Stand-In (1937)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It seemed in the late 30s every other mother thought their child was a potential Shirley Temple. With her huge popularity there was an influx of bossy stage mothers with their mostly untalented children camping outside studio gates.Leslie Howard plays Atterbury Dodd, a conservative accountant bought in by the bank (that is holding the mortgage) to see if he can find out why Colossal Studios are going broke. He comes to Hollywood and finds talentless stars, hack photographers and syncophants galore. On arrival he is accosted by Elvira, a Shirley Temple "wannabe" pushed by her harmonica playing mother. It is a hilarious scene when the mother asks if Elvira can show him more of her act, Atterbury responds "Don't you think Elvira's done enough!!!"He decides to stay at Mrs Mack's boarding house so he can get some "fresh air". Lester Plum (Joan Blondell) a "stand-in", also stays there - she tries to put him wise to Hollywood ways. "I was the Shirley Temple of my day" "Who is Shirley Temple? - I've heard that name a lot today"!!!He finds extravagance everywhere - Koslofski (Alan Mowbray) rejecting a paper edelweiss flower in favour of a real one - even though he has to import one from Switzerland!!! Director Doug Kincaid (Humphrey Bogart) has to deal with Thelma (Marla Shelton), a temperamental actress who is his ex fiancée. Along with his faithful companion Max (a Scotch Terrier) he is trying to do the best he can in a sea of mediocrity. An injoke - when Atterbury first meets Kincaid, Kincaid is swinging a tennis raquet - Humphrey Bogart is said to have introduced the immortal line "tennis, anyone" in a 1920s Broadway play.After an advance screening of "Sex and Satan" - it is considered a "dog". Atterbury decides to remake the movie as a comedy. He brings back Kincaid to direct, he takes Thelma out on the town so he can get her drunk and invoke the morals clause in her contract and terminate it. The movie ends pretty quickly but you know what is going to happen.A young Jack Carson has the role of the obnoxious Mr. Potts. Mary McLaren, a leading lady of early silent days, plays Naomi, a woman in the boarding house who is insulted by the "extra" work she is offered. Charles Middleton ("Ming the Merciless" from "Flash Gordon") plays a gentleman at the boarding house dressed for when he is going to be offered the role of Abraham Lincoln. He tells Naomi to hold out for a bigger role.Recommended.

Worth it for the boarding house and its inmates alone, this is a glorious satire on '30s Hollywood. Leslie Howard is at his comic best (see also 'It's Love I'm After'), vague and unworldly. The supporting cast is excellent. Joan Blondell is gorgeous and *funny*. Humphrey Bogart, Howard's good mate and progege - Howard insisted that Bogart got the convict role in Petrified Forest in the film, having appreciated acting with him in the play, and that was his big break in films. And Bogart acknowledged the friendship by calling his first child Lesley (she was a girl). Alan Mowbray and Jack Conway also add to the fun.A sharp commentary on the wonderful world of B movies!

"Stand-In" was shown by the BBC as part of a Bogart season. As someone else mentioned in another comment, that's odd to say the least: while billed third, Humphrey Bogart can't have more than 20 minutes in this movie. "Stand-In" is a comedy. I gather that from the IMDb info and from the collection of moments in the film when I'm supposed to have laughed. I can't say I did. Maybe once or twice. At most.Nevertheless, I'm glad the BBC showed this Bogart comedy and here's why. Even though the comedy bits may have been funny in 1937 (comedy standards tend to differ from era to era - although I can imagine people not being amused by this at the time either), "Stand-In" also spoofs the movie-making business. It's a bit better at that. They say imitation is a odd form of flattering. "Stand-In" both mocks and loves its subject. Atterbury Dodd is a mathematics-loving efficiency expert who has to investigate why Colossal Pictures is losing money instead of making it. He's the odd one out in town, learning that to every question there is but one answer: "This is the movie-making business." It's obvious from the start that Dodd will learn to respect and cherish the movie-making business, unlike most Hollywood films about the movie-making industry (which tend to treat Hollywood as a shark pool situated in either Sodom or Gomorrah). If you watch carefully, you will learn - just like Atterbury Dodd - that every movie you see is made by thousands of people you don't think about when you're in a darkened room (so always stay in your comfy seat till the credits are over, kids!).So while as a comedy, "Stand-In" sucks and as a movie about the movies it is interesting, the pivotal reason to see the movie is the combination of Leslie Howard (Dodd) and Joan Blondell (Miss Plum). Not only does she educate him about the movie business, she also triggers him in another way: just like Dodd slowly realizes movies are made by people (not units), Miss Plum makes him realize he is merely a calculator in a human form rather than a living creature. Combine that idea with a chemistry that works and you have a movie that is still very watchable, even if you don't feel like laughing.

Atterbury Dodd is opposed to his New York banker bosses selling off Colossal Studios for only half of what he thinks its worth. Being the first person ever to stand up to the big boss he's sent off to see whats going on with the seemingly failing studio. Once there he finds that the buyer is manipulating the latest Colossal movie into being a turkey so he can buy the studio cheap and turn a profit when he closes it down. Dodd also runs into Miss Plum who will soon becomes Dodd's guide through the madness of film making.Much of the film is concerned with Dodd dealing with the insanity of film studios while not realizing that he's falling in love with Miss Plum. The last third of the film concerns efforts to turn save the studio and the film.This is really a Leslie Howard movie. Howard and Joan Blondell, as Miss Plum are a wonderful screen couple and one wishes there was even more time of them together. Although Humphrey Bogart is listed third he's in maybe 20 minutes of this often funny film. He is wonderful in a the role of the previous studio head and producer of the turkey in the making. The film is filled with funny lines and fleeting appearances, Charles Middleton is a scream; as is a stuntman who refuses to do his stunt for money. This is a funny funny movie especially if you love old movies.The problem is that the film is at times unfocused. Is it a comedy? A Romance? The sequences with the villain seem to be from another movie. I question why some of the characters are allowed to be so annoying, Potts, the publicity man in particular, is the screen version of fingernails on a blackboard. I'm sure there were people like that in Hollywood, but I never want to meet them.I also have a problem with the ending which ends too soon for my tastes.Still this is 90 minutes of great fun, especially if you love old films.Worth seeking out, possibly even buying.7 out of 10 with spikes of truly wonderful moments (Going under the table for one)