Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

mark.waltz There's two fantastic production numbers that come out of nowhere in this poverty row romantic comedy that features the Wampas Baby Stars, a beauty pageant of young hopefuls, none of whom here went onto anything outside of some minor parts. The first production number has the Wampas beauties being escorted by masked look-alikes of stars of the time: Laurel and Hardy, Clark Gable, George Arliss, Joe E. Brown, Buster Keaton, Maurice Chevalier, and yes, even Eddie Cantor who originated the song "Keep Young and Beautiful" in the Samuel Goldwyn musical epic, "Roman Scandals", the previous year. Three years before "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" in "The Great Ziegfeld" and 36 years before Sondheim had his own salute to those "Beautiful Girls" in "Follies", this Mascot film saluted what Broadway and Hollywood were striving for in keeping the public entertained during the depression. For a film studio that never rose above the low B's, Mascot had its share of glamorous looking programmers, even though it focused on quickly filmed action films and mysteries.Having just finished up his long term contract at MGM, William Haines ended his career with two B films on Poverty Row, but in this one, he's still at the top of his form as the sneaky Robert Preston (!), a Hollywood publicity man out to find the next greatest female star. Like the real Robert Preston's Harold Hill of "The Music Man", Haines isn't above using a little bit of chicanery in getting what he wants, and what he wants is rising star beauty Judith Allen who is both amused and turned off by his antics. Tired of his sneaky antics, Allen turns to aging millionaire John Miljan whom she intends to marry for his money. Haines uses all his resources to get her back, and this leads to a very amusing finale where he cons her again, reminding me of the type of hijinks that fellow 30's fast talking actor Lee Tracy would get up to regularly. A second musical number, set on the studio streets, has an impromptu group of Wampas Baby Stars and some masculine crew men doing the same type of dance steps and is quite funny. Prints of this vary in length, the one I saw obviously a cut TV broadcast version, missing about 14 minutes. In smaller roles,Joseph Cawthorn and Vince Barnett give amusing performances. I would rank this high among poverty row films, one which I'd like to see fully restored. But what remains in its edited form is still worth seeing, surprising when you look at the history of the B-Z grade studios that tossed out movies on a weekly basis at the same rate as the people who went to see them were tossing out their weekly garbage. Some of those films are indeed garbage, but on occasion, a gem popped out, and this one is very close to being a gem.

arfdawg-1 The Plot. Bob Preston, publicity man for Superba Pictures, uses his publicity skills in an attempt to make this fiancée June Dale the most famous movie star in the world. But in doing so, he forgets that women want to be attended to for themselves, not as objects of fame.I was looking forward to seeing this picture giving the stellar reviews. Unfortunately it's actually a poor excuse for a movie. Starring a bunch of unknowns, made by an unknown studio and directed by a largely unknown director whose only claim to fame that I can tell was co-directing The Marx Brother's Coconuts 5 years earlier.Groucho said he didn't understand comedy.It's a strange movie where in one musical number people where masks of famous Hollywood stars like Keaton and Gable and Chaplin. It just never really comes together. It's not horrible, but it's not really interesting enough to recommend.

MartinHafer Years ago, I read a book that said that William Haines' huge career of the late 1920s and into the 30s came to an abrupt halt because folks pushing for the new Production Code were also concerned about at least cosmetically cleaning up the image of the Hollywood stars. And, since Haines was rather open about being gay, his contract with MGM was dropped and he became a has-been. Well, perhaps this isn't 100% true. First, apparently Haines landed on his feet and became a very successful interior decorator. Second, the once boyish good looks of Haines were not at all evident by 1934. Now, in films like this one and his final picture (also made in 1934), he looks like a very ordinary bank teller sort of guy--with a receding hairline and a bit of a paunch--and quite a bit like Grady Sutton! I think time just caught up with the guy and that would explain his fading from the screen. This would explain why he was now making films for tiny Mascot Films. So, is the paunchier and more ordinary Haines any good in this film? And, since it's from Mascot is it any good at all? Well, at least it is not horrible!While Haines is the star of this picture, the real stars are the Wampas Baby Stars. Who are these folks? Well, each year from 1922 to 1935, a group of young actresses were chosen by this organization as the stars to look for in the future. A few of the up and coming stars did go on to great fame (such as Clara Bow, Mary Astor and Ginger Rogers)...most just faded into obscurity after the year of promotions was finished. Considering the 1934 lot was the last selected, you wonder if perhaps this film finished them off!The story itself has to do with Bob (Haines) and his attempt to make his girlfriend, June Dale, a star with Superba Pictures. The studio head is played by Joseph Cawthorn and it's obvious he's meant to be a Samuel Goldwyn-type. He looks almost exactly like Goldwyn and his language is filled with malapropisms just like those attributed to Goldwyn. However, Bob loses sight of June and has practically lost her by the end of the film.In between there are lost of appearances by the Wampas girls...singing, dancing, lounging around the pool. They seem to be doing just about everything...except acting!! The weirdest moment, however, is the ultra-bizarro song and dance number where the women's partners are all guy wearing super-creepy masks of current Hollywood stars. Then, the women remove the masks and hold them high...much like they were lifting up severed heads following a guillotining!!! It's so sick and strange, it alone makes the film worth seeing. I also liked the funny dance number late in the film when the ladies are dancing...as are the workmen who are nearby. Goofy but also very self-aware and funny. Now I am not saying it's a good film overall...it's very episodic and second-rate. But for folks with a lot of patience, it's worth a look.

David Atfield In film mythology it is usually assumed that William Haines' final films, made for the little known Mascot Pictures, were low quality disasters. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this movie is actually a very enjoyable comic romp through the back-lots of Hollywood. Sure, it's no masterpiece, but it is a lot of fun.Haines, looking great, gives his usual exhaustingly energetic performance as a high-powered Hollywood publicist. One can only speculate on how much he may have enjoyed the scene where he tells off a pompous studio head, just a year after his famous fight with Louis B. Mayer. The studio head though seems to have been based more on Carl Laemmle than Mayer - and Joseph Cawthorn does a fine job in the role (he looks remarkably like Laemmle too).There is some fairly unfunny comic routines from a couple of piano-movers that could have been cut, but the dance routines are pretty good - one involving some excellent caricatured masks of famous movie stars. Lots of pretty starlets, a fast-paced plot, and the glorious William Haines - what more could you ask for?