I've watched roughly 200 movies produced between 1930 and 1933 and it seems that at least once every five movies or so I cringe due to what's taking place on screen. When it comes to romance pictures I believe the number is once every three movies. "What Price Hollywood?" had me cringing again.
The movie stars Constance Bennett as Mary Evans, a waitress turned Hollywood star. She was waitressing when she got a chance to meet the famous director Maximilian Carey (Lowell Sherman). He was so drunk he asked her to escort him to a red carpet affair at the Chinese Theater which turned into her taking him to his home. To show his gratitude he gave her a shot at acting. At first she bombed ala Stuart Erwin's character in "Make Me a Star" (1932), but she was given another chance and she knocked the part out of the park. She did so well she was able to parlay the small role into a bonafide Hollywood contract. Not too long after that came the cringeworthy scene.
At one point in the movie she had a back and forth with Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton) when he accidentally hit her with a polo ball. She was berating him and he was asking her out. Like many of the leading men on screen at that time who wanted a girl, he wouldn't take no for an answer. Only beta males take no for an answer and they're identifiable by how unconfident they are. The alpha males will get the girl one way or another.
Eventually she accepted; in a way. He went through great lengths trying to set up the perfect date. He hired an orchestra and everything. Mary left him high and dry, and just so he knew what time it was, she sent a note saying that she was intentionally standing him up. It was a boss move that I hadn't seen before. She accepted the invite just to shut the guy up and then proceeded to dismiss him.
What Lonny did next had me wincing in uncomfortableness and a little bit of anger. He went to her home and began banging on her door, demanding to be let in. We like to call guys like that stalkers.
It gets worse.
He then broke her window, came into her home, grabbed her out of bed and demanded she accompany him on a date. Because this was 1932 and it wasn't a horror movie she loudly, yet weakly, fought him off. She eventually relented, had a great time, and married the brute--of course.
Yet another Hollywood lesson in how a man should deal with women.
The movie did a ridiculous number. They tried to make Lonny a sympathetic character. After he and Mary got married they made it seem as though Lonny was the neglected Hollywood husband. Mary never had time for him because she was always either acting, discussing movies, or giving interviews. Poor Lonnie was now just an extra in Mary's movie star life.
I, for one, didn't feel the least bit sorry for him. He went full Brutus to get Olive Oyl then turned into a lamb after they were married. Everything that happened to him was on him. He wanted her in the worst way and he got her. He shouldn't get to pout once the marriage isn't how he planned it to be. Why doesn't he beat his chest and force her to do what he wants like when they first met?
They got divorced and even a blind man could see it coming. The divorce was inevitable, but it was the actions of Max Carey, the director, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The only halfway decent and compelling part of this film was the depiction of Hollywood life for the producer, Julius Saxe (Gregory Ratoff), the director, and the actress. It's a very public life with a Faustian bargain. Should you accept it, you have to take the good with the bad.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
The movie stars Constance Bennett as Mary Evans, a waitress turned Hollywood star. She was waitressing when she got a chance to meet the famous director Maximilian Carey (Lowell Sherman). He was so drunk he asked her to escort him to a red carpet affair at the Chinese Theater which turned into her taking him to his home. To show his gratitude he gave her a shot at acting. At first she bombed ala Stuart Erwin's character in "Make Me a Star" (1932), but she was given another chance and she knocked the part out of the park. She did so well she was able to parlay the small role into a bonafide Hollywood contract. Not too long after that came the cringeworthy scene.
At one point in the movie she had a back and forth with Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton) when he accidentally hit her with a polo ball. She was berating him and he was asking her out. Like many of the leading men on screen at that time who wanted a girl, he wouldn't take no for an answer. Only beta males take no for an answer and they're identifiable by how unconfident they are. The alpha males will get the girl one way or another.
Eventually she accepted; in a way. He went through great lengths trying to set up the perfect date. He hired an orchestra and everything. Mary left him high and dry, and just so he knew what time it was, she sent a note saying that she was intentionally standing him up. It was a boss move that I hadn't seen before. She accepted the invite just to shut the guy up and then proceeded to dismiss him.
What Lonny did next had me wincing in uncomfortableness and a little bit of anger. He went to her home and began banging on her door, demanding to be let in. We like to call guys like that stalkers.
It gets worse.
He then broke her window, came into her home, grabbed her out of bed and demanded she accompany him on a date. Because this was 1932 and it wasn't a horror movie she loudly, yet weakly, fought him off. She eventually relented, had a great time, and married the brute--of course.
Yet another Hollywood lesson in how a man should deal with women.
The movie did a ridiculous number. They tried to make Lonny a sympathetic character. After he and Mary got married they made it seem as though Lonny was the neglected Hollywood husband. Mary never had time for him because she was always either acting, discussing movies, or giving interviews. Poor Lonnie was now just an extra in Mary's movie star life.
I, for one, didn't feel the least bit sorry for him. He went full Brutus to get Olive Oyl then turned into a lamb after they were married. Everything that happened to him was on him. He wanted her in the worst way and he got her. He shouldn't get to pout once the marriage isn't how he planned it to be. Why doesn't he beat his chest and force her to do what he wants like when they first met?
They got divorced and even a blind man could see it coming. The divorce was inevitable, but it was the actions of Max Carey, the director, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The only halfway decent and compelling part of this film was the depiction of Hollywood life for the producer, Julius Saxe (Gregory Ratoff), the director, and the actress. It's a very public life with a Faustian bargain. Should you accept it, you have to take the good with the bad.
Free on Odnoklassniki.