Going Hollywood
Encyclopedia
Going Hollywood is an American black-and-white
musical film directed by Raoul Walsh
, starring Marion Davies
and Bing Crosby
, written by Donald Ogden Stewart
, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. The film tells the story of Sylvia (Davies
), a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find love. When she hears Bill Williams (Crosby
) on the radio, she decides to go visit and thank him. However, difficult problems lay ahead when Lili (Fifi D'Orsay
) gets in the way.
The film is known by a variety of different named throughout the world. During production, the filmis working title was Paid to Laugh (later Paid to Love). The film is also known as: Af sted til Hollywood in Denmark
, Amores en Hollywood in Spain
, Auf ins Paradies! in Austria
, Cinderella's Fella in Australia
, Kärlek efter noter Sweden
, Nyhtes sto Hollywood, Greece
and Verso hollywood Italy
.
A review by TCM http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=33222&category=Articles said:
Sanderson Beck http://www.san.beck.org/MM/1933/GoingHollywood.html said:
Dennis Schwartz from Ozus' World Movie Reviews http://www.sover.net/~ozus/goinghollywood.htm had a more humble view:
Edward Lorusso of The Midnight Palace http://www.midnightpalace.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56 had a similar view:
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
musical film directed by Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
, starring Marion Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, written by Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart was an American author and screenwriter.-Life:His hometown was Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University, where he became a brother to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity , in 1916 and was in the Naval Reserves in World War I.After the war he started to write and found...
, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. The film tells the story of Sylvia (Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
), a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find love. When she hears Bill Williams (Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
) on the radio, she decides to go visit and thank him. However, difficult problems lay ahead when Lili (Fifi D'Orsay
Fifi D'Orsay
-Biography:Born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier in Montreal, Quebec, as a young typist, filled with the desire to become an actress, she went to New York City. There, she found work in The Greenwich Village Follies after an audition in which she sang the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas' in French...
) gets in the way.
The film is known by a variety of different named throughout the world. During production, the filmis working title was Paid to Laugh (later Paid to Love). The film is also known as: Af sted til Hollywood in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Amores en Hollywood in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Auf ins Paradies! in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Cinderella's Fella in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Kärlek efter noter Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Nyhtes sto Hollywood, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Verso hollywood Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Cast
- Marion DaviesMarion DaviesMarion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
- Sylvia Bruce - Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
- Bill 'Billy' Williams - Fifi D'OrsayFifi D'Orsay-Biography:Born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier in Montreal, Quebec, as a young typist, filled with the desire to become an actress, she went to New York City. There, she found work in The Greenwich Village Follies after an audition in which she sang the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas' in French...
- Lili Yvonne - Stuart ErwinStuart ErwinStuart Erwin was an American actor. Erwin began acting in college in the 1920s, first appearing on the stage, then breaking into films in 1928 in Mother Knows Best...
- Ernest Pratt Baker, Picture Producer - Ned SparksNed SparksNed Sparks was a Canadian character actor. Sparks was well known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice.-Early life and career:...
- Mr. Bert Conroy, Director - Patsy KellyPatsy KellyPatsy Kelly was an American stage and film comedic actress.-Early life and career:Kelly was born Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly in Brooklyn, New York to Irish immigrants, John and Delia Kelly, and made her Broadway debut in 1928...
- Jill Barker - Bobby WatsonBobby WatsonBobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
- Jack Thompson, the Press Agent - Three Radio Rogues - Group Performing Imitations
- Eddie Bartell - One of the Three Radio Rogues (as Three Radio Rogues)
- Jimmy Hollywood - One of the Three Radio Rogues (as Three Radio Rogues)
- Henry Taylor - One of the Three Radio Rogues (as Three Radio Rogues)
Soundtrack
- Going Hollywood - Bing Crosby at the railroad station
- Our Big Love Scene - Bing Crosby
- Beautiful Girl - Bing Crosby, first performed in the movie Stage MotherStage Mother (film)Stage Mother is a 1933 American musical drama. A backstage musical, the film follows the story of Kitty Lorraine, a frustrated vaudeville performer who pushes her daughter into becoming a star dancer. Selfishness, deceit and blackmail drive mother and daughter apart until a last-reel reconciliation...
. - Just an Echo in the Valley - Bing Crosby
- We'll Make Hay While the Sun Shines - Bing Crosby and Marion Davies and chorus
- Cinderella's Fella - Fifi D'Orsay, reprised by Marion Davies
- Happy Days Are Here Again
- When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain - Jimmy Hollywood
- You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)- Henry Taylor imitating Russ ColumboRuss ColumboRuggiero Eugenio di Rodolpho Colombo , known as Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune, "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words", and the legend surrounding his early...
- Remember Me - Jimmy Hollywood
- My Time Is Your Time - Jimmy Hollywood
- After Sundown - Bing Crosby
- Temptation - Bing Crosby
Film Connections
- The film is referenced in Singin' in the RainSingin' in the RainSingin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
(1952) - The film is featured in:
- That's Entertainment!That's Entertainment!That's Entertainment! is a 1974 compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It was followed by two sequels and a related film called That's Dancing!....
(1974) - That's Entertainment, Part IIThat's Entertainment, Part IIThat's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 motion picture by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary That's Entertainment!. Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s...
(1976) - Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998) (TV)
- Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001) (TV)
Critical Respose
A review by TV Guide http://movies.tvguide.com/going-hollywood/124720 described the film as:- "Fluffy fun, featuring Crosby in his first MGM film and Davies in one of her best performances. She's an attractive French teacher who follows aspiring crooner Crosby to Hollywood to save him from the clutches of the egotistical D'Orsay. You can probably guess the rest. Director Walsh handled the production with the brisk pace that was to become his trademark. Crosby, in collegiate sweaters, spectator shoes and white golf pants, is the essence of the casual crooner. He sings one of his biggest early-day hits, "Temptation." The production was lavishly sponsored by Cosmopolitan Productions, the filmmaking arm of newspaper czar William Randolph Hearst, who allowed his leading lady and mistress Davies all the luxuries of an empress during the film's leisurely production schedule.
- The literate and amusing screenplay was written by Stewart, a witty Hollywood scribe of the Robert Benchley school, and the supporting cast for GOING HOLLYWOOD is solid with Sparks as the cynical film director, Erwin as the bumbling producer, Hayton as the versatile pianist and conductor, and slapstick galore from scene-stealing, wisecracking Kelly in her film debut after several smashing successes on Broadway. The film, when finally released, was an enormous success and transformed Crosby into a top ten box-office attraction."
A review by TCM http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=33222&category=Articles said:
- "Crosby's voice, however, never falters. He is at his absolute best in numbers like "Beautiful Girl" and the title number, which is set in Grand Central Station. In a memorable Oz meets Oklahoma dream sequence, Davies and Crosby parade through cellophane sunflowers to "We'll Make Hay While the Sun Shines." The finale is also a showstopper, with a deco backdrop that becomes a towering orchestra pit and Davies and Crosby's reunion to "Our Big Love Scene." "
Sanderson Beck http://www.san.beck.org/MM/1933/GoingHollywood.html said:
- "Some fine songs highlight this story of the temperamental star replaced by the young and hungry girl in both career and romance. The wit of Jill, the frustration of Conroy, the sincerity of Ernest, and the electricians' radio satire tend to outshine the main plot, showing that it's not always the stars that carry the picture. Sometimes the picture carries them."
Dennis Schwartz from Ozus' World Movie Reviews http://www.sover.net/~ozus/goinghollywood.htm had a more humble view:
- "It never amounts to more than a programmer, but it's entertaining fluff."
Edward Lorusso of The Midnight Palace http://www.midnightpalace.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56 had a similar view:
- "While Going Hollywood is not usually ranked among the decade’s best musicals, it seems now to be a botched effort by MGM at making a major musical (MGM also reversed directions with Hollywood Party, another ambitious musical that was reduced to nonsense despite a terrific cast) with Marion Davies and Bing Crosby. But at 78 minutes it seems clear that the film was scaled back, especially when there are three sequences that seem truncated. Oddly the three sequences all featured Davies. One wonders why her scenes would have been eliminated, especially since Hearst and others were always watchful of a co-star stealing a film from Davies. Still, Going Hollywood remains an enjoyable romp with great songs delivered by Crosby at the peak of his singing career. And the narrative structure and use of dreams vs. temptation is fascinating."