The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)

People are voting emotionally.

Fantastic!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This is one of those Dated, Corny, and Cringe-Inducers that Film Buff's, usually Reluctantly, sit through to say They have and add another Notch to the Belt, a much Deserved Reward for making it through the Two-Hour Running Time.Sure there are Some Folks who are Fans of the "Old School" Movie Stars and devour this Stuff and think its a Gay and Glorious Movie full of Wonderful Tunes and Dance Numbers.However, even Film Fanatics who Love Movies in Any Era, from the Silents to Today can discover that some Serious Time Displacement and an Extra Effort is Required to Tuff These Things Out.This is Considered the First of its Kind, there were many from Various Studios to Follow. A Big Box-Office Hit in the Day (no surprise) and was even Nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Conrad Nagel is OK, and Jack Benny as the MC throughout the Show does the Same Overrated Schicht that He did His whole Career, which Isn't Much. But all of this is Relative, You see, because it's in the Eye of the Beholder.There are some Highlights that Attract Attention, some Not for the Right Reasons, like the Joan Crawford Hoofing and Marie Dressler Mugging away Dressed Up as a Little Girl, the Embarrassing Laurel and Hardy Skit, and there are many Other Good Performers not Shown in the Best Light.But others, like the "Lon Chaney's Gonna Get You If You Don't Watch Out" Bit, with some Truly Scary Masks and is a well Choreographed Skit.There is Buster Keaton in Drag, a Few Color Sequences, one Featuring John Barrymore as a Director who is Forced by the Studio to Update Shakespeare, and a "Singing in the Rain" Extended Finale and a few others that make it Worth a Watch.Note...Many other Hollywood Icons and now Forgotten Stars appear that are not mentioned here.Note 2...An important Time-Capsule no matter what You think of it.

What a crass attempt by "the studio with more stars than the heavens" to try and blind you with them in this ill conceived, poorly mounted musical comedy review in which our headliners could used a lot more rehearsal time. In no particular order MGM major stars Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and an uncomfortable looking Marie Dressler fumble their way through this ill conceived all star variety show featuring both Hollywood stalwarts and Broadway players clumsily handled by co masters of ceremony Conrad Nagel, who gets to show off his rusty pipes and Jack Benny, who delivers more misses than hits. It is all a rather sloppy affair poorly edited and paced as comedy routines go lame and large dance numbers look more like stampedes than chorus numbers.There are also a couple of early Technicolor scenes, one featuring a shrill Shearer as an over aged Juliet and John Gilbert's billy goat voiced Romeo in a scene directed by Lionel Barrymore that is near painful to endure. Revue is not a complete disaster with Ukelele Ike introducing Singing in the Rain to movie audiences, Natova and Company providing a spirited dance number, Bessie Love being dangerously tossed about the stage in a piece of slapstick, and Marion Davies being the only star not embarrassing herself on stage. There is also a provocative large dance scene among the hoofers with the girls white and the guys in black face with the scene changing from print to negative to re-enforce the contrast. I doubt very much this scene got past censors down South.Hollywood was still struggling with sound around the time of Revue and it is evident in many scenes but with jokes falling flat, the lack of cohesion in scene transition as well as dance numbers this musical comedy show remains off key from end to end.

All-star talent show of MGM silent stars, many of which in their first talkie. They sing, they dance, they do comedy bits. Most of it is a poor representation of the talent of those involved. Still, I found something quaintly charming and entertaining about it. It's certainly interesting from a film history perspective. Yes, it suffers from the crudeness of sound filmmaking in these early days but I try not to hold that against it too severely.Two of the more entertaining parts were Buster Keaton's sketch and "Singin' in the Rain." But I must admit my personal favorite was the "Lon Chaney's Gonna Get You if You Don't Watch Out" number. The worst was probably Marion Davies. For as much as people bash Joan Crawford's dance routine in this, Marion Davies was a million times worse. She sang off key and did what was supposed to be dancing. Just dreadful. As for Joan, the song she did was fine I thought but yes the dancing was a little goofy looking. The flapper dances were generally graceless to begin with but this was especially silly to watch. The other segment that gets talked about a lot is the "Romeo & Juliet" part with Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, and Lionel Barrymore. This was one of the few parts of the movie done in early Technicolor. I actually don't think this was a bad segment. The part where they do Romeo & Juliet updated for modern language was amusing.Overall, it's not great but it's way better than a lot of the critiques I've read have given it credit for. If you're a film buff you should see it. Everybody else, check it out if you are already familiar with early sound films and aren't going to harp on its technical failings. If you don't have the patience for that then just avoid it and save yourself the headache.

I have the new Warner Archive DVD release of "Hollywood Revue Of 1929" and I could not agree with reviewer Wayne Malin more. Right before the number "Lon Chaney Will Get You If You Don't' Watch Out", Jack Benny maintains that Lon Chaney does not exist. At that moment a man wearing an overcoat, derby hat, and sinister expression comes out onto the stage. Jack looks at the man, snidely chuckles and says "So you're Lon Chaney?" Benny finally reaches out to shake Chaney's right hand only to have the entire arm come off completely! Jack Benny screams with fear as Lon Chaney exits in a great scene.Movie fans look closely. That is Lon Chaney himself doing a silent, enigmatic appearance with Jack Benny right before the number!The rest of the film is a complete delight with nearly every major MGM star on the lot doing an appearance. This includes Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore,, Marion Davies, lovely Joan Crawford, John Gilbert still at the peak of his career but not for long, and many others. Buster Keaton nearly steals the entire show with his exotic dance number, and the finale with (nearly) everyone singing "Singin' In The Rain" in Technicolor is a joy to watch. "The Hollywood Revue Of 1929" is a historical gem that was unavailable for many years until Turner Classic Movies and now it's on DVD.