Show Girl in Hollywood

Show Girl In Hollywood
Directed by	Mervyn LeRoy
Produced by	Robert North
Written by	Harvey F. Thew (adaptation) James A. Starr (adaptation)
Based on	Hollywood Girl by J. P. McEvoy
Starring	Alice White Jack Mulhall Blanche Sweet Ford Sterling
Music by	Joseph Burke Ray Henderson
Cinematography	Sol Polito
Edited by	Pete Fritch
Production company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	April 20, 1930 (1930-04-20)
Running time	80 mins.
Country	United States
Language	English

Show Girl in Hollywood is a 1930 American Pre-Code all-talking musical comedy-drama film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche Sweet. It was adapted from the 1929 novel Hollywood Girl, by J. P. McEvoy.

Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Noah Beery, Walter Pidgeon, and Loretta Young make cameo appearances in the final reel, which was photographed in Technicolor. Show Girl in Hollywood is a sequel to the 1928 Warner Bros. silent film Show Girl which also starred Alice White as Dixie Dugan.

Synopsis

When the film begins, a musical show before closed down before it has had a chance to even open. Jimmie Doyle (Jack Mulhall), who wrote the musical intends to rewrite it while his girlfriend, Dixie Dugan (Alice White), fed up at wasting her time for a show that never even opened, is intent on finding a new career. While at a nightclub, Dixie does a musical number and catches the eye of Frank Buelow (John Miljan), a Hollywood director. Buelow persuades Dixie to go to Hollywood, where he will have a part waiting for her in his upcoming films.

Dixie takes the next train to California. When she arrives, she is disappointed to find that Buelow has been fired from the studio and that there is no part for her. Dixie meets Donny Harris (Blanche Sweet), a former star who is now out of work because she is considered "as old as the hills" at the age of 32. Soon after, Dixie discovers that Jimmie Doyle is now in Hollywood because one of the movie studios had just bought the film rights to his musical play. Jimmie had insisted that Dixie be given the lead in the film version of his play. The film goes into production and Dixie manages to get Donny included in the cast. One day, Dixie meets Frank Buelow at a restaurant and tells her that he is now working for another studio. Through his influence, Buelow manages to change Dixie into a temperamental and conceited actress and this leads to complications which almost end her film career.

Cast

• Alice White - Dixie Dugan
• Jack Mulhall - Jimmy Doyle
• Blanche Sweet - Donny Harris, aka Mrs. Buelow
• Ford Sterling - Sam Otis, Film Producer
• John Miljan - Frank Buelow, a Director
• Virginia Sale - Miss J. Rule, Otis' Secretary
• Lee Shumway - Mr, Kramer
• Herman Bing - Bing, Assistant Director

Songs

• "I've Got My Eye on You"
• "Hang Onto a Rainbow"
• "There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood"
• "Merrily We Roll Along"
• "Buy, Buy For Baby" (Or "Baby Will Bye Bye You")

Foreign language version

A French version of the film, titled Le masque d'Hollywood, and was directed by Clarence G. Badger and John Daumery.

Reception

Show Girl in Hollywood received good reviews. Photoplay called the film Alice White's best talkie to date, and described it as "first-rate entertainment, in spite of a soggy spot or two."

Preservation

The film only survives in a black and white copy only. The last reel was originally filmed in Technicolor but is now considered lost.

DVD release

Show Girl in Hollywood was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection in December 2009.

See also

• List of early color feature films
• Blanche Sweet filmography

External links

• Show Girl in Hollywood at IMDb
• Show Girl in Hollywood at AllMovie