Out Where the Stars Begin (1938)

So much average

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Breaking into Hollywood should be this easy! Sally Carter (Evelyn Thawl) sneaks into the Superb Pictures studio lot with the help of a make-up artist (Jeffrey Lynn), smuggling her in as part of a tour group. She quickly breaks stride with the rest and winds up as a dancer under the supervision of manic director Nitvitch. You can only take his schtick for so long, but the picture only lasts nineteen minutes, so hang in there. Watch for cameos by legitimate, but not Superb Studio actors, as they make their way through the main gate - Wayne Morris, Dick Foran, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien. The ironic touch in the picture occurs right after Miss Carter has makeup applied along with a blonde wig to look totally unlike her real self, as her makeup artist sings "You're Lovely As You Are".

. . . Warner Bros. Pictures during OUT WHERE THE STARS BEGIN, a 19-minute live action short. For instance, Superb also signed up Error Flynn to play ROBIN HOOD (only in Superb's version, Richard III is going up against Prince John, rather than Richard the Lion-Hearted--the Superb version sounds more exciting than Warner's already!). Another element of Superb's mystique is that you have to be a Chorine yourself in order to be selected to take a studio tour. (This is because Superb tour groups are prone to disappear without a trace, and everyone in show business knows that chorus line singers are totally dispensable.) Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien are among the stars making cameo appearances on the Superb lot, where they behave as polite "Ordinary Joes," instead of their normal Prima Dona selves. The plot of OUT THE STARS emphasizes that ANYONE can be a trespasser one moment, and a top-billed star the next at Superb. That's because everyone is friendly and open-minded at Superb, which is run as a meritocracy--without any casting couch shenanigans. Some may say, "Hooray for Hollywood," but I'll confine my comment to, "Hooray for Superb."

Out Where the Stars Begin (1938) *** (out of 4) Sally Carter (Evelyn Thawl) arrives in Hollywood hoping to get on the Warner lot for their latest Musical that is about to start shooting. The wannabe actress enters the lot via a tour and soon finds herself on the sound stage and given her one shot to impress with her voice. This certainly isn't the greatest short ever made but it's a pleasant one with some nice performances plus a great look at the Warner back lot. Dick Foran, Wayne Morris, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien all appear early on as their cars pull up to the studio gates. The rest of the film has Thawl doing a little dance and a couple music numbers and for the most part I found them all to be entertaining. I thought she handled herself quite well here and turned in a good performance. Another big key to enjoying this film is that it was shot in 3-strip Technicolor and looks quite good. Just check out that dark green car that O'Brien is riding in.

Fritz Feld is the best thing in this as the definitive wacky european film director with crazy artistic pretensions which he would reprise many times, lastly in Woody Allen's TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN. Great early technicolor (look for Pat O'Brien's kelly green car.