"Going Hollywood" *** (out of ****)I haven't reviewed very many musicals on this blog. It is not because I dislike the genre either. I'm actually a pretty big fan of musicals but for whatever reason I rarely discuss them. "Going Hollywood" (1933) is not a very well known musical. It is pretty much a film only serious film buffs have seen.
Pay attention to the poster and the billing. That should tell you a lot about when the film was made. Notice Marion Davies name is above Bing Crosby. Today it wouldn't be so. Davies was at one time a popular actress. If her acting ability deserved all that attention is another story. Many have suggested she only got to where she did thanks to her relationship to William Randolph Hearst. But by the time "Going Hollywood" was made Davies was at the end of her career. Only a few more films were ahead for her.
Crosby had been around since the late 20s when he was with the Paul Whiteman orchestra. He was the new crooner of the day. By 1933 he had already scored one of his big hit songs, "Just One More Chance". He had appeared in a few short films where he sang. This is probably the first big film of his career.
Between these two stars today's audiences probably know who Crosby is and not Davies. Of course I'm not too sure if today's younger audiences even know who Bing Crosby is. He might be known by them as that old dead guy who sang that Christmas song. But Davies did have more experience in front of the camera. One of her better known films is "The Patsy" (1928) directed by King Vidor. Though "Going Hollywood" has its own titan behind the camera. The film was directed by Raoul Walsh.
"Going Hollywood" has a pretty simple story-line. It doesn't break any new ground. In fact by 1933, there wasn't much ground to begin with. Musicals were still a relatively new genre. The first musicals, not counting "The Jazz Singer" (1927), were made in 1929. But I bet even in 1933 this wasn't an original story.
Davies plays Sylvia Bruce. A school teacher who is bored with the lifestyle. She is younger than the other teachers and dreams of finding love and romance. This is unacceptable to the other teachers. After hearing Bill Williams (Bing Crosby) sing on the radio, he belts out "Our Big Love Scene", one of his finest ballads, Sylvia decides to leave the school and find Bill.
Bill, a famous singer, is on his way to Hollywood to appear in pictures. He is romantically link to his co-star, the French actress Lili Yvonne (Fifi D' Orsay). But when Sylvia sees Bill face to face, for her it is love at first sight. And she follows him to Hollywood, hoping she can steal him from Lili and win his heart.
"Going Hollywood" is not a great film. But it is important to film history if only because it signals the beginning of Crosby's career and the character he would play in nearly every single one of his films, the carefree, crooning charmer.
As for Ms. Davies I don't think she was a very good actress. Where Crosby seems to be a natural in front of the camera Ms. Davies seems uneasy. She seems too aware the camera is on her. She is allowed to dance in the film, check out her duet with Crosby on "We'll Make Hay While the Sun Shines", she wasn't a very good dancer. Decent perhaps but not standout. She was no Ginger Rogers or Eleanor Powell. For that matter she wasn't even Ruby Keeler.
But if "Going Hollywood" falls short of greatness I'm reluctant to place the blame on Ms. Davies. The script written by Donald Ogden Stewart is flat. This is a surprise since he wrote the screenplays to "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) and "Holiday" (1938). The dialogue in "Going Hollywood" doesn't sound realistic. Ms. Davies' lines sound clumsy at best. Sure, some of that is because of her delivery, but the lines weren't that good to begin with.
Bright spots in the dialogue belong to the supporting characters. Famous character actors like Ned Sparks, as the film within the film's director, gets in some good grouchy lines. And Patsy Kelly, as a wannabe show-biz star, also gets in some good wise-cracks. Kelly was actually a good comedienne, in the tradition of Eve Arden I would argue.
And as I said Raoul Walsh was the film's director. Those familiar with his work may be shocked by that but remember in the beginning of his career he did direct these kind of light films. He also directed "College Swing" (1938) with an all-star cast including Bob Hope and Burns & Allen. His better known films are a pair of James Cagney gangster pictures "The Roaring Twenties" (1939) and "White Heat" (1949) as well as the Humphrey Bogart film "High Sierra". Plus he directed the Jack Benny comedy "The Horn Blows at Midnight", which is nowhere near as bad as Benny joked about for years. But nothing in "Going Hollywood" suggest the work of a great director. It all seems very routine to me. Put the camera in the front of the actors and let them do their thing.
Bits of the film feel a bit rushed and underdeveloped. And you almost wish for longer musical numbers. The songs by the way were written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. The songs include "Going Hollywood", "Our Big Love Scene", one of Crosby's big hits "Beautiful Girl" and "Temptation". The longest set piece is for "We'll Make Hay". Not my favorite of the songs in the film. And if this musical team sounds familiar to you their music has been used routinely in MGM musicals, most notably in the classic "Singin' in the Rain" (1952).
Still I'm recommending "Going Hollywood". I watch it whenever I'm a bit down. It is good old-fashion Hollywood entertainment. This is pure escapism. The concept is one Hollywood use to live by. Anyone could become a star. Go out and follow your dreams. This was back in the day when Hollywood was a dream factory. Now it only produces nightmares.
Not everyone will like "Going Hollywood". It is really for film buffs, Crosby fans, and fans of musicals. The average joe will sit and wonder what the heck is this? Where's the nudity and four letter words? Back then "Hollywood" didn't run on that. At least not in public.
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