A silent Western star gets left behind in the talkie era. Of course, this movie has some pretty stiff competition from SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and SUNSET BOULEVARD. And let's be honest, it doesn't even come close to either one, lacking the rapturous joy of the former or the incisive cynicism of the latter. But it is slightly interesting in that it was made so soon after the transition. For Richard Dix this was surely a real concern (probably not so much for Fay Wray). However, Dix's character is such a golly-gee swell egg (he can't play a gangster, it would let down his fans!) that the film feels rather lightweight and bland. The earnest little boy who worships him doesn't make it any easier to swallow. Still, it goes down easy enough to be watchable, and includes one genuinely terrific scene of a party featuring star doubles, including pretty good facsimiles of Garbo, West, Chaplin, Dietrich and Fields.
Review of It Happened in Hollywood
