Hollywood Party

Dir(s): Richard Boleslawski, Allan Dwan, Edmund Goulding, Russell Mack, Roy Rowland, George Stevens, Sam Wood (all uncredited)

68 Minutes

USA

1934

Starring: Jimmy Durante, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jack Pearl, Polly Moran, Charles Butterworth, Eddie Quillan, Lupe Velez, Mickey Mouse

**/*****

Completely bonkers and bizarre variety film with a wafer thin plot that was basically constructed as an excuse to get all of these personalities and acts into the same hour. The basic "premise" (if any) is that Jimmy Durante, fresh off of a poorly reviewed Tarzan parody picture, hosts a party as a way to buy some tigers off of someone to give some spice to his next production. He falls asleep as his wife gets ready for the titular party, and dreams up these results. Tolerance for the film will depend primarily on reactions to the individual performers as they are basically all as expected (with an early appearance by The Three Stooges, and a late appearance by Laurel and Hardy who figure as the centerpiece draw according to the opening credits). And there is even a break for Jimmy Durante to hold up a party crashing Mickey Mouse before diving into a nightmarish cartoon about hot chocolate soldiers fighting gingerbread people. Bonus points for a moment where Jimmy Durante's face is superimposed onto the head of a horse. Ultimately the picture feels like a last gasp of pre-code excess, packing in absolutely as much material into as little time as possible (with no single directorial attribution) and hoping for the best.

April 27th, 2020