Crashing Hollywood (1938)

(On Cable TV, November 2022) I sweaaar that I already saw 1930 comedy Crashing Hollywood at some point in the past five years, but my notes don’t have any records of it. What probably happened is that I saw it, found it forgettable and obscure, thus skipped over jotting down a few notes. So, let’s do it right this time around: Crashing Hollywood is about a morally dubious couple that meet a screenwriter and decides to make writing movies their next racket. Trouble is: they’re so good at the form and representing crime that real-life criminals find themselves compelled to object in person. Given that the film runs for a scant 61 minutes, that’s about as much plot as director Lew Landers can sustain—and yet much of its interest lies in the depiction of Hollywood’s movie factory as it existed in the 1930s. Here, studio executives are madcap egomaniacs, the writers hold more power than directors, and there’s a strong strain of “gosh, wow, the movies!” running through it all. Filmed on location on the RKO lot, the film has a few treats to offer to movie buffs, and sports some fun comedy along the way. There were a lot of “plucky protagonists come to Hollywood” movies in the 1930s, but Crashing Hollywood does have enough to distinguish itself. It does (amazingly) drag after a while, though, and the handover between the first and last act is not particularly smooth. I just fear that I won’t remember much of it… so I may end up watching it again soon.