TheLittleSongbird Hollywood Revue is an uneven and imperfect film and lacks the gloss of other musicals later on, however it is a very interesting historical document and I for one found it an entertaining film. Anyone who has a fondness for early Hollywood, MGM musicals, the numerous who's-who of talent on display and programmes high in variety are likely to get a kick out of Hollywood Revue, though understandably as seen with some of the reviews here there will be those who'll find it not to their tastes.The film does have crude editing in places, like in the Joan Crawford number Gotta Feelin' for You, and as with a lot of variety shows/revues not all the skits/scenes work. My least favourites were the ones with Joan Crawford and Marion Davies, Crawford looks painfully uncomfortable and Davies' is sung rather weakly and a little tedious, Your Mother and Mine is well sung but over-caked in sentiment and the song is on the dull side. Orange Blossom Time felt a little overblown and under-rehearsed. This is all personal opinion of course.On the other hand, Hollywood Revue has a lot to like, and most of the skits do work very well. A lot of it does look lovely, Singin' In the Rain's set is simple but looks lovely and there is some very clever camera work in I Never Knew I Could Do a Thing Like That with cute Bessie Love. Much of it is lavishly stage and expertly directed by Carl Reisner, while the dialogue still is humorous and while plot less the film has a great deal of fun and charm. Of the skits/numbers, personal favourites were the spectacular Singin' in the Rain, the rousing Strike Up the Band, the absolutely hilarious Tableau of the Jewels with Buster Keaton and the charming Fountain in the Park. Marie Dressler is clearly enjoying herself and is a lot of fun and while John Gilbert's bleaty voice is enough to make one wince the Romeo and Juliet number entertains with an alluring Norma Shearer and a fun Lionel Barrymore. Laurel and Hardy are a delight to see but their skit should have been longer.In conclusion, a film that is worth seeing for more than historical interest. It's uneven and won't work for a number of people but when it works it is very good and should provides much delight. 8/10 Bethany Cox

MitchEdwards65 I own this DVD and Gus Edwards is my great great uncle whoever did the description and redid the description need to watch the show . Gus Edwards produced almost all the music in the show.He was also in several of the acts in the show as well.When you watch the closing credits clear as day it says music by Gus Edwards! Is this some kind of a sick joke. BY not giving Gus Edwards the credit is a form of slander!The man has been dead since 1945 but shouldn't be correct?Before making statements and falsifying information maybe it wouldn't hurt to watch the show.I have a screen shot of the closing credits and as clear as day it says MUSIC BY GUS EDWARDS!!!!!why is this sight altering that ?I wish there was a way to upload onto this site!!!

mark.waltz Every MGM star but Garbo got an opportunity to display hidden talents in Mr. Mayer's answer to the need of musical revues at the beginning of the sound era. Like Warner Brothers' "Show of Shows", Fox's "Movie Tone Follies", Universal's "King of Jazz" and "Paramount on Parade", this is filled with lavish songs and dances, dramatic scenes from plays, and a mixed bag of comedy routines. This one came first, however, and introduced the Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed standard, "Singin' in the Rain", here performed by Cliff "Ukeilele Ike" Edwards ("Pinocchio's" Jimminy Cricket) and later reprised in a large Noah's Ark setting with the entire cast (including a parasol twirling Marie Dressler) in the finale.Joan Crawford gets a hot dance number, showing what she had done in silent movies, and would get only a few chances to do in the remainder of her long career. The fabulous Dressler is hysterically funny in the big "For I'm the Queen" number and also performs an underwater ballet long before MGM signed Esther Williams to contract. Eight years before playing Juliet in MGM's lavish full-length version of "Romeo and Juliet", Norma Shearer got to do the balcony sequence here, with a helium voiced John Gilbert. A spoof of the horror genre, "Lon Chaney's Gonna Get You If You Don't Watch Out", is another highlight. Overall, it is a historically important film that may seem creaky at times, but has many enjoyable factors.

calvinnme Every major studio did an all-talking revue in the years 1929 and 1930. However, MGM was the first with their "Hollywood Revue of 1929". The purpose of this film was to prove that the studio had the talent to succeed in talking pictures with their stable of stars. Since MGM marketed their stars as their chief assets more than any other studio, this revue came off the best, and it made lots of money at the box office, prompting a stampede by the other studios to produce similar films.This film has no plot. It is simply a variety show put on by the MGM stars of 1929. You'll see many that you recognize, such as emcee Jack Benny, and some that you've probably never heard of unless you're a fan of 20's and early 30's films, such as Charles King and Karl Dane. Many interesting things go on such as Ann Dvorak slapping Jack Benny, William Haines eating Jack Benny's suit, Laurel and Hardy in a magic act, Joan Crawford being introduced for a dance number as the "personification of youth and beauty and joy and happiness", and Buster Keaton dressed in drag and doing an exotic dance. However, the middle section sags dreadfully and gives us some hint of what killed vaudeville with an adagio troupe act that seems to go on forever. Lon Chaney has a number dedicated to him, but he does not appear. Cliff Edwards and the Brox Sisters perform "Singin in the Rain" and then the whole cast assembles at the end of the film to reprise the song with Noah's Ark behind them - a probable dig at Jack Warner by Louis B. for the Warner film by the same name. The camera pans over each star slowly, emphasizing what is important to this studio at this time - its star power.I've rated this film 9/10, but you must remember that I find this film impossible to rate in a general sense. As entertainment for the average 21st century moviegoer it fails miserably, but as a snapshot of the MGM lot and the hopes and dreams of their stars entering the talkie era it is priceless. As an early talkie fan or film history buff this film is worth nine stars.Also note that the film includes its original two-strip Technicolor scenes which is quite rare, since most of the films shot in color during the late 20's and early 30's only now exist in black and white copies that were made for television.