Hollywood Round-Up: A weird, meta look at 1930s movie making

Is it worth your time?

Look, if you have a soft spot for 1930s B-movies and the weird, internal politics of old Hollywood, you’ll dig this. It’s not for people who need high-octane pacing or a complex script. If you find the meta-commentary of films like Szenzáció interesting, you might like seeing how the sausage was made in the era of horse operas.

It’s a bit clunky, honestly. But it’s got a personality that most of the stuff from that year just lacks.

The industry hierarchy

The best part of this flick is how it doesn't try to hide that B-Westerns were the bottom of the food chain. Watching a studio head talk down to a lead actress is a bit uncomfortable, but it feels real. You can tell they weren't trying to make a prestige picture.

Also, Shemp Howard is in this. Yes, that Shemp. He plays an assistant director with a whistle that he seems way too attached to. Watching him lose his mind when he loses the whistle is arguably the highlight of the first act.

Wait, was that a ballet reference?

There is this bizarre sequence with a hotel clerk who wants to be a movie star. He does this weird little audition that involves ballet slippers and reciting lines. Shemp guesses he’s doing Little Women. I honestly had to rewind it because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It’s totally out of place, but that’s the charm of these old studio filler movies.

• Buck Jones actually looks like he knows what he's doing on a horse, unlike the "star" he doubles for.
• The stuntmen playing stuntmen are doing actual work, which adds a layer of grit you don't get in polished studio stuff.
• The bank robbery plot is just a vehicle to get the movie out of the studio and into the dirt, but it works well enough.

It’s definitely better than most of the stuff like When Arizona Won, mostly because it has a sense of humor about its own existence. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a peek behind the curtain that feels surprisingly honest for 1937. Just don't expect it to change your life. 🤠