Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Mark Honhorst Like the cover states, it has everything! It has Jimmy Durante fighting lions, Laurel and Hardy, musical numbers, laughs, Mickey Mouse, and even the Three Stooges (with Ted Healy) appear as reporters. We also get a color Disney animated short, a funny scene featuring Laurel and Hardy, Lupe Velez, broken eggs, and a revealing dress, not to mention the naked shadow of a woman's breast. This movie is so typical of the 30s upper class lifestyle, it almost felt like I was transported to that time period. This is one of those movies that I mainly like just for the look of it. Sure it has almost no plot whatsoever, but you could say that about almost any "party" film. Overall, it's just a really fun movie. And for a little bonus- check out the outfits on some of the ladies. Yowza!

John T. Ryan WE CAN WELL remember thinking of what a great movie that it would be to have something with a title like THE 3 STOOGES MEET THE MARX BROTHERS (or visa-versa with the billing). This writer was about 11 or 12 years old at the time; not realizing the impossibility of such a teaming. The movie would call for having the heart of the Stooges Act (Curly Howard)being brought back to life and even though all of the Marx Brothers were still with us, they were all busy with their own projects and had surely been slowed down by both Mother Nature and Father Time.HAVING ALL OF the principals aforementioned could well have appeared in this HOLLWOOD PARTY (MGM. 1934)had it been made in the following Anno Domini 1935. This was the first year of the the MGM-Marx Alliance; the Boys having been given pink-slips from Paramount following a poor Box Office showing from their feature, DUCK SOUP (Paramount, 1933). The absurd notion of teaming them would not have materialized; but at least, they would be in the same cast, without sharing any scenes.THE PROJECT THAT did materialize was not much less absurd than my childhood brainstorm; although it did have the the advantage of having the use of the vast and impressive MGM stable of contract players. This was an array of talent once referred to as having: "More Stars Than There Are In Heaven!" THIS MOST DISJOINTED and disorganized cinematic romp was not what one could call a total misfire; but it did prove that it takes more than just a lot of on screen "Stars" to make for a hit, let alone a critically approved (if not acclaimed) movie. As the story (such as it is) unfolds, we are plagued by just one question. WHY? WHY,INDEED DID such an undertaking escape out of MGM's entertainment factory and get into the Real (not Reel) World? ON THE RATHER slim, positive side of things, like just about any movie (except maybe DONDI), there are some likable and positive elements here. For one, the unbilled presence of Ted Healy and the Three Stooges (a very youthful Howar-Fine-Howard combo). They make the most of their thin, nearly thread-bare scene as movie fans seeking autographs. Their then mentor/punishment dispenser, Ted Healy, portrays an also unbilled newspaper reporter.THE APPEARANCE OF veteran stage comedian, Jack Pearl, portraying his perennially very Germanic Baron Munchausen, proves to be very amusing and a true bright spot in the dismal proceedings. This is conditionally endorsed as a positive, considering that the Baron is minus long time straight man, Cliff Hall*, and seems completely out of synch with even this bizarre storyline.IN A SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT with Walt Disney, there is an odd inclusion of MICKEY MOUSE and a special Technicolor short cartoon, HOT CHOCOLATE SOLDIERS.** This is very enjoyable, but even with Mickey's popularity, it only adds to the peculiarity of the film.IT DOOES APPEAR that the movie may well have been primarily a vehicle to both promote and exploit Mr. Durante. Jimmy had been touted as the embodiment of the "New Breed" of Comedians for the Sound Era; but did experience some setback following an unsuccessful teaming with the Silent Screen's "Great Stone Face", Buster Keaton.FOR OUR MONEY, the very best element of the movie is the sequence featuring Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy locked in an egg smashing mêlée with the Mexican Spitfire herself, Lupe Velez. It is basic,inspired and perfectly timed and played. The whole bit is pure "Reciprocal Destruction" and classic Laurel & Hardy at its best.THIS "RECIPROCAL DESTRUCTION" shtick was developed by Leo McCarrey and his boss, Producer & Studio Head, Hal Roach. The principal is in evidence in so many of the various classic L & H comedies; as well as in those of Charley Chase, Thelma Todd/Zasu Pitts/Patsy Kelly and others, even OUR GANG. The "Reciprocal Destruction" mode basically turns many an older idea of break-neck speed application of a multitude of gaffs and slow things down; allowing the 'milking' of one single gag into a multitude of laughs.ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, this movie, MGM's Hollywood PARTY, is one that we all should see, at least once-if only for the first hand experience.NOTE: * Mr. Cliff Hall did some early TV work, later in his career. He portrayed Horatio Frisby on the JOHNNY JUPITER kids series; but is best remembered as the Head Racoon to Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton's Racoon Lodge on THE HONEYMOONERS Series. NOTE: ** The appearance of Mickey Mouse, as well as the HOT CHOCOLATE SOLDIERS sequence do not appear in some of the older TV prints of the movie and in some early VHS copies. This was due to their copyright owner, Disney, wouldn't allow them to be used beyond the original, theatrical showings. We presume that some $$$$ rectified the situation.

sol1218 (Some Spoilers) Jimmy Durane who's become world famous as the wild and untamed jungle man Schnarzan is starting to lose his popularity with the movie going public. In that the man eating lions he uses in his Schnarzan movies aren't at all believable as man eaters. In an effort to get back on top of the charts Durante is determined to get famed big game hunter Baron Munchausen's real ferocious man eating lions to be in his latest movie to make his role as Schnarzan the fearless come across as the real deal. The one problem Durante has is that his biggest rival in the movies fellow jungle man Liondora is also interested in getting the Baron's lions for is movies as well! It's now a battle of the two jungle men to get the Baron's lions and Durante jumps the gun by throwing a big Hollywood Party in the Barons honor. But the cagey Liondora has other ideas. He's planning to crash the party disguised , with only a mustache, as a Grand Royal Duke and steal the Baron's lions from right under, no pun intended, Jimmy Durante's nose.Wild and crazy fun at the party to end all parties which in fact in being one of the last Hollywood movies released before the Hayes Commission came into power in laying down the law of what to and not to, in regards to sex and moral related scenes, put into movies it got away with things that the American movie going public wouldn't be expose to in almost 30 years. Like the skimpy outfit that Lupe Velez the jungle woman and Schnarzan mate wore as well a the hot and heavy as well as hilarious love scenes between the Royal Duke aka Liondora with Henrietta Clemp the wife of multi-millionaire oil man Harvey Clemp. There's also a color cartoon called "The Cohc-late Soldiers" introduced by Mickey Mouse who like Liondora crashed the party and, with the female guests running for their lives, almost started a riot.***SPOILERS*** It's Stan & Oilie, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, who really brought the roof down at Jimmy's Hollywood party in exposing the Baron as a deadbeat in stiffing them with check for 50,000 tidily winks, not US currency, that he bought the lion off them that bounced. In the end Jimmy Durante aka Scharzan got his wish as well as the man eating lions who, with the help of Stan & Oille, broke out of their cages and caused holy havoc all over the place. Durante while trying to impress Mrs.Clemp with his both Schnarzan jungle cry as well as his lion fighting abilities unwittingly ends up being attacked and dragged down a flight of stairs by one of the escaped Baron's man eating lions. It's then that Jimmy finally comes to his senses with the big surprise ending that he as well as the audience gets in the movies finial shocking and gut crunching minutes!

bkoganbing Hollywood Party is a strange film to be coming out of that Tiffany of studios MGM. Louis B. Mayer's operation specialized in high gloss drama and sophisticated comedy. This product would have been more like something from RKO or Hal Roach. Paramount with its Big Broadcast series and International House was also far more likely to have made a film like Hollywood Party.But make it they did and Hollywood Party has that same surreal quality of International House. With about eight directors and about six writers involved it would have been guaranteed to be surreal like. There's no real plot to it, Hollywood's number one heart throb, the body beautiful from those Schnarzan films throws a blowout and invites whom he can. The body beautiful, the one and only Schnarzan is of course Jimmy Durante.You know a film like this is going to be lots of fun. When you get the great Durante, the Three Stooges, and Laurel&Hardy in one film, the great stone face of New Hampshire will chuckle.My favorites in this are Stan and Ollie who are dealers in wholesale jungle animals and crash the party to collect their bill from Jack Pearl as Baron Munchausen. The two of them get involved with an angry Lupe Velez who's been cut off by the bartender and they get into a slapstick duel. Can you imagine the Mexican Spitfire with Stan Laurel, turn that one over in your minds.Charles Butterworth and Polly Moran play a nouveau rich oil millionaire and George Givot plays a fake baron/gigolo trying to promote himself with Moran. Lupe is also Jane to Durante's Schnarzan which audiences today might not get the whole gist of that joke since she was married to Johnny Weissmuller then.All in all it's great fun and at the very end you'll see why the film has the surreal quality it does. No plot, just a lot of good gags and many laughs. This is one you can't go wrong with.