ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

classicsoncall Sorry to say, I'm badly out of synch with the majority of reviewers who have elevated this picture to a 7.6 rating at the time I write this. I realize all the caveats that go with watching something like this, it was MGM's very first musical revue and a daring excursion into a variety format for the era, but I'd sure like to hear of anyone's first hand impression of the show who might have been there. Impossible now of course, but I guess you really had to be there.Probably the best that can be said from my perspective is that the picture offers a first look at some of the up and coming film and stage stars that would make their mark in the years after this movie's release. The show was hosted by the now all but forgotten Conrad Nagle and on stage partner Jack Benny. The acts ranged from the passable to downright dreadful in some cases, as evidenced by the Gypsy trio that appeared near the end of the show. Cliff Edwards, in the persona of Ukelele Ike had an irritating, nails on chalkboard voice that was made only worse when he went into falsetto mode.Not to say that the show was a total disaster, but it just didn't do anything for this viewer. If I had to pick a unique surprise moment, it would have been an unrecognizably young Joan Crawford singing early in the program. Laurel and Hardy's magician routine could have used more punch, while the one sit up and take notice moment occurred during a racy song number by a girl in minimal attire. Since the movie was presented as a musical variety type show, it seemed odd to me that the film makers opted to withhold an audience response to the acts; I might have felt better about some of the presentations if I could hear a crowd offering it's approval.

earlytalkie This is the very first of the all-star, no-plot revues that proliferated during 1929 and 1930. Just about every star at Metro is featured, and there are many fun sequences to be savored in this film. The most famous one is probably the Joan Crawford segment, where she sings and dances to "Gotta Feeling For You". Her singing is passable, and her dancing is, well, "energetic". Marion Davies seems quite nervous in her "Tommy Atkins On Parade" number, but Bessie Love is pretty good in her wild acrobatics. Marie Dressler is fun, as always, and you can glimpse Carla Laemmle as the pearl in the oyster during "Tableau Of Jewels", which opens the second half. John Gilbert's speaking voice dosen't sound nearly as bad as had been rumored, even when considering the antiquity of the recording. The "Singin' In The Rain" number is fun, and offers a good contrast to the more famous one in the film of the same name. There are some special effects and two-color Technicolor that must have wowed the audiences back then, and it's been said that during the premiere, the theater put a gallon or so of orange-scented perfume into the ventilators during the "Orange Blossom Time" finale. In all, this film is well worth a look if you are into early sound films of historical value.

Ralph Schiller I have the new Warner Archive DVD release of "Hollywood Revue Of 1929" and I could not agree with reviewer Wayne Malin more. Right before the number "Lon Chaney Will Get You If You Don't' Watch Out", Jack Benny maintains that Lon Chaney does not exist. At that moment a man wearing an overcoat, derby hat, and sinister expression comes out onto the stage. Jack looks at the man, snidely chuckles and says "So you're Lon Chaney?" Benny finally reaches out to shake Chaney's right hand only to have the entire arm come off completely! Jack Benny screams with fear as Lon Chaney exits in a great scene.Movie fans look closely. That is Lon Chaney himself doing a silent, enigmatic appearance with Jack Benny right before the number!The rest of the film is a complete delight with nearly every major MGM star on the lot doing an appearance. This includes Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore,, Marion Davies, lovely Joan Crawford, John Gilbert still at the peak of his career but not for long, and many others. Buster Keaton nearly steals the entire show with his exotic dance number, and the finale with (nearly) everyone singing "Singin' In The Rain" in Technicolor is a joy to watch. "The Hollywood Revue Of 1929" is a historical gem that was unavailable for many years until Turner Classic Movies and now it's on DVD.

jtyroler MGM used to boast that they had more stars than were in the heavens. This transitional picture shows some "stars", people who still have name recognition. Some of the performers were near the end of their career, some at the beginning, and others, probably did not have much of a career before or after this.There's no real plot - it's pretty much a variety show hosted by Conrad Nagle and Jack Benny. There are some historical moments here - the first performance of "Singing in the Rain", the alleged cause of John Gilbert's career nosediving, Joan Crawford singing and dancing, some slapstick from Laurel & Hardy. There are appearances by the stunningly beautiful Anita Page who looks kind of sad while Conrad Nagle appears to be singing to her. William Haines, just before Louis B. Mayer ended his acting career, eating part of Jack Benny's clothing. Bessie Love appeared to come from one of Jack Benny's pockets - she said there was a $100 bill in the pocket, Benny quips that it's not his suit.Parts of this was the inspiration of the movie "Singing in the Rain", which was done 20+ years later. The pluses to this: some color sequences, including the closing performance of "Singing in the Rain", a weird dance sequence by Buster Keaton, who remains mute, and it's a great glimpse into Hollywood as it transitioned from the Silent Era to the age of "talkies". One interesting thing was the cameras weren't as static as they were for many of the early "talkies". There's also a kind of experimental dance sequence where it appears that they used some of the negatives in place of the processed film.Some of the minuses are it wasn't a smooth transition from the Silent Era to the age of "talkies" - the sound quality is very inconsistent. Some people sounded kind of muffled, some people's voices weren't picked up very well. The version that was played by TCM on 8/4/08 wasn't closed captioned, so if you can't understand what someone is saying or singing, you don't have any captioning to help you out.This is a good movie if you are interested in relatively early movies - it's almost 80 years old. It's also a chance to see some performers that didn't appear very often.