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      What Price Hollywood?

      Released Jun 24, 1932 1 hr. 28 min. Drama List
      80% 5 Reviews Tomatometer 64% 100+ Ratings Audience Score When pretty waitress and Hollywood hopeful Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) serves drinks to famous director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman), a Tinseltown cliche becomes reality, and he offers her a bit part in his new film. Almost blowing her chance due to nerves and inexperience, Mary finally clicks as an actress and becomes an overnight star. But after she marries a polo player (Neil Hamilton) who has no interest in the movie business, Max feels betrayed and descends into an alcoholic depression. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (22) audience reviews
      Steve D A lot like A Star is Born but not quite as powerful acting wise. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/24 Full Review Blu B The True Original Star is Born isn't half bad. The acting (which can be wooden at times), pacing, and cinematography is pretty decent and the editing is solid. Really the problems boil down to this really could've used a soundtrack as it does feel dry at times with no music. Also, it does feel a bit rushed under 90 minutes at times as we don't get a lot of backstory on Mary and were just thrown into the story. Despite that you can follow it pretty easily although I'm not sure why the drama with her husband was needed as it takes away from the director/actor rise/fall dynamic. Also, it is a bit primative and basic at times camerawork wise and it would've helped if this was in color as well. It's crazy they "show" suicide in this as well. Anyone who is a hardcore fan of A Star is Born (any version) should check this out, fans of any actors in this, or any Cukor fans. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/24 Full Review CodyZamboni Movie starts off as a light hearted spoof of Hollywood, but soon becomes the blueprint for A Star Is Born. Film's biggest asset is Constance Bennett. She is so likeable and kind, Most fascinating for me are the behind the scenes look at old school moviemaking, Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/26/23 Full Review Audience Member I had heard of this film for years, as being the "other version" of "a star is born". I'm very tired of all the versions of the latter, so I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I enjoyed it immensely! Stars Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman light up the screen - Bennett sparkles and Sherman charms, all through the first half or so of the movie. And, it is a pleasant surprise to see Eddie "Rochester" Anderson as a butler (an uncredited role, unlike Louise Beavers as a maid. Such was the treatment of blacks in Hollywood back then, of course, although the role was small.) BETTER than "A Star is Born"? Probably not, at least of the first two versions, but highly recommended! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review jordan m It's rather hard to judge this one because it certainly wasn't poorly made, in fact they broke some new ground with their rise-to-stardom montage sequence and the story they told was more realistic than the Star is Born movies it inspired. They fully earned the designation of "good early talkie" as this is a solid example of Hollywood successfully shifting to dialogue-heavy stories; it's also better than many of its early-30s peers in that lots of those movies had people speaking unnaturally fast, where this one didn't. The problem is that a lot more money was invested in even the '37 Star is Born with color cinematography and a starrier cast. They pared the story down in those movies to be less realistic but somehow more compelling, and by the first remake were telling it partly by way of song, leaving this movie with the rather unfair legacy of having provided the story basis for a string of superior movies. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 1932 drama of making it in Hollywood, interesting for the acting style of those years. it seems overdone in these times. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/14/21 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      What Price Hollywood?

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (5) Critics Reviews
      David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...Cukor has peppered the proceedings with several engrossing sequences... Rated: 2.5/4 May 24, 2021 Full Review Pare Lorentz Vanity Fair That they are not lovely people does not detract from the fact that they were ingenuously presented to us. Jun 5, 2019 Full Review Tim Brayton Alternate Ending A great character piece lying just atop a great snapshot of a particular place in a particular moment. Rated: 4/5 Nov 19, 2018 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion A swirl of Tinseltown anecdotes peopled by spirited sketches of dyspeptic bosses and smirking gossip-peddlers, safe but piquant Jul 7, 2012 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Cukor's well acted melodrama (especially by Constance Bennett) precedes by five years the first version of A Star Is Born; it's basically the same story. Rated: B Apr 4, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis When pretty waitress and Hollywood hopeful Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) serves drinks to famous director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman), a Tinseltown cliche becomes reality, and he offers her a bit part in his new film. Almost blowing her chance due to nerves and inexperience, Mary finally clicks as an actress and becomes an overnight star. But after she marries a polo player (Neil Hamilton) who has no interest in the movie business, Max feels betrayed and descends into an alcoholic depression.
      Director
      George Cukor
      Executive Producer
      David O. Selznick
      Screenwriter
      Gene Fowler, Rowland Brown, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Jane Murfin, Ben Markson
      Production Co
      RKO Pathé Pictures
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jun 24, 1932, Wide
      Release Date (DVD)
      Feb 18, 2014
      Sound Mix
      Mono