Jeanne Madden

(On Cable TV, May 2021) As Hollywood celebrated its own twentysomething anniversary throughout the 1930s, it became convinced of its own importance and, naturally, made movies about itself. The archives of major studios at the time are filled with stories of small-town cute girls boarding a bus to California, convinced of making it big. Given that they’re movie protagonists, their dreams often become true after a few perfunctory obstacles. It’s in that subgenre that Talent Scout is to be found, but watch out — this is about as basic an example of the form as can be put together, and there’s some irony in how the star of the film, Jeanne Madden, only made three movies before retiring back to Pennsylvania as owner of the family boarding house. As far as these films go, Talent Scout is perhaps more interesting for its lack of interest: It’s a straight-up B-movie made to keep contract players working and feed the theatrical distribution chain. You can certainly watch it, but its lack of distinction means that there won’t be much to remember the next day. There’s something admirable in seeing some people on a short Hollywood stint captured for later generations to watch, but if we’re going on a strict should-you-watch-this-before-you-die basis, there are far more interesting starlet-in-Hollywood movies than Talent Scout.