 the hollywood revue of 1929 is a 1929 american musical-comedy film released by metro-goldwyn-mayer. it was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of the earliest ventures into the sound format. produced by harry rapf and irving thalberg and directed by charles reisner, the film brought together some of mgm's most popular performers in a lavish two-hour revue shot partially in technicolor. the two masters of ceremonies are conrad nagel and jack benny. a month after this movie, warner brothers released the show of shows, a musical revue which was photographed almost entirely in technicolor and a full talking picture. ==production== unlike m-g-m's imposing feature films, which always boasted strong story values, the hollywood revue of 1929 was a plotless parade of variety acts. conrad nagel, interviewed for the book the real tinsel, recalled, "everybody thought harry rapf was crazy for making it." billed as an "all-star musical extravaganza," the film includes performances by once and future stars, including joan crawford singing and dancing on stage. (she later remarked, "revue was one of those let's-throw-everyone-on-the-lot-into-a musical things, but i did a good song-and-dance number."). other segments feature lionel barrymore, marion davies, gus edwards, john gilbert, buster keaton, marie dressler, anita page, norma shearer, and the comedy team of karl dane and george k. arthur. highlights of the film are a comedy routine starring [[sta
1920s_comedy_films 1920s_musical_films 1929_films American_films American_musical_comedy_films Black-and-white_films English-language_films Film_revues Films_directed_by_Charles_Reisner Films_produced_by_Irving_Thalberg Laurel_and_Hardy_(film_series) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_films