Hollywood Hotel (1937) User Reviews

"Hooray for Hollywood"

[lugonian · 7/10 · 1 August 2003]

Hollywood HOTEL (Warner Brothers, 1937), directed by Busby Berkeley, capitalizes on the current trend of Hollywood stories made popular by David O. Selznick's dramatization of A STAR IS BORN. Even though films about Hollywood and the behind the scenes in movie making were nothing new by the time Hollywood HOTEL went into release, Warner Brothers spoofs Hollywood the best way it knows how, spotlighted by Dick Powell's singing, and the musical festivities by Benny Goodman and his Swing Band.

The plot revolves around Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell), a saxophone player in Benny Goodman's band, winning a talent contest and a ten-week trip to Hollywood, leaving behind band vocalist and teary-eyed girlfriend, Alice Crane (Frances Langford) at the St. Louis Airport. After arriving in Hollywood, Ronnie is escorted by Bertie Walton (Allyn Joslyn), a studio press agent for All-Star Pictures, and Joe (Eddie Acuff), a photographer, to the Hollywood Hotel. The story then shifts over to Mona Marshall (Lola Lane), a temperamental movie star sharing the room with her wacky kid sister (Mabel Todd), her even more bewildered father, Chester (Hugh Herbert), and personal secretary, Jonesy (Glenda Farrell). Because another glamor girl was offered a part she wanted, Mona leaves Hollywood. With Mona's new film, GLAMOUR GIRL, opening that evening, Walton hires waitress, Virginia Stanton (Rosemary Lane), to impersonate her, having Ronnie accompany her to the premiere. When Mona finds she's been misrepresented in public, she arranges for both Virginia and Ronnie to be fired. With Fuzzy (Ted Healy), as his new press agent, Ronnie obtains work at Callahan's (Edgar Kennedy) drive-in eatery before being discovered by director Walter Kelton (William B. Davidson) of All-Star Pictures. Much to Ronnie's surprise, rather than an acting job, he's to have his singing voice dubbed in for Alexander DuPre (Alan Mowbray), Mona's hammy co-star for an upcoming production, LOVE AND GLORY.

Fine tunes in the Hollywood Hotel musical program include: "Hooray for Hollywood" (performed by Benny Goodman's Band, sung by Johnnie Davis, Frances Langford, cast); "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water" (sung by Dick Powell and Rosemary Lane); "Silhouetted in the Moonlight" (sung by Rosemary Lane at the Hollywood Bowl); "Let That Be a Lesson to You" (introduced by Johnnie Davis and played by Benny Goodman's Band, sung by Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Ted Healy, Mabel Todd, and drive-in patrons at Callahan's Eats, with occasional interruptions by the nervous Edgar Kennedy); Benny Goodman Band instrumental medley: "Sing, Sing, Sing" and "I've Got a Heartful of Music," "I Hitched My Wagon to a Star" (sung by Alan Mowbray, voice dubbing by Powell); "Silhouetted in the Moonlight" (sung by Jerry Cooper and Frances Langford); "Dark Eyes" (O Tchonia) A Russian folk song performed instrumentally by Raymond Paige and his Orchestra, participated by chorus humming the score; "I Hitched My Wagon to a Star" (sung by Powell); "Sing You Son-of-a-Gun" (sung by Powell and Rosemary Lane) and "Hooray for Hollywood" (sung by Johnnie Davis and cast).

Of the handful of songs heard, especially during the Orchard Room sequence, its only low-point is Jerry Cooper's rendition to "Silhouetted in the Moonlight," opposite Frances Langford. A Langford solo or duet with Powell would have been sufficient. In the motion picture soundtrack to Hollywood HOTEL, compliments of Hollywood Soundstage (1981), the record not only includes the entire musical segments, but outtakes featuring the complete version to "Silhouetted in the Moonlight" which, after Rosemary Lane's solo, existing in the final print, is joined in by the singing Powell with a duet conclusion. Another cut is Benny Goodman's Band playing to "I Got a Heart Full of Music" and "House Hop," portions that were used in the musical short, FOR AULD LANG SYNE (1938), a tribute to Will Rogers.

Hollywood HOTEL, under Busby Berkeley's supervision as director, is a musical of lavish scale, with none of his trademarks of surrealistic choreography for which he is famous. There's plenty of singing but no dancing, coming off like a 1940s musical, especially during the Benny Goodman's Band interludes consisting of future legends as Lionel Hampton, Harry James (on the clarinet), and Gene Krupa (drummer) performing. Ronald Reagan, another soon-to-be lead actor and future U.S. President is seen briefly as a radio announcer during the premiere of LOVE AND GLORY.

Hollywood HOTEL is a far cry from being the best of the Warner Brothers musical cycle, but in many ways it's a nostalgic look to its bygone golden age, giving a glimpse of makeup artist, Perc Westmore, appearing as himself, glamorizing the ordinary waitress Rosemary Lane into movie star quality. With the exception near the conclusion of the story, Rosemary hardly shares any scenes with her older but look-alike sister, Lola.

Interestingly, the one thing missing in Hollywood HOTEL which was common place in films about Hollywood on Hollywood is the use of major stars doing surprise guest bits. Imagine Dick Powell's Ronnie Bowers entering the Hollywood Hotel and coming across briefly such big named actors as Bette Davis, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, or even the use of some inside humor in having him meeting up with Joan Blondell (Powell's off- screen wife). Instead, it uses radio announcers, Ken Niles and Duane Thompson, and newspaper columnist, Louella Parsons, appearing as themselves. Parsons, who was then a noted personality, is a far cry from being a natural performer.

As a spoof, Hollywood HOTEL purposely finds the temperamental Lola Lane overacting all over the place; Hugh Herbert "woo-wooing" in and out of scenes; and in a movie within a movie, the premiere of LOVE AND GLORY, a Civil War story, is noticeably a disguised version to Margaret Mitchell's then best selling novel "Gone With the Wind," with the central character called Captain Cutler (in place of Rhett Butler). Quite lengthy at 109 minutes, it's worthy screen entertainment. Look for it next time it plays on Turner Classic Movies. (***)

Benny Goodman, Harry James, Lionel Hampton!

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 8 December 2017]

Louella Parsons is among the celebrities of varying statuses that makes an appearance here. She was a popular columnist for Hearst at the time, notorious for gossipy notices like, "Who was that handsome Lothario seen at the Brown Derby last night escorting La-La Divoon?" She's a matronly woman. It's a curious experience watching her speak. Her fixed expression is a slightly open smile offering a glimpse of her upper teeth. The voice seems to emanate from that mouth without any sign of labial involvement. The painted lips remain the same, the slice of teeth immobile, and no tongue in evidence. She could be a ventriloquist's dummy.

She's given a couple of cute lines though, as is just about everyone else in this romantic musical comedy. It's 1937 and the narcissistic star opens the newspaper and remarks, "Terrible about China (Pause) I haven't opened a picture there in a year." The tempo is pretty fast, and there's a brief but carefully choreographed bit of slapstick at a night club table involving Dick Powell and a waiter, good enough to have been done by Buster Keaton. You'll find a lot of folks who were on their way to the big time during the war that was around the corner, including James Ridgeley, whom you've probably never heard of, and Ronald Reagan who became, I believe, a politician. You get to see Perc Westmore as himself plying his trade.

The plot is a parody of Hollywood and a story of mixed identities. As a parody, it lags behind "Singin' in the Rain." The story of identity confusion doesn't go back any farther in time than Shakespeare's first play, "A Comedy of Errors," or Plautus' "Menaechmi", which Shakespeare ripped off. The Hollywood movie star is played by Lola Lane and the shy waitress who is swept up in the impersonation is Rosemary Lane -- real sisters.

Direction by Busby Berkeley but no marching feet stomping around on the stage and no overhead shots of flower petals opening, each to reveal itself as a pair of chubby thighs. Nope. There are several songs though. They're pleasant enough but lack the perverse kick of "Petting in the Park" with its demented midget dashing around with a can opener, and none of the tunes are likely to be found in the Great American Songbook.

Still, it's diverting and a pleasant enough watch for an otherwise uneventful evening.

Dick Powell is just fine, and Richard Whiting's and Johnny Mercer's 'Hooray for Hollywood" is great

[Terrell-4 · 6/10 · 15 October 2008]

It may be that Hollywood has made a musical with a more energetic, dynamic opening than Hollywood Hotel, but I haven't come across it. Right off the bat there's Benny Goodman and his orchestra, all dressed in white suits, each standing in a convertible, all being driven down a highway led by motorcycle cops to the St. Louis airport, and all playing loud and fast one of Richard Whiting's and Johnny Mercer's greatest songs. They're sending off to Hollywood the orchestra's saxophonist, Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell), who has just won a ten-week contract in Tinsel Town. Without skipping a beat, Johnnie Davis, a mug-faced trumpet player, starts singing the lyrics, then Frances Langford picks up a chorus or two.

Hooray for Hollywood! / That screwy, ballyhooey Hollywood!

Where any office boy or young mechanic / Can be a panic with just a good-looking pan!

And any barmaid can be a star maid / If she dances with or without a fan!

Hooray for Hollywood! / Where you're terrific if you're even good!

Where anyone at all from Shirley Temple / To Aimee Semple is equally understood!

Come on and try your luck, you could be Donald Duck! Hooray for Hollywood!

It would be hard to top this, and Hollywood Hotel doesn't come close. The problem is the plot -- it's too complicated and goes on too long -- and, surprisingly, since Whiting and Mercer wrote the songs -- the songs they wrote. With the exception of Hooray for Hollywood, their songs in my opinion are pleasant but not especially memorable. "Let That Be a Lesson to You" has a clever Mercer lyric but is staged with great corn by director Busby Berkeley. It's no accident, I think, that Hooray for Hollywood not only became a smash but Tinsel Town's de facto anthem. It's that good.

Hollywood Hotel is stuffed with mix-ups, misunderstandings and mistaken identities, but none of them are worth remembering. The plot has to do with the naive and enthusiastic Ronnie and his adventures thinking he'll be a star. There's the snooty leading lady (Lola Lane) who takes a walk, the waitress substitute who looks like her and fools Ronnie (Rosemary Lane, doing a nice job imitating an uber-gracious leading lady), the dense and egotistical leading man (Alan Mowbray) and on and on. Ronnie loses his big break, winds up selling hamburgers and malts, but then he comes back big. Mowbray is just fine, especially when he's miming "I've Hitched My Wagon to a Star" with Powell's voice. Dr. Benny Goodman and his orchestra provide a number of musical injections, including "Sing, Sing, Sing." Several of his key players such as Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, and Teddy Wilson are featured. There are the uncredited-and-very-young-future-stars to spot, such as Susan Hayward, Ronald Reagan and Carole Landis. On the other hand, there's Hugh Herbert to endure (he's even in a black face bit), Mabel Todd (a kind of bargain basement Cass Dailey) and Luella Parsons playing herself. Parsons is particularly awful.

And there's Dick Powell, who manages to give the movie some energy as the likable, singing Ronnie Bowers. Powell seemed always to play cocky, confident guys. Here's he's an innocent in Hollywood, but just as energetic and confident. By now, 1937, he could see the writing on the wall...namely, the ruin of his career if he couldn't get out of playing light romantic singing leads in brainless musicals. He finally managed with Murder My Sweet in 1944 when he was 40, but it took him seven years. During that time he was placed in silliness with titles like The Cowboy from Brooklyn, Hard to Get, Going Places, Naughty But Nice and I Want a Divorce. He might have been a bit lucky with Murder My Sweet, but he also was persistent, ambitious and smart about what he needed. One of these days I hope we'll see DVD versions of two movies of his I like a lot. One is The Tall Target (1951). Powell is a detective out to foil a conspiracy to kill Lincoln as the President-elect travels to Washington for his first inaugural. It's a well-made, taut period mystery. Then there's You Never Can Tell (1951), a wry comedy about a German Shepherd who inherits millions and is promptly poisoned. He comes back to earth for a few days as a human to find who killed him and to protect the young woman who'd cared for him. Powell plays the temporary human, named Rex of course.

Renting Hollywood Hotel may be the only chance you'll have to hear all the choruses to Hooray for Hollywood. It's one of Mercer's best sets of comedy lyrics.

A partly immortal movie

[Micu · 14 July 2000]

It was a hell of a job to grab a video tape of that movie, still but seldom shown on TV in the States, but invisible in France since it was contradictorily issued, in the late forties. Well, the beginning with the Goodman band's motorcade is a landmark, saluted by many critics as the sweeping entrance of the Swing Era in motion pictures. Lead by Benny and Johnnie Davis, plus Frances Langford (still alive in Florida and just re-married at 80), the band gives a tremendous start to a picture which soon looses its impetus, occasionally rewinded by the hilarious appearances of Hugh Herbert plus the wits of Glenda Farrell or Ted Healy. As a little pest, Mabel Todd is not convincing. After two syrupy tunes, we get a good staged crowd number at the Callaghan's restaurant, with allusions to Columbus, before the real gem comes, from the Orchid Room: the second part of SING, SING, SING (Christopher Columbus), with Krupa, Goodman and James at their best, unfortunately for just three minutes (but they weigh ten times more than the 5'30" of the same standard, as re-created in BENNY GOODMAN STORY. It's the difference between genuine music and re-heated soup). But Berkeley gets our pardon by setting immediately after a brilliant number with Benny's Quartet (HOUSE HOP, not I'M A DING DONG DADDY FROM DUMAS, as stated in IMDB's credentials). That makes five GREAT minutes for the millions of jazz fans still in love with swing. A second quartet number, GET A HEARTFUL OF MUSIC, was deleted by the production. Then the movie keeps moving, with an astonishing performance of DARK EYES, by Raymond Paige and his "battalion" of musicians and singers - what critics would call "jazz symphonique" - before everybody gets together for the finale,with SING, SING, SING, YOU SON OF A GUN. The 6.7 mark is severe, because the beginning and the five minutes of pure swing are invaluable. I urge TIME WARNER to issue this movie in video, for people who lack my courage to hunt for copies. henry caraso

Fun screenplay, Abundant music so-so, despite Benny Goodman.

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 15 January 2017]

A Warner musicomedy directed by Busby Berkeley. Unlike the usual Warner film choreographed by Busby, there's no stage dancing or military maneuvers. Instead, it's lots of singing, the majority concentrated at the end, as is typical of Busby's choreography when there is considerable stage dancing and military maneuvering. Unfortunately, only a little of the terminal music was of interest to me. Most of the best musical numbers occurred before this: "Hooray for Hollywood" at the beginning and again at the end, "Silhouette in the Moonlight", also sung twice and, my favorite: "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water". We have a variety of featured singers, such as Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Johnnie Davis, Francis Langford, and Terry Cooper. New songs were composed by the team of Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer. Music by Benny Goodman or Raymond Paige Orchestras or the multiracial Benny Goodman quartet(Benny, Teddy Wilson, Gene Kruppa, and Lionel Hampton).

The screen play is decent, with a variety of character actors, as well as Dick Powell , contributing to the humor. The plot is mainly concerned with the impersonation of spoiled Hollywood diva Mona(Lola Lane) by a look-alike waitress in the hotel: Virginia(Rosemary Lane). Seems Mona had a temper tantrum about a casting decision, and refused to go to the premier showing of her latest picture. To avoid embarrassment, her producer ordered that a look-alike be found to take her place, squired by new recruit Ronnie(Dick Powell). This proved fortuitous, as Virginia and Ronnie, both singers, soon fell in love. There is no love-hate oscillations in this relationship, as in many musicals. However, Ronnie is confused for a while when he greets Virginia, a waitress, presumably as as Mona, then the real Mona, leading a retinue of dogs and dog walkers, shows up in the hotel. Ronnie gets slapped twice for acting fresh with the real Mona, before he finally learns the truth, and decides he likes Virginia, the waitress, much better. Ronnie is soon involved with another impersonation, when he is asked to dub the singing of Mona's costar for her new movie. This he does, but when the studio wants him to dub the costar's voice at a radio show, he balks. His friends arrange to take the costar elsewhere during the broadcast, so that Ronnie can show his face as the real singer.

Hugh Herbert who played Mona's goofy father, and Mabel Todd, as Mona's goofy sister, tried to be funny in their usual ways, but usually fell flat for me.

Currently available as part of the Busby Berkeley DVD Collection

So-so movie helped by appealing leads and good songs

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 25 November 2006]

Saxophonist Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell) wins a studio contract and goes to Hollywood. He stays at Hollywwod Hotel (of course). At the same time big egotistical star Mona Marshall (Lola Lane) has a tantrum and refuses to attend the premiere of her new picture. In a panic the studio hires lookalike Virginia (Rosemary Lane) to impersonate her and have Bowers take her to the premiere NOT telling him it's not Marshall. Naturally they fall in love. You can pretty much figure out the rest of the plot yourself.

The plot is old (to put it nicely) but Powell and Rosemary Lane make a very likable pair and have beautiful singing voices. The score is good (highlighted by "Hooray for Hollywood") and director Busby Berkeley shows off his unique visuals in a really fun drive-in musical sequence (with Edgar Kennedy doing his patented slow burn). Also Glenda Farrell has a few funny bits as Monas sister Jonesie.

Still the movie isn't that good. The rest of the cast mugs ferociously and most of the humor is just not funny. Lola Lane especially is just lousy trying to play Mona for comedy. Also there is racism--a stereotypical black maid is played for laughs and there's some truly appalling racist "humor" at one point. That's probably what keeps this off TV most of the time. I realize it was accepted at the time but it comes across as revolting today.

All in all a so-so movie with some serious problems helped by a good cast and some great songs. I give it a 7.

Almost a remake of Bombshell but with a Busby Berkeley touch

[nomoons11 · 7/10 · 23 January 2013]

For my viewing taste...this is far better acting and story wise than Gold Diggers of 1935.

A vocalist in Glen Miller's band gets a call to go to Hollywood. When he arrives, we get to see what actors get to go through to break into the business. When the vocalist arrives, within hours, he gets a call to be a big stars date at her world premiere. Problem is...she's a stand-n and he doesn't know it. After this we get a lot of shenanigans and really funny stuff throughout.

You won't get any depth with any Busby Berkeley film but you will get style. Unfortunately there's very little musical or dance value in this one but that doesn't mean it hurts what it is. There are 2 numbers and the biggest is in the middle where the all the singing waiters and customers at a car hope have some fun. Not a lot of the Busby Berkeley extravaganza you're use to but thats not bad. You have to remember, by this time, Busby Berkeley and his style of films were on their way out and he was adapting so we get no masterpiece of choreographed dance and singing. We get a film with good actors and a pretty good script/idea.

Flat out though, watch Bombshell with Jean Harlow, and notice the similarities. The spoiled brat star and her do nothing father and dumb/worthless sibling. Not far into this I was grinning. They tried "slightly" to take from a fine film like Bombshell but with some singing. It actually works quite well.

Watch this to see Busby Berkeley segway into real mainstream non-musical stuff. I really enjoyed it. Lots of stars and painfully funny situations made me itch to write a review.

something for everyone - Dick Powell, Benny Goodman and an offensive scene thrown in for good measure

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 21 May 2016]

I totally believe in not rewriting history, and it is always interesting to see how minorities were treated in films. However, the blackface scene in this movie made me cringe.

That out of the way, Hollywood Hotel is pleasant enough. Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell) is a saxophone player in Benny Goodman's band, He wins a talent contest and the prize is a ten-week trip to Hollywood. Once there, he is brought to the Hollywood Hotel.

We then meet a real diva, Mona Marshall (Lola Lane), her sister (Mabel Todd), her father Chester (Hugh Herbert), and her secretary (Glenda Farrell).

Angry that she didn't get a role she wanted, Mona leaves the city even though a new film of hers opens that night. A waitress who resembles her, Virginia (Rosemary Lane) is hired to impersonate her, and Ronnie escorts her to the premiere.

When Mona finds out, she's livid and has Virginia and Ronnie fired. Ronnie gets a job as a waiter. He's discovered, but it's to dub for the male star of Mona's new movie.

Lots of music, good performances. Nothing special.

A Terrific and Neglected Musical Comedy

[forwardintothepast · 9/10 · 5 December 2005]

"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.

Top-tier music, dumb plot

[brchthethird · 6/10 · 1 June 2022]

The better of the two Busby Berkeley musicals from 1937, thanks in large part to just having a lot of great music from the likes of Benny Goodman and Johnny Mercer. Like Varsity Show, the bit players are the ones that leave more of an impression. Mabel Todd was just precious; and Glenda Farrell, though stuck with a mostly thankless secretarial role, does the best she can. Ted Healy was...Ted Healy. Unfortunately, there was practically none of Berkeley's famously intricate choreography. Also, I want whatever drug Hugh Herbert was on when he made this. Dude was on some other planet the whole time.

"That screwy, ballyhooey Hollywood/Where any office boy or young mechanic/Can be a panic/With just a good-looking pan!"

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 14 November 2009]

Fake show biz, courtesy director Busby Berkeley. Saxophone player from the East is called out to Hollywood for work in the movies (though we have no idea why or how this brainstorm transpired); he's immediately set up as a pigeon, taking a lookalike-starlet to a lavish premiere--but when the real actress gets wind of the deception, she orders the greenhorn be fired (and the studio dutifully complies, though the date was their idea!). Ridiculous musical-comedy padded with Big Band numbers and pop-ups from buxom columnist Louella Parsons (touted as "The Queen of Hollywood"). Dick Powell has an ingratiating manner and a handsome profile, but we never learn anything about his character except that he's easily fooled. The Johnny Mercer-Richard Whiting songs run the gamut from fine ("Hooray For Hollywood", "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water") to awful ("Sing, You Son of a Gun"), while the point of the whole thing seems to be: no matter how big of a star you might be, you can always be replaced. ** from ****

"Try Your Luck, You Could Be Donald Duck, Hooray For Hollywood"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 2 April 2009]

When we talk Hollywood Hotel we could be talking about one of three things, the actual hotel, the radio program, and this film which was partially inspired by the first two. Dick Powell was the host of the Hollywood Hotel program on CBS radio network in which Louella Parsons dished out the weekly scoop on the stars.

Powell and Parsons debuted the Hollywood Hotel program in 1934 so by 1937 it had its fair share of the radio audience. Powell hosted, sang, and kibitzed with Louella and her movie star guests. With the power she had with her column, she was able to get the various stars to go on and plug their latest films for nothing.

Then the American Federation of Radio Artists stepped in and demanded she pay wages accordingly and they won the case. That ended the Hollywood Hotel program in 1938. Of course both Powell and Louella went on to other radio venues. The whole story is covered in the Tony Thomas book, The Films Of Dick Powell.

But before the plug was pulled this film came out from Powell's home studio of Warner Brothers inspired by the radio program. Powell plays a singer/saxophonist with the Benny Goodman band who gets signed to a Hollywood contract. But when he gets out to Hollywood he gets himself tangled up with an egotistical film star Lola Lane, her lookalike double real life sister Rosemary Lane, and a ham actor in Alan Mowbray.

When Mowbray is called upon to sing in a Civil War epic he's making with Lola Lane, it's Powell's voice they use. Then Mowbray develops a Lina Lamont problem when he's asked to go on the Hollywood Hotel radio program, broadcast from the Hollywood Hotel. That's got the studio in a tizzy. Let's say the problem isn't solved the way it is Singing In The Rain, but Powell's manager Ted Healy proves to be resourceful.

Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer provide a really nice score for the film. The big hit song comes right at the beginning as the Benny Goodman band with scat singing Johnnie Davis sing Hollywood's anthem, Hooray for Hollywood. My favorite however is Powell and Rosemary Lane singing, I'm Like A Fish Out Of Water. Just listening to Johnny Mercer's lyrics about Ginger Rogers running the Brooklyn Dodgers or Sally Rand without her fan, it's a compendium of American popular culture in the Thirties.

Busby Berkeley does the choreography here and while the film doesn't have the soaring imaginary stuff that his earlier work with Warner Brothers has, the numbers are well staged. Berkeley's big moment is in a drive-in eatery where Powell and Healy have been forced to take jobs. The number starts with Benny Goodman broadcasting from the Hollywood Hotel doing Let That Be A Lesson To You and then at the drive-in Powell, Lane and the entire place start joining in song to the exasperation of owner Edgar Kennedy. And you know what you can expect from Edgar Kennedy exasperation.

Benny Goodman gets to show why he was named the King Of Swing when the band with drummer Gene Krupa and xylophonist Lionel Hampton as part of his ensemble. That together with Frances Langford singing as well. And possibly the last surviving cast member of the group was a fellow who had a small bit as a radio announcer. He died in 2004, but not before he became the 40th President of the United States. Ronald Reagan always credited Dick Powell and Pat O'Brien as being the two guys on Warner Brothers who were the most helpful to an eager young player looking to make his mark.

Hollywood Hotel is one delightful and entertaining motion picture, dated, but charmingly so.

Swing, Swing, Swing

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 26 April 2016]

"Hollywood Hotel" is a screwball musical comedy. It starts with Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell)--an all-American boy saxophonist--leaving St. Louis for the Hollywood big time. Benny Goodman and friends play him off while Alice (Frances Langford) makes unnoticed goo-goo eyes at the clueless Ronnie.

When he arrives in Hollywood, Allstar Pictures pays for his room in the Hollywood Hotel, where he is told to wait. For what, we don't know. Meanwhile, superstar actress and major pain in the neck Mona Marshall (Lola Lane) is suffering through another day of rough gown fittings and pampering when she discovers Allstar did not cast her in a plum part. She vows in retaliation to boycott the premiere of her new film that night.

The studio decides to find a look alike for Mona to attend the premiere and they luckily find Virginia (Rosemary Lane--another of the five Lane sisters). Later we find out that Virginia works in the hotel's coffee shop; what are the odds? They have Ronnie escort her. He thinks he is with Mona, the star. They hit it off and perform the duet "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water." How appropriate for both of them.

Throughout the film, Benny Goodman appears with his orchestra and his sizzling quartet--reason enough to see this film. Alice comes with them but shows no interest in Ronnie. The plot is thin, mainly serving as rests between the wonderful musical performances. Some vocal performances are good, but most of the tunes are mediocre.

The screwball elements include a pointless scene involving dogs running loose in the hotel lobby. When it comes to character actors Ted Healy and Hugh Herbert, a little goes a long way, but they are used excessively throughout the film, as is Louella Parsons. It's all a matter of taste, but I enjoy the performance of the actress who plays Mona's sister with her awkward, goofy persona.

Director Busby Berkeley's trademark extravagance is held in check, thankfully, though the musical performances in the hotel's Orchid Room are robust.

Though its plot is just fish out of water meets girl with mistaken identity, "Hollywood Hotel" is worth seeing for its big band performances and its general tone of sweetness.

So-so songs, lame script, lavish production and some good Busby Berkeley touches...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 2 July 2008]

This is really a lemon of a musical from Warner Bros. with DICK POWELL as a boy singer who wins a contest that sends the naive guy to Hollywood where he ends up escorting a movie star imposter (ROSEMARY LANE) to a Hollywood premiere. Seems Rosemary is impersonating a temperamental diva (LOLA LANE), who overacts in awful style the role of a spoiled movie star who refuses to attend the premiere of her latest musical.

None of the songs are the least bit memorable but occasionally director Busby Berkeley gets to improvise and put some of his touches on the camera-work and choreography of assorted group numbers. Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra with Gene Krupa on the drums and a visible Harry James as a member of the band, gets to have a couple of big band segments, and Frances Langford gets to do a brief song with Dick Powell. Raymond Paige and his orchestra do a nice job on a Russian number with chorus and orchestra. These are the film's only highlights.

Comedy relief is supplied by Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Edgar Kennedy, Allyn Joslyn, Curt Bois, Glenda Farrel and Grant Mitchell, weak as it is. You can catch a glimpse of Ronald Reagan as the MC at the premiere of a new film, Carole Landis as a hatcheck girl in the background of a scene with Hugh Herbert, and Louella Parsons plays herself as a columnist who thinks she's getting the scoop on things. It's a good thing she didn't give up her day job.

On the plus side, ROSEMARY LANE is lovely and has a nice singing voice, DICK POWELL does a passable job on some innocuous songs, and GLENDA FARREL has a winning way with some sharp wisecracks. ALAN MOBRAY is painfully bad as an overbearing actor that Powell is hired to sing for, and just about all of the comedy efforts are handicapped by a bad script.

LOLA LANE overdoes the diva bit to an almost irritating degree at the start of the film and it all goes downhill from there.

Good camera-work, some nice B&W photography of plush interiors, and a few nice touches by Busby Berkeley can't compensate for a cliché-ridden story of boy meets girl in Hollywood, set to some "moon and June" songs that can hardly be called inspired.

Summing up: Disappointing musical.

A fun romp around Hollywood, featuring Dick Powell, a couple Lane sisters, and the Benny Goodman Orchestra

[jimjo1216 · 31 August 2013]

This is an entertaining enough Warner Bros. musical. It's got some behind-the-scenes Hollywood satire. Lola Lane gives a great comedic performance as a melodramatic Hollywood diva. Her sister Rosemary Lane plays her waitress look-alike, hired to "play" the actress at a public appearance after one of her fits. The hero of the story is Dick Powell as a wide-eyed Hollywood newcomer who falls for the waitress, thinking she is the movie star. Ted Healy plays Powell's "manager", Hugh Herbert plays Lola Lane's daffy father, and Alan Mowbray plays a star with an inflated ego.

Directed by Busby Berkeley, this musical has a few dance sequences, but nothing as out-of-this-world as Berkeley's choreography earlier in the 1930s. The real highlights of this film are the amazing big band performances by the great Benny Goodman and Raymond Paige orchestras. There are some long scenes of great swing music played by excellent musicians, and they are a treat for both the eyes and ears. The legendary drummer Gene Krupa just goes crazy in one set. The songs written for the movie are alright, with none more memorable than the opening tune "Hooray For Hollywood".

Hordes of Americans went to see a Busby Berkeley flick . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 4 February 2017]

. . . and a Dang Concert broke out. Though H0LLYWOOD HOTEL offers a few cheap thrills (such as when Rosemary Lane sings "I feel wet and it's no wonder I do" to Dick Powell, who warbles back "That's how I get when I'm out with you," Warner Bros. uses most of the songs here to warn America of the Racist and Fascist Fifth Columnists then closing in upon Tinseltown to spearhead their assault against the U.S. Constitution. The most famous song here, "Hooray for Hollywood," lampoons one-time Warner stock company goofball Marion Mitchell Morrison (aka, "John Lassie Wayne") for having less brains than his horse (in recognition that the self-styled "Il Duce" soon would be leading a vicious Real Life Pogrom that would make Hitler proud, resulting in untold murders of Jews such as John Garfield and Ethel Rosenberg, along with Union Champions including Errol Flynn). Speaking of Adolph, another HOTEL song disparages one-time pioneering aviator Chuck L. from Detroit with the verse "he's like Lindbergh on the ground," in reference to the "Dingo-ate-my-Baby" guy's shocking defection to Hitler's inner circle (which was nearly as scandalous as U.S. Czar Red Commie KGB Strongman Vlad "Mad Dog" Putin appointing his best American buddy Rex "Exxon Valdez" Tillerson as Amerika's Secretary of State this month). The same lyric finds Ms. Lane despairing "I'm like Ginger Rogers running the Brooklyn Dodgers," reflecting the always Cassandra-like Warner's chagrin that the Dodgers were going to drag their spikes 10 more years before integrating Major League Baseball. (Warner does what they can to provoke a Civil Rights movement with H0LLYWOOD HOTEL, by lampooning rival MGM's upcoming Jim Crow Propaganda Piece GONE WITH THE WIND , and by putting the first integrated music group in Cinema History on screen--beating the tardy Dodgers by a decade!)

Still entertaining due to the energy of the performances and the music.

[theowinthrop · 9/10 · 2 July 2008]

"Hollywood Hotel" has relationships to many films like "Ella Cinders" and "Merton of the Movies" about someone winning a contest including a contract to make films in Hollywood, only to find the road to stardom either paved with pitfalls or non-existent. In fact, as I was watching it tonight, on Turner Classic Movies, I was considering whether or not the authors of the later musical classic "Singing In The Rain" may have taken some of their ideas from "Hollywood Hotel", most notably a temperamental leading lady star in a movie studio and a conclusion concerning one person singing a film score while another person got the credit by mouthing along on screen.

"Hollywood Hotel" is a fascinating example of movie making in the 1930s. Among the supporting players is Louella Parsons, playing herself (and, despite some negative comments I've seen, she has a very ingratiating personality on screen and a natural command of her lines). She is not the only real person in the script. Make-up specialist Perc Westmore briefly appears as himself to try to make one character resemble another.

This film also was one of the first in the career of young Mr. Ronald Reagan, playing a radio interviewer at a movie premiere. Reagan actually does quite nicely in his brief scenes - particularly when he realizes that nobody Dick Powell is about to take over the microphone when it should be used with more important people.

Dick Powell has won a Hollywood contract in a contest, and is leaving his job as a saxophonist in Benny Goodman's band. The beginning of this film, by the way, is quite impressive, as the band drives in a parade of trucks to give a proper goodbye to Powell. They end up singing "Hooray For Hollywood". The interesting thing about this wonderful number is that a lyric has been left out on purpose. Throughout the Johnny Mercer lyrics are references to such Hollywood as Max Factor the make-up king, Rin tin tin, and even a hint of Tarzan. But the original song lyric referred to looking like Tyrone Power. Obviously Jack Warner and his brothers were not going to advertise the leading man of 20th Century Fox, and the name Donald Duck was substituted. In any event the number showed the singers and instrumentalists of Goodman's orchestra at their best. So did a later five minute section of the film, where the band is rehearsing.

Powell leaves the band and his girl friend (Frances Langford) and goes to Hollywood, only to find he is a contract player (most likely for musicals involving saxophonists). He is met by Allen Joslyn, the publicist of the studio (the owner is Grant Mitchell). Joslyn is not a bad fellow, but he is busy and he tends to slough off people unless it is necessary to speak to them. He parks Powell at a room at the Hollywood Hotel, which is also where the studio's temperamental star (Lola Lane) lives with her father (Hugh Herbert), her sister (Mabel Todd), and her sensible if cynical assistant (Glenda Farrell). Lane is like Jean Hagen in "Singing In The Rain", except her speaking voice is good. Her version of "Dan Lockwood" is one "Alexander Dupre" (Alan Mowbray, scene stealing with ease several times). The only difference is that Mowbray is not a nice guy like Gene Kelly was, and Lane (when not wrapped up in her ego) is fully aware of it. Having a fit on being by-passed for an out-of-the ordinary role she wanted, she refuses to attend the premiere of her latest film. Joslyn finds a double for her (Lola's real life sister Rosemary Lane), and Rosemary is made up to play the star at the premiere and the follow-up party. But she attends with Powell (Joslyn wanting someone who doesn't know the real Lola). This leads to Powell knocking down Mowbray when the latter makes a pest of himself. But otherwise the evening is a success, and when the two are together they start finding each other attractive.

The complications deal with Lola coming back and slapping Powell in the face, after Mowbray complains he was attacked by Powell ("and his gang of hoodlums"). Powell's contract is bought out. Working with photographer turned agent Ted Healey (actually not too bad in this film - he even tries to do a Jolson imitation at one point), the two try to find work, ending up as employees at a hamburger stand run by bad tempered Edgar Kennedy (the number of broken dishes and singing customers in the restaurant give Edgar plenty of time to do his slow burns with gusto). Eventually Powell gets a "break" by being hired to be Dupre's singing voice in a rip-off of "Gone With The Wind". This leads to the final section of the film, when Rosemary Lane, Herbert, and Healey help give Powell his chance to show it's his voice, not Mowbrays.

It's quite a cute and appealing film even now. The worst aspects are due to it's time. Several jokes concerning African-Americans are no longer tolerable (while trying to photograph Powell as he arrives in Hollywood, Healey accidentally photographs a porter, and mentions to Joslyn to watch out, Powell photographs too darkly - get the point?). Also a bit with Curt Bois as a fashion designer for Lola Lane, who is (shall we say) too high strung is not very tolerable either. Herbert's "hoo-hoo"ing is a bit much (too much of the time) but it was really popular in 1937. And an incident where Healey nearly gets into a brawl at the premiere (this was one of his last films) reminds people of the tragic, still mysterious end of the comedian in December 1937. But most of the film is quite good, and won't disappoint the viewer in 2008.

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

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 28 October 2011]

"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).

One of the Best Busby Berkeley Films

[LeonardKniffel · 9/10 · 7 April 2020]

Directed by Busby Berkeley, the movie is about a saxophonist in Benny Goodman's band who wins a talent contest and gets a 10-week contract with a film studio. Lots of misunderstandings lead to the opportunity for Dick Powell and Rosemary Lane to put on a great show. The film is best remembered for the featured song "Hooray for Hollywood" by Johnny Mercer and Richard A. Whiting, sung by Johnnie Davis and Frances Langford, with Goodman and His Orchestra. Ironically, the satirical song became a standard part of Tinsel Town glamour and is still hauled out regularly for award shows and celebrations, even though Mercer's lyrics contain numerous references to the phoniness of the movie industry and film stardom. This is one of the best Warner Bros. musicals of the 1930s. --Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

This Grand Plan Comes Off, But it Ain't Pretty

[DLewis · 5/10 · 9 December 2011]

A sprawling, huge, hot mess of a musical from Busby Berkeley and the last of his cycle of features for Warners; not to mention the only one that doesn't contain any dedicated dance routines. Dick Powell is the center of attention, playing a small town saxophonist with the Benny Goodman Orchestra (?) who heads off to Hollywood to work a short stint at a movie studio he has won in a contest, only to take the fall for a stunt involving a stand in for a major star who discovers the ruse and has them both fired. He does fall for the girl, and he doesn't lose her this time, but simply makes himself scarce at points. Along the way we hear some fine, and not so fine, Johnny Mercer and Richard Whiting penned production numbers, and Benny Goodman does make it back into the picture somehow, though that is not explained, and he and his fabulous 1937 orchestra and quartet provide the film with its finest moments. And just in time, as by February of 1938 the orchestra as it is here was basically disbanded.

One wants to draw comparisons with "A Star is Born," released by the Selznick studio in April of 1937, and this may have been intended as an upbeat answer to the very downbeat Selznick picture. It opens with a rousing, energy filled sequence with Powell, Goodman, Frances Langford and Johnny "Scat" Davis introducing the song "Hooray for Hollywood" which has since become a theme song for Tinseltown of sorts, even if the movie it came from isn't particularly well remembered. There is a nice and useful montage of the facades of some of the most famous Hollywood restaurants, all demolished now. Then this leads into a very, very long second chapter, setting up the premise, and this part of the film seems to take forever; it is quite some time before we make it to another song. While there are no dance routines, there are large scale co-ordinations of action, particularly in a complex sequence in Callahan's Drive In involving carhops, Powell, Ted Healy, Edgar Kennedy, a studio executive, customers and crashing dishes. It's emblematic of the whole film; Berkeley has all of these balls up in the air -- the Benny Goodman and (over the top) Raymond Paige Orchestra, Powell, duplicitous studio executives, Lola Lane as a snooty, self-absorbed star and real life sister Rosemary Lane playing her double, the antics of Hugh Herbert, a parody of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (or "Gone with the Wind," or both) as part of a film within a film, a radio show with Louella Parsons (who is not at all comfortable on screen), celebrity radio hosts, songs etc. But these elements don't really shake hands; things happen because they happen. We see Frances Langford, dewy-eyed, singing Dick Powell away to the train station at the start and later she returns to sing on the radio program that Dick Powell makes his way onto, but we don't know why or how she got there. "Hollywood Hotel" throws all manner of things at us to impress us, but ultimately it's Benny Goodman and "Hooray for Hollywood" that stays with you; as a film, and story, nothing seems to stick together very well here.

There is some dated, and unfortunate, racial humor of the kind that doesn't travel well with post-modern audiences, but mercifully such scenes are brief. And, in a sense, being able to see Lionel Hampton and Teddy Wilson as the stars and expert musicians they are in Goodman's quartet makes up for that, though this sequence was placed as it is deliberately so that it could be lifted out of the film when it played the South. It seems that with any 1930s film that Warner Bros. sensed was in trouble they'd find a way to drop Hugh Herbert into the mix; a mixed blessing. Here, he is abysmal. I do not object as much to Mabel Todd's character as some of the other commentators here, but I agree that she is not the film's strongest asset. Powell soldiers on through his typically wide-eyed boy character from earlier Berkeley musicals, but here you get the sense he is running out of patience with the role and is playing him as a stock. Both Healy and Alan Mowbray are funny; though this was not Healy's last picture, it was the last to open in his lifetime -- he died the day after its Hollywood premiere. There is an amusing subtext about the vagaries of dubbing pictures, and several nice shots of Hollywood landmarks of the past. One may argue that there is not enough of Glenda Farrell, and at least one musical number was cut from the picture, but more is not necessarily what one wants from this film; even at a minute short of two hours, it feels really long. "Hollywood Hotel" is worth seeing for Goodman, and some of the songs; otherwise, this one must have given Busby Berkeley no end of headaches. With all that's going in "42ND Street," every action and every character links together. It just doesn't happen in "Hollywood Hotel;" the rooms are over-booked.

To be an actor see Mr. Factor, He'll make your kisser look good!

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 11 December 2012]

What clever lyrics to open this wonderful Busby Berkley musical about a rising singer signed to a studio contract and the screen double he falls in love with thinking she is the real deal. Dick Powell is first seen leaving for the airport where his band serenades him with the title song accompanied by trucks with clever banners of how the great female stars will react to his "charisma". "Garbo, I Tank You'll Love Him!" one banner says. Sung by the wonderful Frances Langford and Benny Goodman's band, "Horray For Hollywood!" has become one of the screen's great anthems. Of course, there are fictional movie stars with somebody named Mona Marshall getting mentioned amongst the real life stars, most of them Warner Brothers contract players. A fictional studio, All-Star, is the setting for the goings on here.

Once out in Hollywood, Powell meets Rosemary Lane, the extra standing in for the temperamental Lola Lane at a movie premiere, claiming illness with "Oh, My Thyroids!". Rosemary and Dick hit it off at the premiere, performing the delightful "I'm a Fish Out of Water". Lots of wonderful performers appear including Alan Mowbray as a hammy "Lothario", Mabel Todd as movie star Lane's dizzy sister (who allegedly suffers from anemia, but I think today's doctors would refer to it as something else), Hugh Herbert as the star's flighty father, Glenda Farrell as the wisecracking assistant, slow-burning Edgar Kennedy as a temperamental diner manager and Louella Parsons as herself. Even Ronald Reagan gets briefly into the act as the announcer at a premiere.

The film slightly bogs down at the end with an extended sequence at the Hollywood Hotel' Orchid Room (Powell and Lola Lane re-enacting scenes from the film within-the-film), but for the most part, it is complete fun. A musical number at the diner ("Behind the Eight Ball") is the choreographic delight, although there are none of the signature Berkley overhead shots within the film. A black-face sequence with Herbert appears to be in bad taste, but in placing him amongst a group of black extras, this only shows how ridiculous the practice was in the first place. The extras all seem to know it, too, judging by the looks on their face, and a couple of them are having a difficult time keeping a straight face due to Herbert's silly antics. This hardly matters because the film is so filled with fun that you too will want to try your luck, you may be Donald Duck. Horray For Hollywood!

one of the great jokes of all time

[flarepilot · 13 September 2015]

This is a fun movie and anyone who enjoys the WB musicals of the 30's should love it.

Now, the great joke. Ted Healy and Louella Parsons are in an elevator riding up to see Lola Lane (mona marshall).

Ted Healy: HEY PARSONS what do I have to do to get in your column, take a bath in champagne?

Louella Parsons: SOAP AND WATER WILL DO.

Fun songs, some great views of TWA DC3 airliners. Great musicians, Gene Krupa, Johnny Davis, Harry James, and many more. Great tunes too with a super and famous drum solo by Gene Krupa.

"Isn't there anybody in the world but people?"

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 24 July 2014]

Saxophonist Dick Powell wins talent contest and goes to Hollywood. There he gets mixed up in drama revolving around a movie star and her double, played by real-life sisters Lola and Rosemary Lane. Middling musical comedy from Busby Berkeley with a decent cast and backdrop. Dick Powell seems bored and I imagine he was after doing so many musicals prior to this. Nice to see two of the Lane sisters in the same movie. However, Lola is actually one of the worst parts of this. She plays a diva movie star in the most over the top manner possible. She plays to the rafters and it's just too much. The rest of the cast ranges in quality. Glenda Farrell is always good and a few years earlier she might have had the female lead. Sadly she was starting down the ladder by this time. Acquired comedic tastes Hugh Herbert and Ted Healy do their usual bits of business. If you're familiar with them, you'll know what I mean and whether or not you can stomach them. Speaking of Healy, this is one of his last films before his controversial death. Ronald Reagan has a bit part and gossip columnist Louella Parsons makes her acting debut. The songs are nice but only the opening "Hooray for Hollywood" number stands out. For a Berkeley musical, it's pretty restrained.

Black face appearance

[idcdr · 10/10 · 26 April 2016]

It's a little naive to have to mention that the black face scene with Hugh Herbert was racist. Trying to shame history is futile and silly at best. We can learn from our past but not change it. It's like still blaming the South for slavery which hasn't existed since the 1800s. The movies at the time reflected the social mores of our society and nothing more. They were never meant to be guidelines for the future. I, personally, am a big Jolson fan and anyone knows who has read his biographies that he was far from a racist and aided many black performers in furthering their careers. Black face was a performing art for its time and was even performed by many famous black performers including the great Bert Williams. The Hollywood Hotel is a very charming movie and well worth watching. It is loaded with great stars and especially those adorable Lane sisters. I hope that someday that critics of vintage movies will leave out their comments about the shame of a black face appearance as if it has anything to do with our current issues.

Capitalizing on the Big Bands

[detyler · 4/10 · 24 December 2009]

Hollywood Hotel was the last movie musical that Busby Berkeley directed for Warner Bros. His directing style had changed or evolved to the point that this film does not contain his signature overhead shots or huge production numbers with thousands of extras. By the last few years of the Thirties, swing-style big bands were recording the year's biggest popular hits. The Swing Era, also called the Big Band Era, has been dated variously from 1935 to 1944 or 1939 to 1949. Although it is impossible to exactly pinpoint the moment that the Swing Era began, Benny Goodman's engagement at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles in the late summer of 1935 was certainly one of the early indications that swing was entering the consciousness of mainstream America's youth. When Goodman featured his swing repertoire rather than the society-style dance music that his band had been playing, the youth in the audience went wild. That was the beginning, but, since radio, live concerts and word of mouth were the primary methods available to spread the phenomena, it took some time before swing made enough inroads to produce big hits that showed up on the pop charts. In Hollywood Hotel, the appearance of Benny Goodman and His Orchestra and Raymond Paige and His Orchestra in the film indicates that the film industry was ready to capitalize on the shift in musical taste (the film was in production only a year and a half or so after Goodman's Palomar Ballroom engagement). There are a few interesting musical moments here and there in Hollywood Hotel, but except for Benny Goodman and His Orchestra's "Sing, Sing, Sing," there isn't a lot to commend. Otherwise, the most interesting musical sequences are the opening "Hooray for Hollywood" parade and "Let That Be a Lesson to You" production number at the drive-in restaurant. The film is most interesting to see and hear Benny Goodman and His Orchestra play and Dick Powell and Frances Langford sing.