is invited by Louella Parsons to sing in her program "Hollywood Hotel". He accepts, but he doesn't know that Ronny Bowers does not want to lend him his voice again. So everybody starts to play his little game to solve his own problems.

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Plot Keywords:

actor | double | movie premiere | drive in | hotel | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Himaires tou Hollywood

Filming Locations:

Glendale Grand Central Air Terminal - Grandview Avenue, Glendale, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to D. Russell Connor's bio-discography of Benny Goodman, Warner Bros. tried to insert Johnnie "Scat" Davis into the "Sing, Sing, Sing" number - either by splicing in a trumpet solo played by Davis or by having Davis synchronize on screen to the solo played by Harry James. Either way, when Goodman found out about it he threatened to withdraw himself and his band from the film if Davis were put into "Sing, Sing, Sing." So Davis was never heard playing with the Goodman band in the movie.

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Goofs

In the "Hooray for Hollywood" portion of the finale, Scat Davis is shown playing the trumpet on the back row of 'Benny Goodman''s band while at the same time he's in the audience singing.

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Quotes

Butch: [referring to her gown] If your fans don't explode when you walk into that premiere tonight, I'll tear it to pieces!
Mona Marshall: Do you really think so, Butch?

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Connections

Referenced in The Office: Promos (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Ochi Tchornya (Dark Eyes) (uncredited)
Traditional Russian folk tune
Arranged by Raymond Paige
Sung by a chorus and played by Raymond Paige and His Orchestra

User Reviews

A Terrific and Neglected Musical Comedy

"Hollywood Hotel" is a fast-moving, exuberant, wonderfully entertaining musical comedy from Warners which is sadly overlooked. It should be remembered if only for providing the official theme song of Tinseltown -- "Hooray for Hollywood." The score by Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer has a number of other gems, however, including the charming "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water," and "Silhouetted in the Moonlight." The best musical number is "Let That Be a Lesson to You," in which Dick Powell and company detail the misadventures of people who found themselves "behind the eight-ball," a fate which literally befalls slow-burning Edgar Kennedy at the number's end. The picture celebrates Hollywood glamour and punctures it all at once, as it gets a lot of comic mileage out of pompous and ego-maniacal actors and duplicitous studio executives. The cast includes a gaggle of great character comedians--Allyn Joslyn as a crafty press agent, Ted Healy as Dick Powell's would-be manager, Fritz Feld as an excitable restaurant patron, Glenda Farrell as Mona Marshall's sarcastic Gal Friday, Edgar Kennedy as a put-upon drive-in manager, Mabel Todd as Mona's goofy sister, and Hugh Herbert as her even goofier dad. The "racist" element mentioned in another review here is a ten-second bit where Herbert appears in black-face during a pseudo-"Gone With the Wind" sequence. It's in questionable taste, but it shouldn't prevent you from seeing the other delights in this film, notably the Benny Goodman Quartet (including Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton!) in what I believe is the only footage available on this incredible jazz combo. The "Dark Eyes" sequence goes on a bit too long and comes in too late, but otherwise "Hollywood Hotel" is a gem, well worth your time and certainly a film which should be considered for DVD release.