Forumrxes
Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
calvinnme
The first half of this film is a fast-paced comedy that seems to have promise. The story has Don Ameche as director Mike Conners, who spots Molly Hayden (Alice Faye) one day and thinks this great beauty could be a big star. He signs her to a contract and she is set to make her debut in a dramatic film. However, Buster Keaton is on the set, cast as Molly's romantic interest in the film. He hurls a custard pie at her and a food fight ensues. Mike has discovered a new form of cinema - slapstick comedy. Molly is his big star, but he is ignoring her personally. At the point where he decides to make Molly a big dramatic actress instead of a comedian, the film also goes from comedy to melodrama. It's not that the movie is bad drama, it's just after the humorous first half I was hoping for more of a humorous second half.This film is also notable for Buster Keaton's first appearance in an American-made feature film after he was fired from MGM in 1933. The intensity of Buster's pie attack on Alice Faye was quite a surprise to her. After the scene was shot apparently she grabbed her own pie and chased Keaton quite a distance before he could finally outrun her.
tavm
After about a year of this being on the "long wait" list on Netflix, the DVD was finally delivered a couple of days ago and I finally got to see this after about a couple of decades being curious about it because I read about Buster Keaton throwing a pie in the face of Alice Faye in his bio in an encyclopedia of movie comics called "Funsters". Seeing Keaton years after he seemed to have fallen on hard times due to his alcoholism was refreshing when he performs his silent antics especially when he does those pie scenes. Oh, and Ms. Faye does a nice tribute to Anita Garvin in The Battle of the Century when she falls on a pie. Don Ameche isn't bad as her director who guides her through slapstick comedies and then dramas but can't see the forest for the trees, if you know what I mean. Obviously, if you're familiar with silent movie history, you can see that Ms. Faye and Ameche are a mix of various celebrities from then but also Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand. Sennett himself cameos in a party scene making a speech on the fictional stars depicted. I did not notice James Finlayson-best known to me for his work with Laurel & Hardy-as one of the Keystone Cops. The silent comedy sequences were really well done. The dramatic scenes were okay. I'm guessing Al Jolson didn't recreate his blackface numbers from The Jazz Singer and instead did his stint as a cantor from that was because he already did those in a previous Faye picture called Rose of Washington Square. I'm obviously babbling now so on that note, I recommend Hollywood Cavalcade.
mark.waltz
In the same year's "Rose of Washington Square", the two stars of this movie played fictional versions of Fanny Brice and Billy Rose, with Tyrone Power as a re-named Nicky Arnstein. In "Hollywood Cavalcade", they are playing amalgamations of a variety of early movie making legends, most obviously Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand. Like "Rose", this film later was further explored as a Broadway musical-"Rose of Washington Square" was legitimized as "Funny Girl", and part of "Hollywood Cavalcade" became "Mack and Mabel".In "Hollywood Cavalcade", Don Ameche plays a variety of Hollywood creators rolled into one; Other than Sennett, bits of Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith are thrown in as well. Alice Faye could be anybody from Pearl White (the Serial Queen), Gloria Swanson, and Mary Pickford, in addition to Normand. The first half of the film is a tribute to Sennett and Normand with the creation of the first pie fight to the bathing beauties and Keystone Cops. The second half has Ameche's character taking a more serious look at his art, making romantic thrillers much like DeMille and an "Intolerance" like epic. Normand's drug usage is never explored, although Faye's character of Molly Adair goes through many tragedies and Ameche finds himself on the outs as his temperamental ways get the better of him.What doesn't work about this film is the usage of two different moods. The first is light-hearted; the second is much darker. Many of the great silent era comics (including Buster Keaton playing a fictionalized version of himself) appear or are mentioned (one heavyset character, only seen from the back, is referred to as "Roscoe", the real name of disgraced comic legend Fatty Arbuckle). The romance between Faye and Ameche is never really explored, although it is obvious that they both love each other in completely different ways. They are only reunited professionally because of Molly's admiration for her Svengali. This is an enjoyable film, with Ameche and Faye both photographing beautifully, but the convoluted screenplay is against them.
preppy-3
In 1913 New York City a prop man from Hollywood named Michael Connors (Don Ameche) convinces talented stage actress Molly Adair (Alice Faye) to come to Hollywood to become a star. She does and hits it big in silent comedies with Buster Keaton and the Keystone Cops (all appearing as themselves). She also falls in love with ridiculously handsome Nicky Hayden (Alan Curtis). Connors loves her too...but can't say it.Faye's first color film and she gives a good performance and looks great. Also there are black & white sequences of her doing comedy with Keaton and the cops--and they're actually pretty funny! Who knew Faye could do slapstick? The story is unbelievable from the start but it's breezy and cheerful with Faye, incredibly handsome Curtis and suave Ameche giving their all. There are also quite a few in jokes for silent film fans (I love it when Ameche casually says "Hi Roscoe"). SPOILER!!! Unfortunately it takes a sharp detour at the end where if becomes VERY melodramatic and somber including having a main character die (I have to admit I didn't see that coming). Still it's fun through most of its running time.I never even HEARD of this film until FOX played it recently. It's good that they're showing good old unknown films. BTW--this needs serious restoration. The b&w sequences look great but the color is badly faded (Faye's face looks pure white a few times!) and needs to be fixed.
