IMDb RATING
7.0/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood director.The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood director.The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood director.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
George Reed
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (scenes deleted)
Alice Adair
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
- James - Max's Butler
- (uncredited)
Sam Armstrong
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Zeena Baer
- Secretary to Julius Saxe
- (uncredited)
King Baggot
- Department Head
- (uncredited)
Gerald Barry
- John Reed - an Actor
- (uncredited)
Floyd Bell
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Veda Buckland
- Nana - Jackie's Nursemaid
- (uncredited)
Nicholas Caruso
- Chef at Brown Derby
- (uncredited)
Lita Chevret
- Actress Filming on Movie Set
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGeorge Cukor, who directed this film, was offered the chance to direct its "partial remake," A Star Is Born (1937), but turned it down, claiming the two films were too similar. Interestingly, Cukor would later direct the 1954 Judy Garland/James Mason musical remake of that film, often cited as the best version of this material.
- GoofsWhen Mary is filming her first bit part she drops her script on the stairs, which then disappears between shots.
- Quotes
[first lines]
[Mary Evans is admiring a magazine photo of Clark Gable]
Mary Evans: Hmmmm. Oh, boy!
[Mary places the magazine photo against her face and pretends Gable is her lover. She speaks in an exaggerated voice]
Mary Evans: Daaahling, how I love you my daaahling, I love you I do.
[she puts the magazine down and returns to her normal voice]
Mary Evans: It's getting late and I must scram.
- Crazy creditsThere is a "by" credit to Gene Fowler and Rowland Brown after the title shows, but there is also a "screenplay by" credit to Jane Murfin and Ben Markson, without leaving any clear explanation or context as to what "by" actually means. But the reality was that Fowler and Brown wrote the real screenplay, with Murfin and Markson providing the continuity.
- ConnectionsFeatured in David O. Selznick: 'Your New Producer' (1935)
- SoundtracksThree Little Words
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Ruby
Part of a medley played during the opening credits
Featured review
Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman Are Superb
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. In walks Lowell Sherman, a tipsy but famous director. They take a shine to each other and he wakes up the next morning to find her asleep on his living room couch. He invites her to test for a small part in a film, but she's terrible.
She works all night on her little scene and finally gets it right. Of course she makes a hit and becomes a big star. She's never romantically involved with Sherman, who's more interested in the bottle. 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. The years go by. One night she gets a call to come get Sherman out of jail where he's been locked up for be drunk and for skipping out on a bar bill. 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. Bennett and Sherman are superb. Hamilton is fine as the rich husband. Also good are Gregory Ratoff as the producer and Louise Beavers as the devoted maid.
There were insider Hollywood stories before this. Marion Davies' comedy SHOW PEOPLE showed how fame can go to an actress' head. 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.
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. In walks Lowell Sherman, a tipsy but famous director. They take a shine to each other and he wakes up the next morning to find her asleep on his living room couch. He invites her to test for a small part in a film, but she's terrible.
She works all night on her little scene and finally gets it right. Of course she makes a hit and becomes a big star. She's never romantically involved with Sherman, who's more interested in the bottle. 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. The years go by. One night she gets a call to come get Sherman out of jail where he's been locked up for be drunk and for skipping out on a bar bill. 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. Bennett and Sherman are superb. Hamilton is fine as the rich husband. Also good are Gregory Ratoff as the producer and Louise Beavers as the devoted maid.
There were insider Hollywood stories before this. Marion Davies' comedy SHOW PEOPLE showed how fame can go to an actress' head. 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.
- How long is What Price Hollywood??Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Hollywood Madness
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $411,676 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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