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Oscar Vault Monday – The Hollywood Revue of 1929, 1929 (dir. Charles Reisner)

This is such a strange film. It was MGM’s second feature-length musical and one of the studio’s earliest sound films. Unlike most MGM musicals, this film really has no overarching plot. Like the title suggests, it’s just a revue – a series of skits, songs and dance numbers by basically everyone on the MGM lot (the only major MGM stars of the era missing are Lon Chaney, Ramon Navarro and Greta Garbo). The film was only nominated for Best Picture and the other films up for the top prize that year were AlibiIn Old ArizonaThe Patriot (now a lost film) and winner The Broadway Melody (also an MGM musical).

the_hollywood_revue_of_1929_poster

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