Narrated by the most monotone voice you've ever heard, this shortie will put you to sleep like nothing else. The color is badly in need of restoration, and The editing is atrocious . They have mounted a camera behind a blond bombshell, who could be the double for Marilyn Monroe, as she drives around LA in a Chevy convertible. She visits some fun spots, like Fairlawn Cemetery, Pantages Theater, Capitol Records, and checks out the hand imprints at Mann's Chinese Theater. We drive past a couple homes of the stars, then its off to the beaches and and LONG snooze at MarineLand. Of course, they work in some corporate signs for Hertz and the Roosevelt Hotel, which makes on wonder if this was sponsored by them. The copy read by the narrator Walter Kray is idiotic, and next time I'd just press MUTE! Watch it for the great old time photos of landmarks and how LA looked in the 1960s, but keep your expectations in check. Its a GREAT snapshot of how the city looked back when... Corriganville, up north in Simi Valley, was still a going filming location, or at least the standing buildings were still standing. Those buildings have all been knocked down as I write this in 2013. Be sure to research it on wikipedia, or the LA parks website. Corriganville really has an interesting story, and is still fun to visit, but that's about the only saving grace for this short we get to see now and then on Turner Classics.
3 Reviews
Budget Over Run (NOT!)
redryan6410 January 2015
WE DID FIND this little 2 reeler to be surprisingly interesting. This was not because of its central character & liaison to the audience, Miss Lori Lyons; although she was an excellent attribute to the production.
IN WHAT CAN only be called a very high cinematic moment, the movie opens with some unknown fugitive from justice running for his life over some rugged, boulder covered hills. He is injured and shot at; but just when we are most captivated in the mini drama, it all abruptly comes to a halt. We are instantly transported from this hilly hell-hole, where the escaping protagonist has suddenly become bloody and disabled, to a Hollywood sound-stage.
THE DIRECTOR'S SIGNAL to stop action returns us to a reality world. The actor gets an "attaboy" and the narrative turns to Miss Lori and a whirlwind tour of that "hardworking" town of Hollywood. We rapidly move from several studios, Marineland of the Pacific, Ray Corrigan's Western Ranch ("Corriganville" if you please)and several other locations.
IN WINDING THINGS up, Lori has found a beau (who literally gets into the driver's seat) and in a fine example of the circular events in life, the fade-out returns us to the original fugitive running the hill.
BOTH SCHULTZ AND I agree that what we have here is a mildly interesting short subject/audience warmer and antecedent to the cartoon; albeit not very inspired.
IN WHAT CAN only be called a very high cinematic moment, the movie opens with some unknown fugitive from justice running for his life over some rugged, boulder covered hills. He is injured and shot at; but just when we are most captivated in the mini drama, it all abruptly comes to a halt. We are instantly transported from this hilly hell-hole, where the escaping protagonist has suddenly become bloody and disabled, to a Hollywood sound-stage.
THE DIRECTOR'S SIGNAL to stop action returns us to a reality world. The actor gets an "attaboy" and the narrative turns to Miss Lori and a whirlwind tour of that "hardworking" town of Hollywood. We rapidly move from several studios, Marineland of the Pacific, Ray Corrigan's Western Ranch ("Corriganville" if you please)and several other locations.
IN WINDING THINGS up, Lori has found a beau (who literally gets into the driver's seat) and in a fine example of the circular events in life, the fade-out returns us to the original fugitive running the hill.
BOTH SCHULTZ AND I agree that what we have here is a mildly interesting short subject/audience warmer and antecedent to the cartoon; albeit not very inspired.
Decent Short
Michael_Elliott25 July 2010
Stopover in Hollywood (1963)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent, if somewhat strange, documentary short about a blonde who goes to Hollywood to see some famous sites. With the narration we visit Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the famous Walk of Fame, a funeral with many famous people buried and also the houses of a few still with us. There have been countless films that showed off various sites in Hollywood and we've seen these throughout the silent era and forward. This one here has a lot of great images but at the same time you feel as if you're a stalker. Filmmaker Will Williams takes his camera and shows us several celebrity homes including that of James Stewart. There's certainly nothing overly wrong with this as the world was a different time back in the day but at the same time you feel a little uneasy about this. Williams also appears to be a big fan of Gary Cooper as we see his mark on the Walk of Fame, his burial ground and his former home. Also on hand is the site where Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 film THE SQUAW MAN was filmed with a statue calling it the first American feature.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent, if somewhat strange, documentary short about a blonde who goes to Hollywood to see some famous sites. With the narration we visit Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the famous Walk of Fame, a funeral with many famous people buried and also the houses of a few still with us. There have been countless films that showed off various sites in Hollywood and we've seen these throughout the silent era and forward. This one here has a lot of great images but at the same time you feel as if you're a stalker. Filmmaker Will Williams takes his camera and shows us several celebrity homes including that of James Stewart. There's certainly nothing overly wrong with this as the world was a different time back in the day but at the same time you feel a little uneasy about this. Williams also appears to be a big fan of Gary Cooper as we see his mark on the Walk of Fame, his burial ground and his former home. Also on hand is the site where Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 film THE SQUAW MAN was filmed with a statue calling it the first American feature.
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