Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults (1997) (TV)

Writers:

Kevin Burns (writer)
Jerry Decker (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Music

Plot Keywords:

Archive Footage | Narration | Filmmaking | Behind The Scenes | Hollywood

Cast

Joan Collins	...	Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Ameche	...	Himself (archive footage)
Phil Baker	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Brennan	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Brown	...	Himself
Dan Dailey	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jimmy Durante	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hope Emerson	...	Herself (archive footage)
Alice Faye	...	Herself (archive footage)
Clark Gable	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mitzi Gaynor	...	Herself (archive footage)
Robert Gitt	...	Himself (UCLA Film Preservation Officer) (as Bob Gitt)
Betty Grable	...	Herself (archive footage)
Charlotte Greenwood	...	Herself (archive footage)
Sonja Henie	...	Herself (archive footage)
Katharine Hepburn	...	Herself (archive footage)
Edward Everett Horton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Al Jolson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bert Lahr	...	Himself (archive footage)
Victor Mature	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ethel Merman	...	Herself (archive footage)
Carmen Miranda	...	Herself (archive footage)
N.R. Mitgang	...	Himself
Jack Oakie	...	Himself (archive footage)
Donald O'Connor	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Payne	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tyrone Power	...	Himself (archive footage)
William Reynolds	...	Himself
Bill Robinson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ginger Rogers	...	Herself (archive footage)
Cesar Romero	...	Himself (archive footage)
Abby Schwarzwalder	...	Herself
Anthony Slide	...	Himself (Film Historian)
Shirley Temple	...	Herself (archive footage)
Spencer Tracy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Wagner	...	Himself (in "Lord Vanity" screen test) (archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Company:

Van Ness Films

Movie Connections:

Features Bright Eyes (1934)

Soundtrack:

A Man Chases a Girl (Until She Catches Him)

What wound up on the cutting room floor

Joan Collins hosts this entertaining look at cut scenes from 20th Century Fox films, explaining that many of them were cut because of a film running too long. Most of the scenes were musical numbers, which are, of course, the easiest to cut. There was a long acting scene with Walter Brennan from "We're Not Married" which was cut that was quite funny, and a scene in a music store with Betty Grable in "I Wake Up Screaming" that was cut when her profession was changed from music saleswoman to stenographer. People were confused by the original title of the film, "Hot Spot," and thought they were seeing a musical with Grable. Her singing to sell a song didn't help.

The most interesting cut scenes were those of Bill Bojangles Robinson in "Cafe Metropole." He plays an entertainer at the café. He has two wonderful dance numbers that were probably cut because some audiences weren't ready to accept a black person as anything but a servant.

There's also a test from a film that was never made with Joan Collins and Robert Wagner. It looks like it would have been a true horror.

Other cut scenes included songs in "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Springtime in the Rockies," and "Rose of Washington Square."

I personally would have preferred more outtakes where you could get a glimpse of the star's personality. A Betty Grable dance number, where she kept having to stop, did give us some idea of her and the work process, but more of that would have been great. Also I would have liked more acting scenes.

However, if you're a fan of musicals, you can't beat this.