Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963)

Sorry, this movie sucks

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

For old time classic movie buffs, a film like this is a neat diversion. Where else can you catch so many celebrity faces of an era gone by? In this case it's a whole slew of actors, directors and production folks from the Thirties through the Fifties. The 'home movie' concept was the brainchild of Ken Murray, a would be actor who self deprecatingly calls himself 'a method actor with no method' while showing a quick scene he made with Greta Garbo.To get an idea of all the celebrities who appear here, one need only take a look at the extensive cast list offered on the IMDb title page for this picture. Sometimes you only get a quick glimpse of a famous star, but there are also longer segments like Dick Powell snagging a two hundred pound marlin and Cary Grant hosting a pool party at his Malibu beach house. Kirk Douglas is featured in a nifty segment from his very first TV appearance on, what else - 'The Ken Murray Show'.Personal favorites of mine appearing here included Bob Hope, Groucho and Harpo Marx, Cary Grant and in what has to be a rare film moment, Humphrey Bogart sharing a kiss with third wife Mayo Methot. Strangely enough, there's also a snippet featuring Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Africa, one of the handful of non-Hollywood folks who show up.Capping things off, there's a fairly long segment on famed newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst at his Xanadu-like estate, the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. His private zoo stocking all manner of wildlife from all over the planet was a highlight of the film, showcasing the largest private animal collection in the world. Hearst was also America's greatest art collector with a collection valued at over fifty million dollars. You get the idea that the man had a lot of money.So this is not the kind of picture one rates for story or cinematic quality; with the myriad of personalities and subjects gracing the fifty minute 'home movie', the value in seeing it lies in catching so many stars in one place at one time. I caught this on the Turner Classic Movie Channel recently, where I also ran across another Ken Murray feature titled "Hollywood My Home Town". If you get the chance, try to sample both.

IN KREEPING WITH the self-importance and self-congratulatory attitudes that are Hollywood, we have this cinematic smorgasbord of Ken Murray's "home" movies all strung together and interspersed with clips from (then) current productions, musical accompaniment and some rather maudlin narration.IT'S NOT THAT we intend to ridicule either Mr. Murray or the general mood of this film, it just that it seems just a tad too l-o-n-g-e-r than it should be. Perhaps breaking this concept down to episodes would avoid any chance of overdose.ON THE POSITIVE side of the ledger, Ken Murray manages to give the audience a different, if not truly candid, view of so many of our screen idols. The informal settings do give the films an unusual overall appearance, sometimes almost surreal.BOTH UNUSUAL AS well as unexpected was the time devoted to both newspaper publisher and Yellow Journalist, William Randolph Hearst and his self-created modern palace, San Simeon. Long both revered and feared by the denizens of Hollywood, Hearst left this world August 14, 1951. Apparently those folks in the movie colony feared that he still could make 'em or break 'em, even from the Next World.

Great fun for old movie fans. Seeing all those familiar names from the 30's and 40's at leisure, sometimes frolicking, sometimes mugging, is revealing. Murray's got an easy way about him that probably helped access. After all, clowning around can undercut screen image-- Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas, Irene Dunn, et.al. And get a load of the fabled San Simeon, William Randolph Hearst's palatial little get-away. Looks like a castle on a mountain top where his Hollywood friends luxuriated as guests. No wonder they appear happy and relaxed. Some of my favorites also appear—Bogart looking like Bogart, Mae West looking like Mae West, and Cary Grant acting like a torpedo fish. And furnishing a lot of eye candy, even minus studio make-up, are starlets like Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Donna Reed, et. al. True, you do have to look quickly as some celebrities flash by. Also, the subjects and sites succeed one another in no particular order. But then this is supposed to be a "home movie", so I guess we have to recognize the value of the spontaneous. All in all, if you're like me, you tend to forget these screen stars are talented people but basically like everyone else. It's happily this kind of home movie that can furnish an entertaining reminder. So sit back and enjoy real folks behind the big names, along with Ken's relaxed commentary.

These are fun Hollywood home movies assembled by Ken Murray. Some of them are fascinating, such as film of stars at the Hearst castle, some are fun, like Kirk Douglas' appearance on television with Murray, and some for this viewer went on too long, such as the cowboy section. The clip of Murray introducing a young Marilyn Monroe is marvelous, however, and ends the film.Murray takes a drive down the old Hollywood Boulevard so we can see it as it was, and it sure has changed. There are clips of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, Cary Grant swimming, Charlie Chaplin playing tennis, and an almost unrecognizable Norma Shearer at an outdoor gathering. And Walt Disney takes Murray's daughters on a tour of his magic kingdom.This is worth picking up if you see it on ebay.