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THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929
US, 1929, 130 minutes, Black and white and Colour.
Conrad Nagle, Jack Benny, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Joan Crawford, Bessie Love, Anita Page, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, the Brox Sisters.
Directed by Charles Reisner.
In 1929, MGM won the Best picture Oscar for The Broadway Meldoy. It also released this Hollywood Revue, all filmed on the stage, like a filmed version of a Broadway show. There is the stage, there are curtains, props, very theatrical. This limits the performances as well as the choreography and dancing.
Most of the film is in black and white but there are two colour sequences, the balcony seen from Romeo and Juliet with Norma Shearer and John Gilbert and a final musical number. Already in 1929 there is parody of producers with no taste and who want things modern and speeded up, so director Lionel Barrymore gets Shearer and Gilbert to change the dialogue in contemporary jargon.
The film is an opportunity to highlight some of the MGM stars. Matinee idol, Conrad Nagle, is one of the compere’s and joins in some of the songs. Jack Benny, his comic style was to become very familiar from radio, television and film, shows that he had this style right from the beginning. Joan Crawford appears singing as do Bessie Love and Anita Page. For curiosity, there is music and song and dancing from Marie Dressler. Laurel and Hardy appear as magicians and Buster Keaton has a funny routine.
The Hollywood Revue is definitely an antique, coming as it does at the beginning of sound films. It is also something of a relic with the recorded performances. In does offer an opportunity to see some of the performers in their early years.
Some of the songs are familiar and the film capitalises on songs like You Were Meant for Me and Singin’ in the Rain. It was to be another 23 years until the release of one of MGM’s greatest musicals, Singin’ in the Rain. This film has the cast literally singing in the rain on stage.
The contents of the film is contained in the following paragraph:
THE Hollywood REVUE Program is as follows:
ACT I: "The Palace of Minstrel" (sung and danced by minstrel chorus surprisingly without the use of performers in blackface); "Masters of Ceremonies" (with by Jack Benny introducing Conrad Nagel. Cliff Edwards also takes part in this scene); "I Gotta Feeling for You" (sung by Joan Crawford); "Swanee River" and "Old Black Joe" (sung by chorus); "Low- Down Rhythm" (a lively number sung and danced by June Purcell); "Your Mother and Mine" (sung by Charles King); "You Were Meant for Me" (sung by Conrad Nagel to Anita Page); "Nobody But You" (sung by Cliff Edwards, followed by Jack Benny with his violin playing to the tune of "Your Mother and Mine"); CUT UP (comedy skit featuring William Haines ripping up Jack Benny's suit); "I Never Knew I Could Do a Thing Like That" (sung by Bessie Love); "For I'm the Queen" (sung by Marie Dressler, assisted by Polly Moran); MAGIC ACT (introduced by Jack Benny, featuring the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy as magicians in a comedy skit of errors); MILITARY MARCH (with Marion Davies singing "Oh, What a Man" and "Tommy Atkins on Parade" followed by military drill and dancing. The Brox Sisters conclude this number singing "Strike Up the Band"); INTERMISSION (during this five minute break, the orchestra is seen playing to the tunes of "Nobody But You" and "Your Mother and Mine" in front of the closed curtain).
ACT II: "The Pearl Ballet" (sung by James Burrows, danced by Beth Laemmle and the Albertina Rasch ballet, concluded by "The Dance of the Sea" performed by Buster Keaton); "Lon Chaney Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out" (sung by Gus Edwards); "The Adagio Dance" (with the Natova Company); ROMEO AND JULIET (with John Gilbert and Norma Shearer, with Lionel Barrymore as director); "Singin' in the Rain" (introduced by Cliff Edwards); "Charlie, Gus and Ike" (with Charles King, Gus Edwards and Cliff Edwards); "Marie, Polly and Bess" (with Marie Dressler, Polly Moran and Bessie Love); "Orange Blossom Time" (sung by Charles King to Myrtle McLaughlin?, danced by the Albertina Rasch Ballet); and finale, "Singin' in the Rain" (sung by entire cast).