Product Details

• Actors: Eddie Acuff, Don Barclay, Benny Goodman, Curt Bois, William B. Davidson
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001A5ES7U
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,229 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/16/2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well made farce in neat package, November 13, 2008

By	Douglas M - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"Hollywood Hotel" was maybe the last of the bug budget musicals from Warner Brothers in the thirties. The cycle was running out of steam, particularly when the Hays Code removed the sting in the screenplays and finally when Dick Powell, fed up with playing singing ninnies, left the studio. This one is based on a radio show of the same name, hosted by Hearst gossip columnist Louella Parsons. The film is a spoof of stardom with Lola Lane playing a temperamental star and Powell trying to get a break. As farce, the film is quite amusing, the highlight being the really hilarious performance by Alan Mowbray as a ham leading man. He steals the film.

Here are some points to note:

- Rosemary Lane plays the ingenue opposite Powell. Lane has charm to spare and a spirited presence but her trained soprano does not lend itself to the pop tunes. Her singing voice grates.
- the songs from Johnny Mercer are not memorable with 2 exceptions. Both "Hooray for Hollywood" and "Let that be a lesson for you" have bouncy arrangements and dynamic visuals with Busby Berkeley flying around on his boom. The lyrics are tossed around too and this really makes them energetic and entertaining.
- Benny Goodman's band appears and Harry James solos some choruses.
- Louella Parsons grins her role, sure determined to convince us she is a nice person, which she was decidely not.
- Ronald Reagan and Carole Landis are clearly visible in bit parts.

The print is in great condition and there are quite a few extras. The short film with Edgar Bergin and Charlie McCarthy is typical dated fare and the technicolour short on Robbie Burns is horrible but the cartoon is good fun with Porky Pig in an imaginative fantasy which manages to tie into the film and its songs cleverly. The original trailer is of unusual interest too because it contains a chorus of Frances Langford which does not appear in the film (you can see where it has been cut when you view the film) and an alternative take of the finale.

The DVD is best value if purchased as part of the second set of the films of Busby Berkeley.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars it's enough to make me grab a saxophone and head on out to Hollywood, March 5, 2009

By	Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Hollywood Hotel has plenty of action--and terrific swing music especially with Benny Goodman and His Band in tow! The plot moves along pretty quickly although they could have edited out some footage; at times the plot has too many complications. The acting is very convincing with the exception of Mabel Todd who plays Dot Marshall, the kid sister of famous Hollywood actress Mona Marshall (Lola Lane). Mabel overacts and director Busby Berkeley should have told her to tone it down; watching Mabel do the role of Dot Marshall gets on my nerves. On the other hand the cinematography is excellent and the choreography works very well.

When the action starts, we get that remarkably famous, timeless ode to Tinsel Town entitled "Hooray For Hollywood" performed by Benny Goodman, his band and some musicians who were born to ham it up by belting out this tune! We quickly discover that the band is at the airport to give a send-off to their saxophone player Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell). Ronnie has a ten week contract with All Star Studios in Hollywood and although Ronnie doubts he'll reach stardom he's pretty excited anyway.

Once in Hollywood, however, things don't go so well for poor Ronnie. The big Hollywood star Mona Marshall (Lola Lane) is frantically planning her big appearance that night at the Hollywood premiere of her latest picture with co-star Alexander DuPrey (Alan Mowbray), but when Mona finds out that she has lost the coveted role in the upcoming movie production of "Bitter Night" she throws a huge tantrum and refuses to attend the premiere. All Star Studio head 'B.L.' Faulkin (Grant Mitchell) tries to convince Mona that she's too good for "Bitter Night" but Mona boycotts the premiere. The studio itself panics and hires a Mona Marshall look-alike named Virginia Stanton (Rosemary Lane) to pose as Mona Marshall--and then they hand-pick Ronnie to escort the person he thinks is Mona Marshall to the premiere.

Ronnie becomes smitten with "Mona," who is, of course, really Virginia; and they begin a romance that gets complicated by misunderstandings and more. Eventually, at least some things gets straightened out even though Mona has them both banned from All Star Studios.

Other things can go wrong; and so the plot can go anywhere from here. Ronnie finds work as a singing waiter at a drive-in coffee shop; but when a director at All Star wants Ronnie to dub songs for Alexander DuPrey there could be trouble and heavy politics if Mona ever finds out that Ronnie is back at All Star. How did Mona get her way about having Ronnie banned from All Star in the first place? Moreover, what happens when Virginia poses as Mona, picks up DuPrey at his home and takes him in her car supposedly to the Hollywood Hotel for a radio show appearance? What about "Fuzzy" (Ted Healy), the man Ronnie hires to be his agent--will "Fuzzy" do a good job and get Ronnie work? Watch the movie and find out!

Some of the best moments in the picture come when we are treated to seeing Benny Goodman and His Band perform both at the beginning and closer to the end of the picture. They do a rousing rendition of "Sing Sing Sing" and Frances Langford appears as a singer for Raymond Paige and His Orchestra. Great! Louella Parsons plays herself in this film. The other songs, including "I'm A Fish Out Of Water," are generally quite sweet and they come throughout the film.

The DVD comes with a few extras. We get a Porky Pig cartoon and another bonus feature that has some vaudeville act footage. There's also am extra bonus that features Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

Overall, Hollywood Hotel is a fine motion picture that suffers a bit from too much going on at once. I think Warner Brothers wanted to turn out a wild, jam packed full of action film with well written, snappy lines but they overdid it; the plot suffers from an occasional manic spell every once in a while. It remains one of the better films from this era, though, and I do recommend it for fans of the actors in this film and director Busby Berkeley.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood Hotel, December 20, 2008

By	S. Meals "Opera Geek" (Fairmont, MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love Hollywood Hotel! It's a wonderfully silly, typically inane Dick Powell musical that's missing only Ruby Keeler. It has little in the way of plot, but it has Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, and Harry James. The BG Orchestra plays "Sing, Sing, Sing," and the Quartet plays "I've Got a Heart Full of Music." These come at about the 78 minute mark, and are worth the price of admission.