I'm glad I read a previous review entitled "The back story is more interesting than the movie" because the background greatly enhanced the viewing experience. Speaking for myself, I love knowing facts of lives of actors and others surrounding any older film. And I think many of us watching these films have a bit of film historian in us.
There is a bit of obvious pre-code Hollywood at times, which time stamps the movie, and so many cast members became Hollywood legends. And offense taken by Buster Keaton is notable off-screen insight.
So, it depends on the lens you look through. The long-shot lens of this time capsule shows some tragedy, closeups show some comedy, as Chaplin once said about film making.
I enjoyed this. Frank Morgan, Mickey Rooney, Alice Brady, Jimmie Durante, Curly and Moe Howard, Jackie Cooper... footage from an unreleased musical that otherwise wouldn't have any use... so many careers and so much information floated the boat for what otherwise may have been a creaky ship of viewing.
I was entertained on several levels.
There is a bit of obvious pre-code Hollywood at times, which time stamps the movie, and so many cast members became Hollywood legends. And offense taken by Buster Keaton is notable off-screen insight.
So, it depends on the lens you look through. The long-shot lens of this time capsule shows some tragedy, closeups show some comedy, as Chaplin once said about film making.
I enjoyed this. Frank Morgan, Mickey Rooney, Alice Brady, Jimmie Durante, Curly and Moe Howard, Jackie Cooper... footage from an unreleased musical that otherwise wouldn't have any use... so many careers and so much information floated the boat for what otherwise may have been a creaky ship of viewing.
I was entertained on several levels.