Karry
Best movie of this year hands down!
LouHomey
From my favorite movies..
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Hollywood Steps Out" is a 7.5-minute cartoon from 1941, so it's having its 75th anniversary this year. Not bad. It was written by Melvin Millar and the director is the famous Tex Avery giving us one of his earlier works. It's a Warner Bros Production together with Schlesinger Studios, both big players from that era, and counts among Warner Bros' Merrie Melodies. This is certainly misleading as music is almost non-existent in this little movie. I find it interesting how they depicted cartoon characters of so many famous stars from that time, but sadly, this is really all that the film is. Neither the dialogs nor the interactions and actions are memorable or interesting at all and with most people in this film being only known to major movie buffs, if at all, the film has not aged well at all. It may have been a good or great watch for its time during World War II, but for today it is not anymore. Thumbs down.
JohnHowardReid
The Hollywood set steps out at Ciro's to be precise, where the night-clubbing action is exclusively set. The script is not particularly amusing or inventive, but fascinating all the same. The voice impersonations are mostly very skillful. One of the longest spots has Jimmy Stewart declining an invitation to rumba. At least two gags deal with Crosby's horse-racing ventures, whilst the climax features a bubble dance by "Sally Strand". Naturally the stars in evidence at Ciro's on this particular night (Dinner $50 and up. Easy terms available) are weighted in favor of Warner Bros, though a number of "foreign" stars receive a fair innings including the Hardys (both real and fictional), the Three Stooges, and Harpo Marx. Some of the faces are glimpsed so fleetingly they will be difficult for a 2007 audience to recognize. And maybe two or three are now forgotten.Musically, the film is a feast for song-lovers with snatches from Nat Ayer's "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", Tony Jackson and Egbert Van Alstyne's "Pretty Baby", Allie Wrubel's "The Lady in Red", Isham Jones' "It Had To Be You", James Brockman, James Kendis and Nat Vincent's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", M.K. Jerome's "Congo", Harry Warren's "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby", Murray Mencher's "Merrily We Roll Along" and others, all delightfully rendered by the studio orchestra under the baton of Leo F. Forbstein.To sum up: In view of the star line-up, somewhat disappointing, but still a must for all movie buffs.
Lee Eisenberg
One of the early Looney Tunes shorts not featuring Bugs Bunny or his ilk, "Hollywood Steps Out" portrays bar Ciro's, frequented by the top stars from the '30s and '40s. It's a good thing that I saw this now, when I'm old enough to understand it; if I'd seen it when I was six or so, I wouldn't have understood any of it (let's face it: how many little children can identify Henry Fonda, Greta Garbo and Jimmy Stewart?). Two glowing omissions - at least in my opinion - were Charlie Chaplin and Katharine Hepburn (what makes this especially irritating is that they included Bing Crosby). But still, it's a pretty likable cartoon. A similar one was "Slick Hare".Yeah, it would be funny seeing him there.
movieman_kev
Set in the Legenday Hollywood hills restaurant Ciro's, this Tex Avery directed Looney Tunes short has way too many caricatures of popular actors and actresses of yesteryear to list them all here. It's notable to know that the stripper/ dancer scene is a prelude of shorts to Avery's later 'Red Hot Riding Hood' cartoons. It's a very interesting short and transports you back to the '30's even if you were born, like me, much MUCH later. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Greg Ford.My Grade: A-