What Price Hollywood?
Tags: satire

Plot synopsis:
Brown Derby waitress Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) is an aspiring actress who has an opportunity to meet film director Maximillan Carey (Lowell Sherman) when she serves him one night. He is very drunk but is charmed by the young girl, and he invites her to a premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Adhering to his policy of living life with a sense of humor, he picks her up in a jalopy rather than a limousine and then gives the parking valet the car as a tip.
Max takes Mary home with him after the event, but the next morning remembers nothing about the previous night. She reminds him he promised her a screen test and expresses concern about his excessive drinking and flippant attitude, but he tells her not to worry.
Mary's first screen test reveals she has far more ambition than talent, and she begs for another chance. After extensive rehearsals, she shoots the scene again, and producer Julius Saxe (Gregory Ratoff) is pleased with the result and signs her to a contract. Just as quickly as Mary achieves stardom, Max finds his career on the decline, and he avoids a romantic relationship with her for fear she will be caught up in his downward spiral.
Mary meets polo player Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton). He genuinely loves her and, although he is jealous of the demands made on her by her career, he convinces her to marry him, against Julius and Max's better judgment. Lonny becomes increasingly annoyed by the dedication of his movie star wife to her work, and finally walks out on her. After their divorce is finalized, Mary discovers she is pregnant.
Mary wins the Academy Award for Best Actress, but her moment of glory is disrupted when she's called upon to post bail for Max after he's arrested for drunk driving. She takes him to her home, where he wallows in self-pity despite her encouragement. Later, alone in Mary's dressing room, he stares at his dissolute image in the mirror and compares it to a photograph of himself in earlier days. Finding a gun in a drawer, he kills himself with a bullet to the chest.
Mary becomes the center of gossip focusing on Max's suicide. Hoping to heal her emotional wounds, she flees to Paris with her son and reunites with Lonny, who begs her to forgive him and give their marriage another chance.

Review: Another film that deserves a wider viewership and a DVD release, "What Price Hollywood?" looks at the toll Hollywood takes on the people who make it possible.Adela Rogers St John wrote the Oscar-nominated story of a fading genius of a director, destroyed by drink, who launches one last discovery into the world.
Lowell Sherman, himself both a director and an alcoholic, played the sad role that had been modeled, in part, on his own life.
(Sherman's brother-in-law, John Barrymore, was also a model, as was the silent film director Marshall Neilan.) The divinely beautiful Constance Bennett plays the ambitious Brown Derby waitress who grabs her chance.
Neil Hamilton, paired to great effect with Bennett that same year in "Two Against the World," plays the east-coast polo-playing millionaire who captures Bennett's heart without ever understanding her world.George Cukor directed the film for RKO, and already the seeds of his directorial genius can be seen.
Wonderful montages and double exposures chart Bennett's rise and fall as "America's Pal," and I've rarely seen anything as moving as the way Cukor presented Sherman's death scene, using quick shot editing, exaggerated sound effects and a slow motion shot.
As startling as it looks today, one can only imagine the reaction it must have caused over 70 years earlier, before audiences had become accustomed to such techniques.While the romantic leads are solid--Bennett, as always, especially so--and Gregory Ratoff is mesmerizing as the producer, hats must be doffed to Lowell Sherman for his Oscar-calibre performance.
The later movie never credited Adela Rogers St John or any of the source material of "What Price Hollywood?" for its own screenplay, which was written by Dorothy Parker from, supposedly, an idea of Selznick's."What Price Hollywood?" is a great source for behind-the-scenes tidbits--Cukor fills the screen with images of on-set action (or inaction), with various crew waiting about as they watch the film-in-a-film action being filmed.
A zestier pre-Code version of the familiar "A Star is Born" story.
It's fun to compare "What Price Hollywood," made in 1932, to the more familiar 1937 version of "A Star is Born" (as well as its two later remakes).
Mary, the unknown knockout in in the 1932 version, is a saucy waitress at the legendary Brown Derby restaurant trying to catch the eye of a movie big shot.
She catches the eye of a famous (but fading and highly alcoholic) actor when she waitresses at a party.There is one major plot difference:  in the 1932 version, Mary marries a rich polo playing socialite who divorces her (while she's pregnant) because he is fed up with movie people.
The declining fortunes of the director (in "What Price Hollywood") and the actor (in "A Star is Born") are quite fascinating.
With loads of drama, glamour to spare, and some romance too, this movie is one of the best behind-the-scenes looks at the old Hollywood studio system that was ever made.
This movie was the basis for "A Star is Born."  All in all, one great film..
The performance of Lowell Sherman only adds to the wonderful script, and only the innocence of Constance Bennett is able to carry the role of an aspiring starlet that makes it so believable.
From the appearance of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson to the Brown Derby to the scenes of the night life of the early days of Hollywood, "What Price Hollywood?" will always be a memorable film for me..
Wonderful Cukor-directed, precode film starring Constance Bennett.
Constance Bennett was at the height of her beauty in "What Price Hollywood?" an excellent 1932 film directed by George Cukor.
The story is a familiar one, but in 1932, probably less so: A good-looking, vivacious waitress catches the eye of a drunken director, who helps make her a star.
A surprisingly modern-looking, very handsome Neil Hamilton plays Bennett's husband, who later divorces her before she gives birth to their child.Like "The Bad and the Beautiful," "What Price Hollywood?" shows some inner workings of a Hollywood studio in those years.
Besides Bennett, who is marvelous (and does her own singing), Sherman, and Hamilton, there is the multitalented Gregory Ratoff on board.I've seen many Constance Bennett films, as she is a favorite of mine, and I would have to put this as her best..
Great performances by Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman, both of whose work I had very little knowledge of.
Lowell Sherman is excellent as the tippling director who discovers waitress Bennett and becomes a heavier drinker.
One of George Cukor's better films, featuring Lowell Sherman, as an alcoholic director, Gregory Ratoff as a Sam Goldwyn like producer, and Constance Bennett playing the starstruck waitress at the Brown Derby.
Alcoholic director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman) discovers waitress Mary Evans (Constance Bennett).
She becomes a big star and marries handsome Lonny Borden (Neil Hamilton)...but Carey's alcoholism starts to kill him and Lonny can't deal with his wife's stardom....Very predictable but good.
This movie moves VERY quickly; is well-directed by George Cukor; has some sharp pre-Code dialogue and has a good script that gives an interesting look at Hollywood in the 1930s.
It gets a little overly silly at the end but it still works.Bennett is just great--beautiful and believable; Sherman was good also; Hamilton is just so-so but he's unbelievably handsome so that helps.
Gregory Ratoff also gets some laughs as a VERY excitable studio head.This was (pretty obviously) the inspiration for the later "A Star Is Born" movies but stands on its own merit.
Pre-Code insider's look at Hollywood, a precursor to all those STAR IS BORN films.Constance Bennett is a waitress at Hollywood's famed Brown Derby restaurant specifically for the chance of meeting the right contact to help her break into films.
She has everything she ever wanted and marries a stuffy rich boy (Neil Hamilton) who never fits in.Eventually Bennett loses the husband and also loses Sherman as his career slips away because of his drinking.
She takes him home and cleans him up, but it's too late.Hard-hitting story stunned a lot of viewers who wanted to believe that the lives of the Hollywood stars was a bed of roses.
Also good are Gregory Ratoff as the producer and Louise Beavers as the devoted maid.There were insider Hollywood stories before this.
The following STAR IS BORN films borrowed heavily from this one but the heroines in these (Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and the 2018 version) were all married to the tragic figure.Perhaps a bigger studio than RKO could have secured the Oscar nominations Lowell Sherman and Constance Bennett deserved for this film..
This early effort by director George Cukor had such resonance that it was remade three times as A STAR IS BORN, so it lives on to satisfy the curiosity of those who admire one or more of the later productions.
What holds it up after all these years are a strong and realistic performance by Lowell Sherman as a successful Hollywood film director whose alcoholism is destroying his career, decent and sometimes brilliant work by ever-stylish Constance Bennett as the ambitious waitress who becomes an overnight star, beautiful and poetic montages by Slavko Vorkapich, a generally witty and clever script by a team of about eight writers including Adela Rogers St. John and Gene Fowler, and some beautifully directed intimate scenes including the opening in which Bennett dresses for work, copying the beauty tips advertised in the fan magazine she is reading.
Done at RKO it's the story of three star crossed people and that's literal for one of them.Constance Bennett plays Mary Evans who is discovered by drunken director Lowell Sherman while working as a waitress at the famous Brown Derby in Hollywood.
Including those like Sherman who liked their cuisine strictly liquid and at that time illegal.You might think that playing a movie star was no stretch for Connie Bennett.
She was as far removed from Mary Evans in real life as you can get, still Bennett got deep inside the part.Sherman might have modeled his character on any number of distinguished Hollywood lushes.
And of course we can't forget A Star Is Born in its original and remakes.What Price Hollywood got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Constance Bennett plays a waitress working at The Brown Derby who gets a break when she meets a hot director (Lowell Sherman).
Sherman steals the film as the drunken director who really gets to shine in terms of drama and comedy.
While this is Bennett's film, and she shimmers in her pre-code couture, Lowell Sherman puts in an equally excellent performance.
He plays the role of the alcoholic director with such grace that is almost makes me cry.This is by far the best version of this story.
Clever scenes help the tale of a young woman (Constance Bennett) who becomes a success in the film capital.
Selznick would rework the concept five years later with director William Wellman for A Star Is Born, with Janet Gaynor taking over Miss Bennett's role.
I might also recommend watching this movie, because of the excellent acting by Constance Bennett, Neil Hamilton, and Gregory Ratoff.
I am definitely recommending watching this movie, because of the excellent performance by Lowell Sherman!
For those of you not familiar with Lowell Sherman, he was not only a distinguished motion picture and stage actor, he was also a director who directed Mae West in "She Done Him Wrong" and Katharine Hepburn in her Academy Award winning role in "Morning Glory".
A great actress was Constance Bennett, a first class star in the eyes of 1930's movie goers.
He does have a great funny scene involving his drinking his boss' (Lowell Sherman as an about-to-be-washed up director) liquor!
Louise Beavers, in contrast, eventually applies the double negative as movie star Mary Evans' (Constance Bennett) maid when confronted by reporters at her boss' house.
I also liked Gregory Ratoff as the studio boss as well as Neil Hamilton-yes, Commissioner Gordon on the later "Batman" TV series-as Ms. Bennett's husband especially when he insults a gossip columnist at his and Mary's home!
I can see why the writers of this movie initially wanted to sue the makers of the original A Star is Born years later.
Lowell Sherman, in the role of an alcoholic director, turns in a great performance, and scenes with him towards the end are excellent, though I won't spoil them.
I'm not a huge fan of movies depicting the inner workings of filmmaking and the difficulties those in the industry face, including early version of the paparazzi here, and the concept of the 'waitress who is discovered' in Hollywood is pretty cliché.
The simple story, of an unknown beauty being discovered by a male star and her career taking off as his goes into alcoholic decline, is rendered with great delicacy--helped by the lambent beauty of Constance Bennett and the subtle acting of the principals.
Well done movie in the hooray-for-Hollywood mode which has been done many times since, and as everyone has noted done best in "A Star Is Born".
I have seen and appreciated Constance Bennett, Neil Hamilton and Lowell Sherman in many other movies.
Constance Bennett is lovely and Lowell Sherman is excellent as the alcoholic director, and the behind-the-scenes glimpses of Hollywood studio life were very interesting.
There is also a scene of Bennett and Hamilton in the same bed kissing one another good night, which must have roiled the sensibilities of contemporary morality police in pre-code times.As another reviewer noted, "What Price Hollywood" is a women's picture, with a heroine beset by a woman's concerns and which makes for a picture which is not for all tastes, one which is by definition uncompelling and with bland overtones.
An excellent specimen of the subgenre of movies about movie-making, featuring the spectacular Constance Bennett as Marie Evans, a waitress discovered at the Brown Derby by an endearingly inebriated genius director, Max Carey (Lowell Sherman).
In 1932 critics were congratulating her on her best performance in years in "Lady With a Past" and then she was offered the role of Mary Evans in the movie which would cement her reputation for all time - "What Price Hollywood?".Originally entitled "The Truth About Hollywood" and planned by Selznick as a "sensational comeback" film for Clara Bow, Adela Rogers St. John wrote the script but on visiting Clara, she told Selznick that she was too contented with married life to bother returning to films, so Constance was offered the part (Clara would have been fantastic in it).
Another film dealing with the "real" Hollywood (about the influx of vocal coaches and teachers when movies first began to talk) "Once in a Lifetime" was released the same year but was not so well received.Mary Evans (Bennett), a waitress at the Brown Derby, dreams of going into the movies (the opening scene where she uses all the products the movie stars swear by and swoons over Clark Gable is one of the best).
She is given plenty of encouragement by the patrons and she finally gets a lucky break when one of her customers, alcoholic director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman) takes her to a movie premiere.
and she is terrible but, in another excellent scene, she goes home and rehearses her lines until she is perfect, and a star is born - America's Pal!!!She meets and marries high society polo player, Lonnie Borden (handsome Neil Hamilton) but their wedding turns into a Hollywood circus with zealous fans tearing her gown and veil.
Really Lowell Sherman gives the best performance in the film, initially carefree, whose antics provide a lot of mirth then in a splendid scene when he talks about "there is nothing inside me anymore"!!
Mary has gone to France to live reclusively with her little son but Lonnie follows her and they kiss passionately at the fadeout!!!"What Price Hollywood" was later revamped as the classic "A Star is Born" and the story went that it was purported to be the story of John Bowers, who committed suicide because he couldn't find work and felt his career was eclipsed by his wife's, Margueritte De La Motte.
Director/Actor Lowell Sherman was a major star in the early 1930's, but yet he is mostly forgotten today, perhaps because he appears to be a "poor man's John Barrymore".
In the case of "What Price Hollywood?", however, he gives his best performance, and is certainly comparable to Fredric March and James Mason in the film's two unofficial (and much better well known) remakes.George Cukor, directing Barrymore and Katharine Hepburn the very same year in the outstanding "A Bill of Divorcement", is at the helm here, and just like he would later do with the Judy Garland/James Mason 1954 version of "A Star is Born", the focus is on the emotions charged up by the relationship of the star who is born (in this case the beautiful Constance Bennett) and the man who discovers her (Sherman) and makes her a big star after simply spotting her on the set of one of his films.
The romantic lead here is Neil Hamilton, later Commissioner Gordon on "Batman", who loves Bennett but isn't willing to simply be known as the husband of a star.
A shocking twist has her fighting to save her career, and Bennett must rise above her pride and sudden success to figure out what the important things to her really are.Unique enough to stand out on its own, this is still considered by film historians the first unofficial version of "A Star is Born", and it ranks as truly powerful drama.
Gregory Ratoff plays the studio head who is devoted to both director and star but is in a powerless position to help them after some bad publicity.
Clearly the makers of "A Star is Born" had first seen "What Price Hollywood?".
When you see this film, it sure reminds you of the 1937 film "A Star is Born"--so much that you assume that "What Price Hollywood?" was reworked into this later screen success.
So much is similar--too much is similar for it to be a coincidence.The film begins with Constance Bennett working as a waitress at the Brown Derby restaurant (it's really cool seeing this building).
Sherman is a very happy drunk and gets Bennett to quit her job and go to a big Hollywood premier with him.
A very good film--one of Bennett's best..
Mary meets polo player Lonny Borden (Batman's Neil Hamilton), who genuinely loves her, he is jealous of the demands made on her by her career, but he convinces her to marry him, against Julius and Max's better judgement.
Basically in California, Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) works as a waitress at Brown Derby, she is an aspiring actress, one night she gets the opportunity to serve and meet film director Maximillan Carey (Lowell Sherman).
Basically in California, Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) works as a waitress at Brown Derby, she is an aspiring actress, one night she gets the opportunity to serve and meet film director Maximillan Carey (Lowell Sherman).
Bennett is likeable as the young woman who dreams of stardom, and Sherman is interesting as her alcoholic discoverer and mentor, the cast-iron storyline, recycled into A Star Is Born four times, is well crafted, and the atmosphere and authentic portrayal of old Hollywood works well, overall it is a satisfactory classic drama.
Bennett is likeable as the young woman who dreams of stardom, and Sherman is interesting as her alcoholic discoverer and mentor, the cast-iron storyline, recycled into A Star Is Born four times, is well crafted, and the atmosphere and authentic portrayal of old Hollywood works well, overall it is a satisfactory classic drama.
In this account, the story not only moves at an inexorable pace towards its tragic climax, but it is studded with truly memorable characters, all of them superbly played by the likes of the wonderfully svelte Constance Bennett, the dapper, vainly self- centered Lowell Sherman, and the line-tossing Gregory Ratoff.