User reviews

Although this 1930 film is clunky and fraught with (what we now know to be) film cliches, it is worth seeing -- if only for the outstanding performance of one-time silent-film great Blanche Sweet. Without realizing who it was, I kept marveling at her poignant, true portrayal of a washed up silent screen star (clearly, almost autobiographical). What a brilliant choice to cast her. Imagine my surprise after the film when we rewound to the credits!

A fine, unjustly overlooked gem of early filmmaking (that has songs, to boot).

"Show Girl in Hollywood" (First National, 1930), directed by Mervyn LeRoy, stars that pert blonde, Alice White, as Dixie Dugan, show girl from Brooklyn, a role she originated in the part-talkie, "Show Girl" (First National, 1928). In that earlier edition, Charles Delaney co-starred as her love interest, Jimmie Doyle, a role enacted here by Jack Mulhall. Based on the comic strip character, this musical sequel, based "Hollywood Girl" by Joseph Patrick McEvoy, is an interesting look back at the studio system in the days of early talkies, with added treats of non-credited guest stars as legendary singer, Al Jolson and his then wife, Ruby Keeler (in non-speaking parts); Loretta Young, Noah Berry and his son, Noah Beery Jr., all briefly glimpsed in the movie premiere sequence; along with the youthful but almost unrecognizable, Walter Pidgeon, as master of ceremonies at the Hollywood gathering.

Opening inter-title: "Jimmie Doyle's musical show, 'RAINBOW GIRL' opened and closed." Regardless of its two-week run for which Dixie Dugan (Alice White) worked as an understudy, playwright Jimmie Doyle (Jack Mulhall) intends on improving the story, this time giving his girl, Dixie, the nominal lead, which she should ha played in the first place. Escorted to a nightclub by Jimmy, Dixie does a number for its visiting guest, Frank Buelow (John Miljan), a movie director from Hollywood. Taking an interest in this free-spirited girl, Buelow persuades Dixie to come to Hollywood and appear in his forthcoming motion picture. Going against Jimmy's wishes, Dixie takes the next train west, sending her occasional telegrams to Jimmy at his Brooklyn residence: 41 Pineapple Street. While in Hollywood, Dixie's meeting with Sam Otis's (Ford Sterling), the production head, proves shattering when she is told she's one of many girls tricked into coming to the studio only to learn no such arrangements have been made. Along the way, Dixie learns more of the downside of Hollywood when she meets and befriends her favorite movie actress, Dottie Harris (Blanche Sweet), now a 32-year-old has-been. Not only does Dottie get the runaround from Buelow, her former husband, but must accept the fact she's only just a memory. As fate would have it, Sam Otis acquires the script of "Rainbow Girl" which he likes, and sends for its author, Jimmy Doyle. During their meeting, both Jimmie and Otis agree its leading lady should be Dixie Dugan. All goes well during production of the movie until Dixie meets with Buelow, now fired by the industry. Buelow, however, manages in changing the sweet innocent girl into a temperamental and conceited actress, causing friction and delays that could literally put an end to Dixie's film career before it's even started.

A distinguished early talkie with acceptable tunes by Buddy Green and Sammy Stept, include: "I've Got My Eye on You" (sung by Alice White); "There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood" (sung by Blanche Sweet); "I've Got My Eye on You" (reprise) and "Hang on to the Rainbow" (Alice White). Of the three song interludes, only "Rainbow" gets the production number A portion of the "Rainbow" number was used for the final chapter to the 13-week documentary of Kevin Brownlow and David Gill's Hollywood: The End of an Era (1980).

Blanche Sweet (1895-1986), a long time veteran actress of the silent screen dating back to 1909, is quite effective as a drifting movie queen who becomes Dixie Dugan's guide through the studio system. Her vocalizing to a sentimental tune revealing the happiness and hardship of Hollywood comes very much as a surprise as does her character, limited somewhat in the photo-play yet crucial to the story. Film buffs would also delight in witnessing the behind-the-scenes activity of movie making, then called "Vitaphoning." Also taking part in the supporting cast are Herman Bing, Virginia Sale and Spec O'Donnell.

Although the "Dixie Dugan" character would never be enacted by Alice White again, further adventures of this comic strip character would be revamped and reintroduced to the screen again as a programmer titled DIXIE DUGAN (20th Century-Fox, 1943) starring Lois Andrews in the title role. An attempt for a movie series based on that character never got past the initial entry.

While "Show Girl in Hollywood" remains a rare find indeed, it did consist of several television broadcasts during its early stages of Turner Classic Movies cable channel . As it stands for now, this and other Dixie Dugan stories remain, "just a memory." (*** Vitaphone discs)

If you're fascinated by early "talkie" musicals, this should be considered a must-see. There's a lot to like about it, most especially, its three lead performers (Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche Sweet). Alice White is adorable as 'Dixie Dugan'--and is ably assisted by Mulhall as her steadfast beau. Mulhall is largely forgotten today, though he shows a fresh naturalness in an era when many actors seemed strait-jacketed by the new technology of sound (the fact that Mulhall had already been acting in films for over 20 years when this one was made may have helped!). Blanche Sweet has some touching moments as the premature 'has-been' actress, 'Donnie Harris'. The film moves along fairly briskly, under the direction of Mervyn LeRoy (in one of his earliest feature film directing assignments). I was struck by the scoring of the film, too. It effectively uses the featured tunes in different variations that are unusually subtle for that era (presumably, scored by Leo Forbstein). The 'big finale' is fairly typical of early talkie musicals--and one can imagine how much more effective it must have been when it was originally released in early Technicolor (no color copy of the final reel is known to exist). All-in-all, a pleasant and appealing little film that's surely worth a peek.

Show Girl in Hollywood tells the story of a young girl, Dixie Dugan (Alice White), who is lured to Hollywood by the empty promises of a pompous film director (John Miljan). Her boyfriend (Jack Mulhall) is not too keen on the idea. Once there, she soon realizes who empty the director's promises were. She meets and becomes friends with Donny Harris (Blanche Sweet), a once popular film star. Dixie does get her break but ruins things by getting temperamental. In the process, she also ruins Donny's chances for a comeback, who then attempts suicide. She is saved and Dixie realizes her selfishness and convinces the studio bosses to "go on with the picture", for Donny's sake.

Oh what a treat! This movie was one of the first to attempt to show Hollywood as it really was--and it ended up being pretty true to life. Dashed hopes, lecherous directors, ex-stars brushed aside. The "behind-the-scenes" look of portions of the film gives the viewer a glimpse of film-making in the early talkie days. The "I've Got My Eye on You" production number has a catchy tune and even made me want to sing and dance myself! Alice White is good as the young, hopeful show girl of the title. Most notable is Blanche Sweet's excellent performance as the washed-up silent star. Her near-death scene is extremely moving and recalls some of Miss Sweet's own past glories. Mervyn LeRoy's direction keeps things moving along and it all comes together beautifully. Do yourself a favor and don't miss this one!

An early cautionary tale about the business of Hollywood and what it does to young women, and a film that's a vehicle for both Alice White and Vitaphone technology. It's not going to blow you away with its plot, as it's been done countless times, and much better too. The comedy elements in the script are weak, and you can see events coming long before they happen. However, there were enough other little elements in the film that it held my interest.

Some of those little extras include seeing Hollywood sights of the era, such as the Roosevelt Hotel (which is still there), the Café Montmartre, and the early studio lots. We also get a brief yet fascinating look into the process of making films during this period, with the Vitaphone technology (sound recorded on a separate disk) requiring noisy film cameras to be housed in soundproof booths. That's the main reason early sound films often appear so stagey, with a static camera - they were in these kinds of booths. Lastly, we get a film premier and red carpet cameo appearances from Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Loretta Young, and Noah Beery Sr. and Jr.

Unfortunately, as svelte and adorable as Alice White is with her Betty Boop eyes, she's not very strong at delivering her lines. Her best moments come while sashaying out of a giant clown face on stage and singing "I've Got My Eye on You" at about the 40 minute point, otherwise, don't expect much. Easily upstaging her is Blanche Sweet, who is wonderful as the has-been starlet (lol at age 34), looking at the newcomer with a sigh and a warning. She's the only good actor in the cast, and conveys real melancholy through her eyes and the way she moves. As this was her penultimate film after a career spanning 21 years (aside from a small part in 1959's The Five Pennies), there is a special meaning to everything she does here.

Overall, certainly not a great film, and one that could be easily skipped, so I'm probably rounding it up based on my love for the era, and for Blanche Sweet.

This is surprisingly so much better than you'd expect. Being a very early talkie I was expecting a creaky and stilted museum curiosity rather than a normal entertaining little picture. It does have quite an old feel to it but as soon as you've realigned your perspective - and you like early 30s movies of course - you'll enjoy this.

Like a lot of films from this tumultuous time in Hollywood, the story is beautifully pure with characters which are fairly one-dimensional, there simply to tell the story. There's not much depth to these people, there's no great meaning hidden in the plot - it's just a sweet, fun and happy little story made to entertain you. In 1930, The Depression hadn't quite kicked in yet so unlike what we see in Zanuck's Warner Brothers which this studio was just about to evolve into, there's no struggle for survival, triumph against corruption, gangsters or girls forced into prostitution. This is purely about a pretty girl trying to make it in Hollywood.

The star is Alice White has to be one of the prettiest actresses the world has ever seen. She had a reputation however of being nothing more than a pretty face but a pretty poor actress. After watching this a few might agree but most I think most won't. Nobody, including herself, would ever consider her a great actress but she's perfect in something like this. She's a 'modern day' princess in a 'modern day' fairytale. Alice White herself was a 1920s showgirl who had actually made it in Hollywood. I don't think she was badly acting this character, this was who she was, this was her own character. Some might have found her bubbly, girly girl persona irritating but I think she was lovely.

Is this a good film? No. Is it a good example of a 1930s musical? Definitely not! Is it worth watching? Yes, and not just to see the loveliness that was Alice White, if you like old movies, it's fascinating to watch an early talkie about making early talkies. It's also reasonably well made - it's not one Mervyn LeRoy would put on the top of his CV but he keeps your interest and doesn't waste a single frame.

Cast aside all your cynicism and just enjoy!

Alice White plays Dixie Dugan, a showgirl who's talented but dumb. When the show she is understudying the lead in goes under, blowhard John Miljan convinces her she has a Hollywood contract, and off she goes.

Besides Miss White, this movie also has fine turns by Blanche Sweet and Ford Sterling. Some of the fun is seeing how Vitaphone productions had to be shot to deal with the exigencies of early sound... and how a production could be shot, even in those early days, with sound and a moving camera.

The story opens as a play is closing on Broadway...the same week it opened. Out of work, Dixie seems to get her break when a Hollywood director (John Miljean) offers her a contract. However, when she arrives in Hollywood, she learns that the director is always telling women this...much like Harvey Weinstein. And, this temperamental director doesn't realize it but he's about to get fired! Well, the producer (Ford Sterling) feels sorry for Dixie and he offers her a big break.

So, Dixie has gone from a nobody to a budding star. But there is a problem....she's a complete idiot. Despite that director being a lech and a liar, she continues to take advice from him and she becomes the ultimate diva. The problem is that without a single film to her credit, she's simply more trouble than she's worth and she's fired....and deservedly so. So what's to happen with ditsy Dixie as well as her very nice but often mistreated boyfriend, Jimmy? See the film and find out for yourself.

To me, the film is both very good and very bad. The good is seeing all the behind the scenes looks at the studio and how films were made. Of particular interest were the giant shed-like structures that were used to house the cameras. Why? Because they were so loud that it interfered with the early sound equipment. I also loved the set for the film--with the giant head through which all the dancers danced...it was surreal! But on the other hand, the film made Dixie so obnoxious, so difficult to like that it seriously impacted on enjoyment of the story. Who wants to see a story about a nasty, spoiled jerk of a woman making it big...or not?! You can't help but hope she fails...which is sad, as in real life it mirrored Alice White's career...a woman who was all but washed up in films by the mid-late 1930s despite some very big successes during the days of early talkies.

By the way, if you watch the movie, doesn't it seem as if there is a HUGE and IMPORTANT scene missing just before the big premier at the end (such as a big contrition scene)? It just seems to come from out of no where and makes no sense they way they did it. For this and the general likability of Dixie, I think one earns a paltry 3. It's a shame because with a few changes it could have been great.

Jimmie Doyle is a struggling writer trying to get his musical open in New York. His girlfriend Dixie Dugan (Alice White) is desperate to be a star and tired of waiting for Jimmie's musical. Dixie sings at a nightclub and gets the attention of director Frank Buelow (John Miljan). Frank convinces her to go to Hollywood and Jimmie breaks up with her. Once in Hollywood, it's not as easy as she thought. She befriends former star Donny Harris (Blanche Sweet) who is over the hill at 32.

Alice White is playing the squeaky blonde newbie. Her acting is a bit one-note for the most part. She's a little dumb, but not dumb enough to be that funny. I don't love the character, but she is somewhat interesting. I actually find her diva turn slightly funny. This is ok. Apparently, there is a Technicolor last reel but it's been lost. At this point, it's all black and white.

This would be of interest mainly to fans of early sound film. If Avatar is your thing, you probably would not be interested in this one.

The film is actually a sequel of sorts to the 1928 part talkie, "Show Girl, also starring Alice White as Dixie Dugan. Even though Alice had done six films since that one, it was decided to move her story to Hollywood two years later. I have no idea if the original Show Girl still exists, although people on this site are apparently rating it.

The big attractions here are the exhibition of several things you could only see in 1929-1930 motion pictures, in addition to several ironies. The first irony is that Vitaphone is being prominently displayed as the technology of sound film when, by this time, even Warner Brothers knew it was time to move to sound on film rather than sound on disc, which was so limiting in how and where films could be shot. Another irony is that Blanche Sweet is pretty much playing herself here as Donny Harris, the faded star who considers a supporting role to Alice White's Dixie Dugan in "Rainbow Girl" to be her last chance. In real life, 1930 was Blanche Sweet's last year in films. However, Ms. Sweet did get a somewhat happy ending with a long time stage career and a long marriage to another star of the stage, Raymond Hackett, that only ended with his death.

Also of interest is the big bizarre musical number "I've Got My Eye on You" in which Alice White and her accompanying chorus emerge from and disappear into a large clown-like head. During this number you get a good look at the way a Vitaphoned film was shot with three cross-cutting camera booths set up, along with a look at the Vitaphone technicians inside supervising the making of the sound discs.

Finally, note the movie premiere of "Rainbow Girl" shown at the end of the film. Several Warner Brothers stars of note appear at the microphone including Al Jolson, Loretta Young, and Noah Beery. Notice that a very young Noah Beery Jr. (Rockford Files) accompanies his father. Some think that this scene was the basis for the Hollywood premiere scene at the beginning of "Singin in the Rain".

The story is pedestrian, and actually the title says it all, but it is cute and appealing in the way that many of First National's early sound films were. You can definitely see a difference in First National's and Warner Brothers' early sound films even though by this time they had been one company for a year. Warner's early sound films seemed to go for a goofy over-the-top style in 1929 and 1930, while First National seemed to "look for the silver lining" with a feel good flavor.

Highly recommended for those interested in the Dawn of Sound.

Alice White was a unique comet of a movie star in the early talkie years. She played floozies in an brief era when a bimbo could be the movie's heroine. Alice was quite cute though only slightly pretty and her odd delivery of her lines often suggest she had never seen a play - or a director - in her life, nevertheless she was quite endearing and likeable and her earthy shopgirl personality apparently resonated with a lot of people in the early Depression though not for long, her time at the top was very short. "Show Girl in Hollywood" was one of the best movies she ever made, a mixture of music, comedy, and pathos with a blunt look at the Hollywood industry where a director could be in a meeting while his name is being scraped off the other side of his office door.

Dixie Dugan (Alice) is a New York showgirl featured in a Broadway musical that has just flopped. The playwright Jimmy Doyle (Jack Muhall) blames the producers for not casting her in the lead but in a supporting role. Dixie and Jimmy go on the town to drown their troubles at a nightclub when famous Hollywood director Frank Buelow (John Miljan) is also there. Dixie doesn't have to be asked twice to perform a song at the nightclub in front of the director and while her half-song is sung in a wobbling voice, Buelow is impressed and promises her a movie contract at a major film studio. Jimmy sneers (with accuracy) that Buelow is the type to "feel a girl's ribs as he offers her a screen test" but Dixie sees this a chance to crash Hollywood and agrees to go back to his hotel room to "talk business" (a scene we don't see). Presumably, Buelow got what he wanted and Dixie's now out to get what she wants, showing up in Hollywood unannounced at the studio. She learns studio executive Sam Otis (Ford Sterling) knows nothing about this idea and that it's long been Buelow's habit to promise young girls such roles. Defeated, she runs into Buelow at the studio and he convinces her his promise was legit. Later, she spots veteran actress Donny Harris (Blanche Sweet) on the lot. Donny had been Dixie's childhood idol and they hit it off like gangbusters, both of them needing a friend. Donny is now unemployable in Hollywood at the grand old age of 32 but still clings to hopes of a comeback and knows the hard times in store for Dixie. She also happens to be the abandoned wife of playboy dirtbag Buelow.

Tried of Buelow's stunts, Otis fires him after he learns his newest screenplay is plagiarized from a Broadway musical, that very musical being the one Dixie was in that had bombed. Sterling signs original author Jimmy to a contract who then insists Dixie get the lead. Only weeks into filming, Dixie gets a diva mentality and insists on script changes and other demands even though she hasn't yet had a single film released! Urged on by Buelow to walk off the picture to get her demands accepted, she follows through, unaware he is being vengenful against the studio, knowing fully well she will canned and unemployable and the studio will lose a fortune with the aborted film.

This little movie is a frank look at the film industry with all it's postives and negatives, one of the first films to do so. There are several snappy lines in the script like my review's title and there's one priceless scene where the viewer might be presuming to watch a bad guy committing murder only to have Dixie walk by the background window - she'd been snooping around a film set on her first day in Hollywood and walked into a scene being filmed!! It's one of the most hilarious bits ever.

Alice White is terrific in her own adorable little way in a role that runs to gamut from star-eyed wannabe to delusional hot-head, but the movie is stolen by legendary silent film actress Blanche Sweet as the fairly tragic Donny. For those disbelieving you could be washed up at 32, one only has to look at Miss Sweet's actual career in this period. With no offers for a lead role for a while, this supporting part was really her "comeback" and sadly, it lead to nothing more than another supporting role or two although she is sensational here, quite moving and even putting over the film's best song, "There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood". A similar fate happened to Miss Sweet's longtime rival, Mae Marsh, who was reduced to being an unbilled extra within a few years. Also very good are Jack Mulhall as the devoted Jimmy and John Miljan as one the first on-film examples of a Hollywood sleazeball (you know he's going to be a creep by the way he chews his food in his first scene). I also enjoy seeing silent movie comedian Ford Sterling in a change of pace role. Well-directed by Mervyn LeRoy, "Show Girl in Hollywood" is not on the level of "Sunset Blvd" and "A Star is Born" as a drama or "Bombshell" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" as a comedy yet definitely deserves to be acknowledged when discussing some of the best films made about behind the scenes Hollywood.

99%+ of all the show girls on Broadway who went to Hollywood only succeeded to making it to some director's couch or bed. This film supposedly covers the other extremely unlikely outcome; a successful trip to Hollywood from New York. This is a B film with B actors that have long been forgotten. The plot is also well-deserved to be long forgotten as well. "Come to Hollywood, baby, and I will make you a star". Please. If you believe that line, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you. The players try their best, but nothing can save this predictable turkey, so don't bother about trying to view it, as it is really not worth your time.

Some years ago, I bought the novel for 25 cents in a library book sale. It was obviously published as a movie tie-in since it contained tantalizing stills from the film. Since I could not find a listing in any of the popular film guides, I presumed it was another "lost film" until I caught it on cable earlier this month. In this context, the quality of the film was irrelevant and I agree it was slow-going. The exception was Blanche Sweet-- a name entirely unknown to me until this film. Her performance was both understated and devastating, delineating the soul-rending panic that aging Hollywood actresses must still feel today. It's an odd feeling to be moved by performance that was filmed 70 years ago: I'm glad I wasn't alone in appreciating its underlying desperation.

In the closing days of the silent era and for a few years into talkies Alice White was a star at First National/Warners. She was most often seen as a wise-cracking blonde kewpie doll of a flapper, and the studio often put her into musicals or films with musical segments.

One of her biggest silent films, GENTLMEN PREFER BLONDES remains among the lost, but it made her a star in 1928. By the end of the year she had made her talkie debut. In SHOW GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD, White plays Dixie Dugan, that intrepid chorine for the second time, having starred in the silent SHOW GIRL in 1928 (a silent film with a Vitaphone synchronized score).

Dixie Dugan started out as a character in in a couple of novels by J.P. McEvoy that followed her exploits as a show girl. They caused a mild sensation and First National snapped up the right. These two films are based on the character in the novels. In 1929 Dixie Dugan popped up in the comic strips and ran until 1966.

The 1928 SHOW GIRL was discovered in an Italian film archive several years ago and has been reassembled with the Vitaphone disks but the film has not yet been released on DVD>

This 1930 film was released in April of 1930 and stars Alice White as Dugan, a lowly chorine in a show that has just flopped on Broadway. Written by her boyfriend (Jack Mulhall), the two go to a nightclub to drown their sorrows. Dixie is asked to sing a number from the show and she launches into "I've Got My Eye on You" which catches the attention of a visiting Hollywood director (John Miljan). He encourages her to look him up when she's in Hollywood.

Dixie immediately heads west and runs into studio interference after she meets the studio head (Ford Sterling) who's just about to fire Miljan. Coincidentally the studio buys the failed Broadway show and sends for Mulhall who insist Dixie get the starring role.

Meanwhile, Dixie is befriended by the down-and-out actress Donnie Hall (Blanche Sweet) who tries to warn Dixie about the perils of Hollywood, but to no avail. After an extended scene where Dixie again sings and dances in a mammoth production number, we see how the scene is filmed and recorded by the studio crew in a sort of documentary manner.

Dixie immediately "goes Hollywood" and starts demanding changes to the movie and is fired. Donnie, who had landed a role in the film, is also fired as the production shuts down. Despondent she accidentally takes too many pills. When Dixie realizes what she has done, she swallows her pride and crawls back to the studio head.

In the final scene, we see a movie premiere where stars like Loretta Young, Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Noah Beery and son arrive. Next we see Dixie on screen in another gigantic production number, singing and dancing to "Hang on to a Rainbow" (originally filmed in 2-strip Technicolor). Dixie Dugan has become a star and is introduced by Walter Pidgeon to the cheering audience.

Alice White is sensational and is perfect as the boop-a-doop singer with her tossled hair and big eyes. Sweet is also a standout as the tragic has-been actress. She gets to sing "There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood." Sweet was near the end of her Hollywood career and made only one more film. She was 34 years old and had been a big star in silent films.

Mulhall, Miljan, and Sterling are all fine. Spec O'Donnell plays the reception boy, Virginia Sale is the secretary, and Herman Bing plays a yes man. Natalie Moorhead and Jane Winton have bits as Miljan's dates.

Actress Alice White was once one of Hollywood's more popular movie actresses, receiving up to 30,000 letters of fan mail every month. Her personality reminded moviegoers of a blonde Clara Bow. Film book author Robert Klepper wrote, "Ms. White had her own type of charm, and was a delightful actress in her own, unique way. Whereas Clara Bow played the quintessential, flaming redheaded flapper, Alice White was more of a bubbly, vivacious blonde."

The peak of White's film career was playing Dixie Dugan in April 1930's "Showgirl in Hollywood." She was the star attraction of a film that mimics the ups and downs of those in the movie business. Based on J. P. McEvoy's 1929 play 'Hollywood Girl,' "Showgirl in Hollywood" is a follow-up to White's 1928 appearance in the silent film (with a musical soundtrack) 'Show Girl.' In this 1930 version, she's persuaded by a film director to go to Hollywood after seeing her perform in a New York City nightclub. She does. After several bumps along the way, White is selected for the lead in a musical movie.

"Showgirl in Hollywood" offers a rare look at the making of talkies just when they were taking off. The first sound system to introduce talkies to the public, Vitaphone and its disc recording was beginning to lose its luster. The film captures a glimpse of the Warner Brothers' equipment in the movie. Also, cameras by the middle of 1930 had been liberated from its sound-proof boxes they required to dampen the noise of their internal motors. A new innovation called 'blimps,' bulky sound-proof housings encased around the cameras, allowed them to move around the movie set with ease. Also, before Paul Whiteman's idea of playing pre-recorded music in 1930's "King of Jazz," the custom of having musicians play live accompaniment to the dancers and singers while being filmed is caught within frame.

Silent movie actress Blanche Sweet personifies the "washed up" veterans of the screen in "Showgirl in Hollywood." Sweet, 32, relates to the young Ann White that "in this business, when you're over 32 you're older than those hills up there." Blanche, in movies since 1909, was the lead in a number of D. W Griffith films, including 1911's "The Lonedale Operator" and 1913's "Judith of Bethulia." After "Showgirl in Hollywood," Sweet appeared in her final movie, 'The Silver Horde,' later in the year before retiring from the screen. She moved on to perform in radio and in secondary roles on Broadway. But as those opportunities diminished, she worked in a Los Angeles department store.

"Showgirl of Hollywood" was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, his fifth talkie. LeRoy, one of cinema's more successful directors, began his movie career with a letter of introduction from his cousin, studio producer and future Paramount Pictures part-owner Jesse L. Lasky. The young vaudeville performer LeRoy started at the bottom of his cousin's studio, first in the Wardrobe Unit folding clothes, then as a lab techician. Later, director Cecil B. DeMille noticed LeRoy's energetic personality, hiring him as an extra in 1923's "The Ten Commandments," which inspired the young man to become a director. After a gag writer gig for comedienne Colleen Moore at First National Pictures, LeRoy was offered to direct his first picture, 1927's comedy 'No Place To Go.' LeRoy went on to direct such classics as 1930 "Little Caesar," 1955 "Mister Roberts" (replacing John Ford), and 1958 "No Time For Sergeants," with his last movie in 1965's "Moment to Moment." As for Alice White, she began as a secretary and script girl for directors Josef von Sternberg and Charlie Chaplin, who encouraged her to go into acting. From the 1927's 'The Sea Tiger,' her career immediately blossomed. She left movies in 1931, only to resume her film roles in 1933. But a love triangle between her, British actor John Warburton, and producer Sidney Bartlett became a major scandal that year. White claims Warburton broke her nose in a fight, requiring plastic surgery. After the incident, Warburton told reporters he was beaten up by two men who he knew White and Bartlett hired to teach him a lesson. A grand jury failed to indict White and Bartlett. The actress and the producer married soon after the trial in December 1933, but all the bad publicity doomed her career. She was offered only small roles, and in 1938, returning as a secretary, divorced Bartlett. The unlucky White later fell off a ladder and face planted on a pair of scissor, blinding her for several months. "Knocks make you stronger," she said, "My chin ought to be scarred. But it's tough, it can take 'em. I like beans so if I had to eat a tin-can diet, it wouldn't kill me." Alice White, one of Hollywood's most beloved actresses for a brief time, died from complications of a stroke in February, 1983, at the age of 78.

"Show Girl in Hollywood," from a novel by satirist J.P. McEvoy, follows the titular showgirl, Dixie Dugan (Alice White), from understudy in a Broadway flop ("Rainbow Girl") to lead in the Hollywood movie version. John Miljan is effective as the unscrupulous film director who has seen the flop several times (in order to steal its plot) and invites Dugan to his studio where he tries but fails to put the make on her. Blanche Sweet makes a memorable appearance as an older star, forgotten by age 32, who befriends Dixie. In the middle of a conversation about the fleeting nature of fame, she breaks – or, more accurately, segues – into song ("For Every Smile There's a Tear in Hollywood"). There is something brazen and bizarre about this moment when the film suddenly switches gears and Sweet half sings and half speaks the mournful lyric.

Later, we get to see a full scale production number ("I've Got My Eye on You") not only from the usual angles but also from the perspective of the camera operators (behind glass screens to drown the whirring camera motors), the sound recordists, the live orchestra and even the performers themselves, with the arc lights and footlights glaring into their/our faces. Before the finale, we are treated to the arrival of top Hollywood stars to the premiere of the fictional film within a film: Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler and a 17-year-old Loretta Young among them. The finale itself, the rousing and catchy "Hang on to a Rainbow," was shot in Technicolor, to judge by the unusually fuzzy quality of the surviving black-and-white version of the scene. It must have been quite something, with rows of chorus members in elaborate feathery costumes which must have been multicolored and the star appearing at the last moments in a sensational spiked headdress festooned with five-pointed stars.

Alice White is saucy and photogenic and moves very well (according to IMDb her singing is dubbed) but has a tongue-in-cheek way of speaking which occasionally works but is just as often inappropriate to the situation. The witlessness of much of the dialogue also hampers her, as she is called upon to deliver too many thudding lines. In almost every scene she wears a cloche hat from the front of which a curlicue of her blonde hair protrudes. A bit much!

Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)

** (out of 4)

Semi-sequel to the 1928 film SHOW GIRL has Alice White playing Dixie Dugan, a young actress who goes to California after her play "Rainbow Girl" closes on Broadway. She's brought out to Hollywood by a scumbag director (John Miljan) and once there she realizes that it's going to be a lot harder to get into pictures than she thought. Before long her old boyfriend (Jack Mulhall) is trying to get "Rainboy Girl" onto the big screen with the help of Warner/Vitaphone. Film buffs might want to check this early-talkie out simply because of all the behind-the-scenes stuff but sadly even by 1930 this type of story was already beginning to feel beat to death and there's simply nothing new or fresh here. I think the biggest problem is the screenplay itself, which is just giving us another rags to riches story but the biggest difference here is that the lead character is such an idiot and a jerk that you want to see her fail, which isn't a good thing since the entire story is built around her finding fame. The Dixie Dugan character comes to town expecting doors to just fly open for her and her attitude is just to the point where you want James Cagney to bash a grapefruit in her face. For the life of me I can't understand why they had her playing the part this yes. Yes, part of the story deals with her having to come to reality but it still doesn't help matters. Another problem is the typical early-talkie stuff where there's nothing but dialgoue, dialogue and more dialogue. There's so much talk here yet very little ever actually gets done. The play closes, she gets a shot at singing and it just happens that a famous director is there. She gets to Hollywood, gets turned down but just at the last second a part comes open. The girl gets a break, gets fired and then gets a second chance and becomes a star. White never really took off in Hollywood and I can't say that I was overly impressed with her here. She's certainly got the attitude of a high-powered star though. Blanche Sweet plays an actress who has been chewed up and spit out by the system and she's certainly the highlight of the picture but sadly she's not in too much of it. Mulhall and Miljan are both good in their parts as is Ford Sterling as the big producer. Al Jolson, Loretta Young, Noah Beery, Noah Beery, Jr., Ruby Keeler and Walter Pidgeon all play themselves and can be seen at the end during the "Rainbow Girl" premiere.