IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021371/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,1
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Main Cast: Alice White, Jack Mulhall, Blanche Sweet, Ford Sterling
"This wonderful Warner Bros. epic was one of the earliest talkie musicals with a Hollywood background - and the last of its kind until 1933's Sitting Pretty. Alice White stars as pert chorine Dixie Dugan, a character she'd played in 1928's Show Girl (and one which would spin off into a long-running comic strip). This time, Dixie is brought to Hollywood to appear in a music titled The Rainbow Girl. Thanks to the urgings of her egotistical director (John Miljan), the normally down-to-earth heroine begins acting like a haughty screen queen. Her temperamental behavior causes a shut-down of the production, ruining the comeback attempt of fading star Donna Harris (played by Blanche Sweet, who at 36 looks far younger than her 'over-the-hill' character, who's supposed to be 32!) When Donna nearly commits suicide, Dixie realizes what a jerk she's been, and the show - er, the movie - goes on. A surprisingly accurate scene from Show Girl in Hollywood, showing a musical number 'in production' on the sound stage has since been excerpted in several TV documentaries on the early sound era. The film originally ended with a Technicolor sequence depicting the premiere of the fictional The Rainbow Girl, with several Warner Bros. employees (Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Loretta Young and Walter Pidgeon) in attendance.
A distinguished early talkie with acceptable tunes by Buddy Green and Sammy Stept, include: 'I've Got My Eye on You' (sung by Alice White); 'There's a Tear for Every Smile in Hollywood' (sung by Blanche Sweet); 'I've Got My Eye on You' (reprise) and 'Hang on to the Rainbow' (Alice White).
Blanche Sweet (1895-1986), a long time veteran actress of the silent screen dating back to 1909, is quite effective as a drifting movie queen who becomes Dixie Dugan's guide through the studio system. Her vocalizing to a sentimental tune revealing the happiness and hardship of Hollywood comes very much as a surprise as does her character, limited somewhat in the photo-play yet crucial to the story. Film buffs would also delight in witnessing the behind the scenes activity of movie making, then called 'Vitaphoning'." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/show-girl-in-hollywood-v110018
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