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Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Posted By: ChumPaa
Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
A Film by Irving Cummings
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC | MPEG 2 | 4:3 | 1h 36min | 720x480 | 29.97 fps | AC3 2ch 192Kbps
Lang: English | Subs: English, French, Spanish | Cover + Extras | 6.51 GB
Genre: Comedy | Drama | History

IMDB
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
Directed by: Irving Cummings
Starring: Alice Faye, Don Ameche, J. Edward Bromberg, Alan Curtis, Stuart Erwin

Storyline: Michael Linnett Connors takes Molly Adair from Broadway understudy to 1913 Hollywood star. Although she is in love with him, she marries her co-star reckoning wrongly Connors thinks of her only in terms of movies. He fires her in pique, apparently terminally damaging his career.
bobc-5 at IMDB wrote:
It's 1913. A studio prop boy spies the actress who is going to become Hollywood's next great movie star and he's the director that's going to make it happen. After inventing pie throwing and the keystone cops, his dream comes true. Being completely absorbed in his film-making, however, he fails to notice that he is losing his leading lady to another man. Several over-budget flops later, he is known as nothing more than the director who turned down Rin-tin-tin. Fortunately for him, the loyal and compassionate residents of Hollywood are untainted by ambition and ego. He'll be okay as long as he still has his friends.

This movie starts out as a mad-cap comedy typical of the time period, and in the opening scenes it holds its own with the best of them. It has a playful lack of self-consciousness which is sorely missing in most of today's comedies. Shortly into the film, however, it moves away from this mode of comedy and instead attempts to entertain us using the films within the film. These are silent slapstick comedies, well done but nothing out of the ordinary, and they go on for much longer than is necessary for any audience which has seen the originals. Upon returning, the film takes a dramatic turn. It's well written and the cast does an excellent job of making the transition, but the movie really should have decided from the beginning what it was going to be.

By the end of the film, it has transformed once again - this time into a paean to the glitter of Hollywood. The small town of Los Angeles has grown up into the city which makes the movies that entertain the whole world.

In spite of its promising beginnings, this film has not aged particularly well. Nevertheless, it does have some strong scenes, a certain nostalgic appeal, and an entertaining sub-text about the people who made it and the audiences it was made for.
Screenshots:

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

DVD Special Features:
* Hollywood Cavalcade: The Silent Dream
* Buster Keaton: Head Over Heels in Hollywood
* Hello Roscoe: The Fate of Fatty Arbuckle
* Outtakes
* Fox Movietonews: The Hollywood Cavalcade Premiere
* Restoration Comparison
* Advertising Gallery
* Still Gallery