The Hollywood Revue (1929)

Nominated for 1 Academy Award:

Best Picture

M-G-M

It won 0 Oscars out of a total of 1 nomination in 1928-29.


The Hollywood Revue, or The Hollywood Revue of 1929, is a film recording of a variety show presented by Masters of Ceremonies, Jack Benny and Conrad Nagel, featuring Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most famous studio contract players billed as their Galaxy of Stars.  This theatrical stage show features musical numbers, sketches and vaudeville acts from the Albertina Rasch Ballet Company, Nils Asther, Lionel Barrymore, the Brox Sisters, James Burrows, Joan Crawford, Dane and Arthur, Marion Davies, Marie Dressler, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, Gus Edwards, John Gilbert, William Haines, Buster Keaton, Beth Laemmle, Laurel and Hardy, Gwen Lee, Bessie Love, the M-G-M Chorus, Myrtle McLaughlin, Polly Moran, Natova and Company, Anita Page, June Purcell, the Rounders, and Norma Shearer.

The two notable holdouts from MGM are Greta Garbo and Lon Chaney.  Both were expected to appear in the film, but Garbo opted to use Anna Christie (1930) as a vehicle for her sound film debut, and Chaney requested to be paid his regular salary which could not feasibly be done with the production budget.

The movie features three segments that were filmed in Technicolor, all of which survive to this day.  The first segment is a spoof of the balcony scene from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" featuring Lionel Barrymore, John Gilbert and Norma Shearer.  The second segment is the musical number "Orange Blossom Time" featuring Charles King, Myrtle McLaughlin and the Albertina Rasch Ballet Company.  The third segment is the final musical number, a reprise of "Singing in the Rain" performed by the ensemble cast - notable for being the first film recording of this particular song.  Initially, some screenings would fill the theater with an aroma of orange blossoms to accompany "Orange Blossom Time," but this experience was short-lived after numerous patrons suffered allergic reactions.

The cinematic classic Singin' in the Rain (1952) - a satire of the transition from silent films to talkies - drew inspiration and was heavily influenced by this particular film.  It famously borrowed its title and opening number from the Technicolor finale.  But in addition to this, it also played upon silent film star, John Gilbert's, unsuccessful attempt to continue working in sound films after his disastrous high-pitched performance as Romeo in the parody of the "Romeo and Juliet" balcony scene.


Editorial:

Backtracking.  This hard-to-find film has now been reviewed after being put on hold.

There seems to be little affection for this unique picture that arrived at the dawn of sound films, which is probably due to the excess of stale jokes and the inability of some famous silent stars to break into the world of sound films.  It also has the misfortune of its Vitaphone sound discs no longer existing, causing the left-side of the screen to be cropped and the entire film to be framed off-center.

Honestly, though, this is actually quite a great concept that MGM was willing to run with.  Instead of deciding to piecemeal each individual star into a talkie to see if audiences would embrace their newly discovered voices, this movie took virtually all of the studio's major contract actors and placed them into one vehicle to introduce them as potential talkie players to the public as a whole.  The result is actually quite pleasant, as it became a production filled with so many stars that otherwise may have never appeared together.  Displaying their intelligence on the matter, they would also allow Buster Keaton to retain his status as a silent star and merely make an appearance, as if to say, "he is still The Great Stone Face and he always will be."

Score  |  06/10  |  This motion picture is worth watching.