Watch Hollywood Party For Free

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This was sort of a 1930s version of one of those wild party movies that include girls, dancing, wild hyjinks, and funny comical set pieces. Even though not exactly the same, numerous more recent versions of the same idea are well known.The film starts out as Jimmy Durante who is a unsteady film star playing "Shnarzan" and sequels (obvious ripoff Tarzan and sequels) who's popularity is slipping and being taken over by rival Liondora (George Givot). Durante then decides to throw the party of all parties to boost his ratings. Givot himself shows up masquerading as the Grand royal duke of...something something, I can't remember. Anyway, he introduces himself to people getting his hand kissed, including by a man, Charles Butterworth. But those kinda jokes in those days were played as more wacky and ridiculous rather than gay. Charles' wife Polly Moran (who plays "I've had my moments" on piano very well later on in film) is there and pretty daughter June Clyde. June meets Eddie Quillin in elevator (right after humorous moment of Polly trying to get Charles to remove his hat). June and Eddie have a romantic dance and singing together to instrumental version of "I've had my moments". Many more guys, pretty girls come in and dance, sing, display comical and/or raunchy comments and/or visuals throughout two more songs, " Hollywood party" and "Feeling high". Many young people having a wild, fun time. Even though some things have changed a whole lot since the 1930s, there were always people who loved to just drink and have a good time. Even so, many people were still more mannerly and with values than people today are. Further funny hygincs in this film include real lions being wheeled in in cages outside the house (which leads to a crazy hilarious scene later in film), the stooges showing up, a curious cameo from Micky mouse (including Micky hilariously impersonating Durante), a rare off- beat yet amusing cartoon (Hot chocolate soldiers), and then a funny slapstick sequence with Laurel and Hardy and beauty Lupe Velez involving eggs. Also shown is a funny yet off beat Durante visual with a horse.Spioler alert for this last paragraph: here's where I subtracted a couple of points. I'm with a lot of people who don't like films that turn out to have an " it was all a dream" deal show up.

(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!

This film is excellent if you take it for what it is - a thin but pleasant comical storyline as an excuse for what turns out to be practically a revue of MGM's lesser stars of the day, plus two great stars - Laurel and Hardy - that didn't even work for the studio. However, Hal Roach did distribute his films through MGM, thus the boys do show up in a couple of MGM films of this era. Also, Disney's Mickey Mouse shows up for a comedic bit. I'd love to know how MGM ever worked that out with Walt.The jist of the plot is that Schnarzan (Durante) is losing his audience for his jungle jaunt movies since the death of his original lion. People think that the subsequent lions he wrestles in his films are flimsy excuses for courageous carnivores and box office receipts are beginning to drop. His producer says that he can guarantee a hit if Durante can procure one or more of the lions of the famous Baron Munchausen who is a renowned hunter of wild beasts. Durante decides to wine and dine the baron at his mansion and give a big party in his honor.There are a couple of very good precode musical numbers in this film including the title song featuring scantily clad chorus girls in various states of undressing/dressing and singing and dancing telephone operators dressed up in weird metallic outfits. At the party Lupe Valez spars with Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges put in an appearance back when they were still with Ted Healy, and there is an early musical cartoon number involving chocolate soldiers with music by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown. Finally there are Charles Butterworth and Polly Moran as a wealthy oil magnate and his wife who have some hilarious moments.If you don't know who any of the people I just mentioned are, you are probably not going to like this film. If you know who all or most of them are you are sure to enjoy it as one of the last pre code films made, released just one month before strict enforcement of the code began.

For film buffs, this one has real curiosity value. There are plenty of reasons for today's fans to be turned off by the poorly staged musical interludes--but movie buffs will appreciate seeing Lupe Velez, The Three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, Mickey Mouse and Jimmy Durante all doing their best to liven things up. The script is a mess and somebody came up with the idea of having all the creaky episodes turn out to be a dream that Jimmy Durante wakes up from for the final scene, a device that may have been well ahead of its time.Durante is his old irrepressible self but the highlight of the film is when he interacts with an animated Mickey Mouse, who then proceeds to steal the film by introducing a color short from Disney called "Hot Chocolate Soldiers".The cartoon sequence is the only valid reason for paying attention at this point. Amusing, clever and maybe astonishing is the word when you consider Disney made this little color cartoon in 1934, before his studio was capable of the kind of stuff they did later on.Well worth watching for Mickey alone!