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

In some sources, Duane Thompson, a silent screen comedy actress, is erroneously credited with the role of a switchboard operator. The 'Duane Thompson' who appears in this film is a male radio announcer and actor of the 1930's who plays himself, i.e. a radio announcer.

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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 Simpsons: Gump Roast (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Moon"
(1934) (uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Performed by Raymond Paige and His Orchestra at the beginning of the radio broadcast

User Reviews

A likable plot completely ruined thanks to a few absolutely dreadful characters.

"Hollywood Hotel" is a nice bit of nostalgia that gives you a chance to see Hollywood of the past. You'll see glimpses of the Brown Derby restaurant, the Hollywood Bowl, Louella Parsons playing herself and see a fictionalized story of a young talent (Dick Powell) being discovered and made a star. It's all pretty good fun...but it's FAR from a perfect picture. That's because there are several characters that are absolutely dreadful. You know it's got some terrible characters when Hugh Herbert and Ted Healy are NOT among the most unlikable and obnoxious folks in the film (and they are unlikable and obnoxious)! The most obvious and rather embarrassing performance is Lola Lane parodying an obnoxious and overrated actress. There's a fine line between being funny and just being obnoxious--Lola, unfortunately, is not funny in this role and the director (Busby Berkeley) did a lousy job of getting a believable performance out of her. But, the absolutely WORST is Mabel Todd who plays a cretin--an absolutely horrid and unfunny character that is MUCH less subtle than Jerry Lewis' characters from the 1950s. She is simply a cancer on the film and every second she's in the movie is dreadful. Fortunately, she's only in a few scenes here and there but it's amazing just how easy I found it to hate her. Now you might think I am being too harsh--see the movie yourself and I can almost guarantee you'll agree with me.

It's all such a big shame, as there are a lot of things to like about the film. You get to see Benny Goodman and his orchestra in their prime, a VERY young Ronald Reagan in one of his first films (and, you'll probably notice how different his voice is) and a couple decent performances by Powell and Rosemary Lane (Lola's real-life sister). It's also an interesting film because in many ways the plot is like the one later used in "Singing in the Rain". It's so similar that fans of this later film should be fascinating due to the parallels.

By the way, there are a couple cringe-worthy and politically incorrect moments to look out for if you see the film. There's the very gay fashion designer as well as when Hugh Herbert is in black-face (uggh).