Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Hollywood Party

1934 1h 8m Musical Comedy List
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 26% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
When celebrity manager Knapp learns that audiences are bored with the aging lions in his client Schnarzan's (Jimmy Durante) once-popular series of jungle-themed movies, he throws a lavish party at Schnarzan's mansion, where he tries to convince adventurer Baron Munchausen (Jack Pearl) to sell him the new lions he needs to revive Schnarzan's failing career. Liondora (George Givot), the star of a rival movie franchise who fears he may suffer the same fate, crashes the party to disrupt the sale.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Hollywood Party

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Helen Brown Norden Vanity Fair It is all quite gay and refreshing. Jun 1, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (5) audience reviews
kevin w This Jimmy Durante vehicle is very light entertainment based around the then-popular conception of what a Hollywood party might be like. Lots of scantily clad dancing girls in choreographed dance routines, lots of sexual innuendoes, lots of songs, jokes about Durante as Tarzan, etc. The Stooges make a brief appearance as autograph hounds, and Laurel &Hardy briefly show as debt collectors. Not offensive but passable. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Very loose amalgamation of shorts with gags, notable for the variety of stars, including Butterworth & Velez. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Jon C Really, really weird This 1934 pre-Code delightfully demented cinematic confection features Jimmy Durante as a screen Tarzan who among other things goes through successive reincarnations as a butterfly, Adam, and Paul Revere's horse, while trying to save his film career by buying lions from Baron Munchausen, Laurel and Hardy getting into an egg fight with Lupe Velez, who is wearing a dress so daring it would be hard to get away with even today, and Mickey Mouse introducing a mini-epic cartoon about a war between Chocolate Soldiers and Gingerbread Men. Well, I warned you it was weird. Also included are some Busby Berkley-like elaborately camp production numbers and a Fred-and-Ginger-like young couple dancing their way into love. In short, one of the great neglected early talkies, and sort of a perhaps unintentionally surrealist minor classic. Cinematography by James Wong Howe adds a touch of class. The Warner Archive DVD is of good quality, though it seems the original print isn't very pristine. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/09/16 Full Review Audience Member An MGM hodgepodge with no good songs; the highlights are a brief comedy scene between Laurel & Hardy and Lupe Velez, and a Technicolor Disney cartoon. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member There's no plot whatsoever, it's basically a time capsule of the 30's stars of the time that make it interesting. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Hollywood Party

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis When celebrity manager Knapp learns that audiences are bored with the aging lions in his client Schnarzan's (Jimmy Durante) once-popular series of jungle-themed movies, he throws a lavish party at Schnarzan's mansion, where he tries to convince adventurer Baron Munchausen (Jack Pearl) to sell him the new lions he needs to revive Schnarzan's failing career. Liondora (George Givot), the star of a rival movie franchise who fears he may suffer the same fate, crashes the party to disrupt the sale.
Director
Richard Boleslawski, George Stevens, Edmund Goulding, Roy Rowland, Sam Wood, Allan Dwan, Charles Reisner, Russell Mack
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 8m
Most Popular at Home Now