LeonLouisRicci
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.
Ralph Schiller
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.
Ron Oliver
THE Hollywood REVUE OF 1929 allows some important Silent stars to exercise their vocal chords.Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood's mightiest film studio, bowed to the inevitability of sound with this cinematic variety show which highlighted performances from most of their top talent. (Conspicuous by their absence are Garbo, Chaney & Novarro, each of whom would make their talkie debut elsewhere.) Like all the other studios, it was vitally important for box-office reasons that MGM establish the viability of their top performers in the new medium, even though some of those appearing here would find their film careers swept away almost immediately.This should be looked on as a representative of its time. Much of the humor is now flat and a few of the performances sag badly, but it should be remembered that this is a cinematic collection of scared individuals, desperate to make good in the frightening new world of talk.Naturally, MGM's own in-house composers are heavily relied upon in the film, with the tunes of Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed and Joe Goodwin & Gus Edwards much in evidence.Highlights include songs by Marie Dressler, a dance by Buster Keaton and Cliff Edwards' "Singing in the Rain."
dapolloni
This film will not get a good reception from most modern audiences, and certainly much of the film shows its seventy plus years, but this is a delight for some of us who see the '20s as a golden age, and this movie as a small window into it. It is also a humble reminder that in seventy-five years or so, what we consider entertainment will hold little or no interest to mass audiences. If you are familiar at all with who the people are (Jack Benny, Joan Crawford, Cliff Edwards, Buster Keaton, etc.), the film is worth seeing. All of these people were one of a kind, not to be replicated by big name performers of today (great stars in their own right, but sorry, folks, they just don't have the class!). Just to see Joan Crawford as a young and beautiful woman is worth watching the film!Technically, of course, the movie is what it says it is--a revue--intended to show audiences that their favorite silent stars can function in the new medium of sound. That purpose fulfilled (more or less), the film now might seem to have no point. The passage of time and the loss of context have made some of the humor corny (a term, by the way, from that period). The editing is clumsy (we have learned from their mistakes), but the personages themselves, and some of the song and dance, are better than anything we have today, and could not be duplicated. I'd rather watch this than anything on the screen now.
AD
