OVP: What Price Hollywood? (1932)

Film: What Price Hollywood? (1932)
Stars: Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton, Gregory Ratoff, Louise Beavers
Director: George Cukor
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Story)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars

My brother has pointed out to me on several occasions that when I'm reviewing older movies for the OVP, ones that I have not seen before but are random nominees for Screenplay or Costume or something (the one-and-done sort of nominees), I end up with the inevitable 2-star ranking.  This seems to be true, I will have to admit.  While I love old movies, I have seen most of what are deemed the "classics" and while I'm usually just as hard on new releases, I tend to have to separate myself quite a bit from old-timey sexism or attitudes toward women and minorities (and I'll fully admit that I can only stretch too far before I break, as evidenced here).  That being said, when an old film doesn't feel the need to infuse too much sexism, but instead style and panache and glamour and put it all under a microscope, I am fully able to give a strong review, which is exactly what happened to me when I saw the forgotten classic What Price Hollywood? a film that I'd never heard of before I saw it pop up on TCM and one that I'm absolutely giddy about having viewed.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie tells the tale of Mary Evans (Bennett), who is a down-on-her-luck waitress who desperately wants to be a star in the motion picture industry.  Mary is one of those wisecracking waitresses that exist only in TV sitcom reruns today (the kind that used to be played by Eve Arden or Linda Lavin), but she's a joy to be around, and this is something that director Max Carey (Sherman) realizes after drunkenly hiring her to be in a small role in his next picture.  Like all waitresses discovered in movies, she ends up being a big star, a huge headliner who falls in love with a playboy named Lonny (Hamilton, and yes that's the same Neil Hamilton who played Commissioner Gordon in the Batman TV series), and eventually meets her downfall.

But interestingly enough, it's not because she gets pregnant or ends up pining over her beau, but because she's too loyal of a friend.  Max is a director who is devoted to the bottle and despite the insisting of both Lonny and her producer friend Julius (Gregory Ratoff, who also memorably played a producer in All About Eve) she stands by him, insisting that she be loyal to the man who discovered her despite her husband leaving her as a result of it.  When Max, who clearly has depression along with his alcoholism, ends up shooting himself after realizing his life will have no saving, Mary is blamed in the scandal and watches her career erupt in flames.  She flees the country when she thinks Lonny is after her baby, but in true Hollywood fashion, she gets a ludicrously sweet ending with Lonny chasing after her and her son and they all get a happily ever after.

The ending aside, though, this is a really fantastic picture, and even the ending has its charms (I LOVED that it was just as important that she not only got her husband, but a career comeback was in the works as well-Mary values her career just as much as her romantic life, and I admired that so much for an era that never did something like that-even the Star is Born pictures, which are clearly borrowing from this movie, didn't have the guts for that).  There are so many little nuances of Hollywood and its ugly side, particularly toward women that made me really fascinated by its aptness so many decades ago.  George Cukor (famous for his "women's pictures") is a fine director, but it's surprising that so early in his career he was able to make a movie where the female protagonist chooses her friends and career over a husband and isn't punished for it.  So frequently, even with great films, the women have to show no other devotion before the man comes into the picture, but she seems nonplussed by her husband being called Mr. Mary Evans and seems to actually enjoy her success, not just doing it until she has a man.

Feminism is refreshing, but it doesn't make this a terrific movie.  What does is a script that moves briskly, finds frequent heart and humor and truth (look at the way that Mary is thrown under the bus for a scandal where she was the good guy), and that shows the shallowness and the marketing involved with Hollywood (how they use Mary to shape a narrative).  The film is also elevated by Constance Bennett's excellent work as Mary Evans.  There's a truly wonderful scene (the best scene in the picture) where Mary, after botching a seemingly easy role, goes home and practices for hours and hours.  In most performances we'd get to the point where she is able to do the role well.  Bennett, on the other hand, makes the performance not only be good, but also shows how difficult being a star is by being outstanding, better than what we'd even have expected.  It's a sly trick to show how much her vigor and timing are bringing to the role and for the rest of the film, unlike some other pictures, we're fully aware of why the country is captivated by Mary Evans-she has the sharpness and excellence of one of the Talkies first big stars.

All-in-all, while I wish the ending wasn't quite so pat, the rest of the film is just aces so I'm doing something I rarely do and give this a five-star review (I was debating between four and five, but it's Friday and I'm going to be generous-Bennett would surely get five stars and possibly my Oscar were she nominated, which she tragically wasn't).  What are your thoughts-do you ever find yourself perplexed by how good a random movie that you've never heard of was?  Do you, like me, have a serious talent crush on Constance Bennett?  And of course, where does What Price Hollywood? rank next to the screenplays of Lady and Gent, The Star Witness, and the victoriously-named The Champ (which won, of course)?  Sound off in the comments!