4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
You might want to stick with Fred Allen on the radio, but Tom Breneman was on the dial, too, if you're interested, January 16, 2009
It creaks. It huffs and puffs. Its jokes are so lame they need crutches. It so carefully replicates the popular radio show it was based on that it's excruciatingly artificial at times. Still, even though both the radio show and the movie, both titled Breakfast in Hollywood, are long forgotten, as is Tom Breneman, the smooth radio host responsible for both, the movie has a few good points if you're in an easy-going mood.
The radio show was hugely popular in the mid-Forties. Tom Breneman would wander through the audience which was seated at tables in a large restaurant, mike in hand, chatting up the middle-aged and older ladies, trading jokes and quips, kissing cheeks, awarding an orchid to the oldest woman there and putting on the silliest hat he could find. He was a master interviewer, completely shameless at chortling over his own jokes, and skillful at almost but not quite leading the ladies to make fools of themselves. He had a good thing going on radio, so why not try a movie? All he needed was a plot gimmick.
So we have the stories of several people who come to Breakfast in Hollywood one morning for the show, we see the show and then we see what happens to them after the show, with Breneman playing comforter and matchmaker. Among them are Dorothy Larson (Bonita Granville), young, sweet and looking for her Navy boyfriend; Elvira Spriggens (Zasu Pitts), feather-brained and wearing a hat that looks like a cross between a small dinosaur and a plumbing fixture; Mrs. Annie Reed (Beulah Bondi), a wise old woman who owns Tippy, her little dog who has the croup; and Ken Smith (Edward Ryan), a nice kid soon to be out of the Navy who by chance scores a ticket to the program from Tom Breneman himself. Everything comes together in a collection of contented (and one romantic) conclusions. In an odd way, watching Breneman, a radio man to his finger tips -- completely assured, smoothly working in all those planned ad libs, cozying and comforting and pleasing all the middle-aged ladies in his audience, laughing so easily at his own jokes and at the funny situations he puts others in -- is to witness a part of American radio history.
For those who aren't enthusiastic about radio history, you'll also be able to see some of the guest artists Breneman always had on this program. So you can enjoy Nat Cole and the King Cole Trio doing "It's Better To Be Yourself" and swinging "Solid Potato Salad" (although carefully segregated in a nightclub with no connection to either the movie or the radio show setting); Andy Russell crooning "If I Had a Wishing Ring," "Magic is the Moonlight" and "Amour, Amour, Amour;" and, best of all, Spike Jones and His City Slickers. For all those who may remember him only as a collection of honkers and washboards, Jones was a first-class musician who knew what he was doing with his musical parodies. Enjoy "The Glow Worm" and, especially, "A Hat for Hedda Hopper."
Breakfast in Hollywood is in the public domain. It's not in very good shape. Breneman, incidentally, died at the height of his program's popularity, two years after this movie was released in 1946. He was 47. The program staggered on with guest hosts but he was key to its popularity. Soon it was cancelled. In my opinion, you'd need to be a radio scholar or a great fan of Tom Breneman's to get your money's worth at more than three or four dollars.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Grand Hollywood was in the 1930 & 40's., January 27, 2007
This review is from: Breakfast in Hollywood (DVD)
Anyone who has ever visited Hollywood and wakled down Vine St will find the ruins of Tom Breneman's famous Hollywood restaurant. (The Parking lot across the street was where the famous Brown Derby stood until 1984). From 1940 until Mr. Breneman's untimely death in 1948 Mr. Breneman hosted inside the restaurant the mega popular morning radio show "Breakfast in Hollywood". Often radio listeners would be surprised by Mr.Breneman who would reveal some major movie star who was in attendence such as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, or Judy Garland. During WWII Mr. Breneman frequently gave free parties to servicemen on their way to and from the Pacific. This movie was made in 1946. This movie is did not transfer to DVD very well. Sound quality is at times poor and scratchy. Bonita Granville is at her loveliest in the movie and 40's crooner Andy Russell belts out some catchy tunes. You also get an early in his career appearence by Nat King Cole and another musical number by Spike Jones and his City Slickers. The DVD also includes a bonus episode of the 1950's episode of the tv show " You Asked For it ". On it host Art Baker takes the audience on a tour of 1954 Hollywood including homes of the stars. This movie is a monument to the great Hollywood , both industry and city, of the 1930's and 40's., it is such a sad and mediocre place today. You can visit Tom Breneman's grave on findagrave(dot.)com
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
'THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF LIVE TALK RADIO.", October 20, 2008
This review is from: Breakfast in Hollywood (DVD)
STOP! LET ME QUALIFY MY 4 STAR RATING. I'VE BEEN A RADIO FAN SINCE I WAS 6 YEARS OLD. (RADIO DRAMA'S,SITCOMS,INTERVIEWS+MY OWN SHOW. I ALSO SUPPLIED KSFO IN THE EARLY 70'S WITH OTR.)
THE AVERAGE PERSON WOULD PROBABLY RATE THIS FILM 1 OR 2 STAR'S. TOM BRENEMAN WAS A RADIO
PERSONALITY. HE AND HIS BUSINESS PARTNER GOT THE IDEA FROM A WAITRESS TO USE HUMOR AND
INTERVIEWS AT A WELL KNOWN RESTAURANT IN THE MORNING. HE DEALT WITH MOSTLY OLDER WOMEN
AND SOME CELEBRITIES. ONE OF THE GIMMICKS WAS HAVING A CONTEST ON WHO WORE THE MOST
OUTRAGEOUS HAT. THE JOKES ARE AWFUL. BUT, THE MUSIC BRINGS UP THE RATING. THERE IS,NAT
(KING)COLE(2 SONGS.) ANDY (ANDREAS PEREZ)RUSSELL(3 SONGS WHICH INCLUDES HIS BIG HIT,"AMOR".
ALSO, SPIKE JONES&CITYSLICKERS(2 SONGS???) THERE IS A CUTE/CORNY LOVE STORY + BILLIE BURK'S
HUSBAND HAVING AN AFFAIR. 44 MINUTES INTO THE FILM THE SOUND GETS DISTORTED FOR 20 MINUTES.
BUT, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND 90% OF THE DIALOGUE. LUCKILY THE MUSIC IS UNTOUCHED BY THE OVER
BLOWN SOUND.
TOM BRENEMAN DIED (HEART ATTACK.) ABOUT A YEAR LATER AT THE AGE OF 46.
THIS IS A VERY CORNY MOVIE. BUT, NOSTALGIA FANS WILL RELIVE WHAT MOST OF US FELT WERE THE
SWEET GOOD OLD DAY'S.
BONUS;"YOU ASKED FOR IT" WITH HOST ART BAKER. THE TOUR THROUGH HOLLYWOOD IS A GREAT
SEGMENT. TOTAL TIME; 117 MINUTES.
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