The Silver Screen Oasis

This is a rather tardy heads up to alert others to the upcoming showing of The Broadway Melody (1929) at 2pm EST & The Hollywood Revue (1929) at 4pm EST today, Feb. 22nd on TCM. An article at TCM about The Broadway Melody can be seen here. A piece about The Hollywood Revue (1929) is found here. I've seen The Broadway Melody several times and it is fun, but haven't seen The Hollywood Revue in its entirety yet. My curiosity about the different yet similar roller coaster careers of Cliff Edwards and John Gilbert has recently been piqued, so seeing this movie is a must for me. (Besides, I need to see The Broadway Melody again so I can compare it to that true classic of 1930, The Dogway Melody). I hope that others will add their opinions on these movies.

I think Hollywood Revue is much better, but I should probably watch them both again before I say any more. My feelings may only be due to the curiosity factor in Hollywood Revue, seeing all those stars doing .... odd stuff.

The Broadway Melody got points from me for the attempt at a story, albeit a story that might have been rather well worn. Anita Page and Bessie Love were cute though Charles King hardly seems to be love's young dream. At least I didn't pity the actors in The Broadway Melody as I did those in The Hollywood Revue.

The Hollywood Revue was one of the few times that I've found Jack Benny excruciatingly bad and I've always understood that Joan Crawford got her foot in the door of show biz as a dancer, though that's tough to swallow when seeing her in Hollywood Revue. I ached for John Gilbert when I heard his nervous laughter in that painful technicolor scene with Lionel Barrymore playing director to Norma Shearer and Gilbert's Romeo and Juliet bit. Even Marie Dressler, shackled to the ghastly Polly Moran, couldn't rise above the material she'd been given to play.

Btw, after seeing both these films, I have new-found respect for Busby Berkeley's ability to get a chorus line to move in unison. All in all, the first film was more successful, but the second one, with all its strange silences, weird edits (did we really need to see thirty seconds of the shadow of Conrad Nagel moving across the curtain as he left the stage?), and performers whose flop sweat still seeps from this film 80 years later makes this movie worthwhile. It was almost as though everyone was so nervous about sound they forgot all that they knew about making films.

Buster Keaton in drag !

Gosh, that was a perfect description of Hollywood Revue! And now I can finally say it... I love Jack Benny but he is awful here.

ken123 wrote:Buster Keaton in drag !

I wasn't going to mention that part. I tried to cover my eyes since I felt as though I was watching a terrible accident in slow motion. No wonder Buster drank.

JackFavell wrote:Gosh, that was a perfect description of Hollywood Revue! And now I can finally say it... I love Jack Benny but he is awful here.

Yeah, Jack always made fun of his movies in later life, though he seemed to save most of his self-mocking jokes for the highly enjoyable and quite imaginative The Horn Blows at Midnight. Maybe he rarely mentioned The Hollywood Revue because he just hoped people would forget it completely. Too bad it made history, so it will never go away.

I really adore Broadway Melody mainly for the irrepressible Bessie Love but I tried to watch Hollywood Revue last time it was on TCM almost two years ago (I still have it on my Tivo).

I ended up fast forwarding through much of it.

I tried to watch it again yesterday but just could not get into it despite all the great acts and actors.

Since I had the same problem before this time I can't blame it on the drugs or the pain.

Oh well, I keep it on my Tivo hoping I will one day be in the right mood to watch it all the way through at regular speed.

One day.

Lzcutter wrote:I really adore Broadway Melody mainly for the irrepressible Bessie Love but I tried to watch Hollywood Revue last time it was on TCM almost two years ago (I still have it on my Tivo).

I ended up fast forwarding through much of it.

I tried to watch it again yesterday but just could not get into it despite all the great acts and actors.

Since I had the same problem before this time I can't blame it on the drugs or the pain.

Oh well, I keep it on my Tivo hoping I will one day be in the right mood to watch it all the way through at regular speed.

One day.

No, no. Take the drugs and then watch The Hollywood Revue. I'm sure you'll get through it then.

Disclaimer: This poster is not advocating recreational drug use of any kind at any time in this post. Still, if one is already on them for legitimate medical reasons, why not make them useful and get the Tivo space freed up by reviewing old movies you find uncomfortable to watch when cold sober?

I've tried giving that thing, the Revue, a fair shake a couple of times, and it's still painful to watch.

The only reason I don't throw it in the kitchen trash is Ukulele Ike's ramp-up to "Singing in the Rain."

[I'd like to dupe it for my daughter-in-law and I so we can study his technique. I bought her a ukulele and one for myself a few New Years' ago and we make up the mighty ukulele section in our family band.]

That 'film' is a mass psychosis.

I've always wanted to watch The Hollywood Revue, even if it is excrutiating. I'm quite fond of The Broadway Melody.

Alison, I put both of them on one disc for you!

Ah, your such a sweetie Thank you

Yeah, well.... I screwed up Night of the Iguana....again.....

Well never mind, it'll get shown again some day.

No, no. Take the drugs and then watch The Hollywood Revue. I'm sure you'll get through it then.

Rats! I should have watched it last week when the drugs would have helped!