Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

SimonJack This 1937 comedy is part satire about the motion picture industry and part farce about Hollywood studios sometimes turning our real turkeys for movies. It spoofs finicky actresses and snooty directors. The studio heads mostly get a pass. "Stand-In" is a very good comedy with some romance. It looks at the movie industry, banking and corruption in the course of the plot. The movie is based on a novel by Clarence Kelland who had some 20 books made into films. The first sign that we're in for fun is the early Hollywood disclaimer that runs at the start of the movie. It reads, "The characters and events depicted in this motion picture are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." And, boy, are there some real coincidences in this movie.The film then opens with some funny scenes in the New York offices of the Pettypacker Bank firm. The grandfather and head of the firm calls Atterbury Dodd a "pig-headed young man." When it switches to California, we see a radio announcer, Rush Hughes, who's using his actual name. He is mimicking the gossip reporters of the day (Walter Winchell in New York, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons in Hollywood). He is on the air talking about Dodd's expected arrival to save Colossal. In the gossip fashion of the day, he says, "Colossal is not sick. It's dying from slow poisoning. My guess is it's an inside job engineered by an outside chiseler with the aid of which fading feminine super sex star and what cheese director with a phony foreign accent? Don't ask."Leslie Howard stars as Dodd, a stuffed shirt banker who's a whiz with numbers but very shy on the human side. Joan Blondell is perfect as Lester Plum, a sometimes actress and trained secretary who takes an immediate liking to Dodd. Humphrey Bogart is Quintain, the acting head of Colossal Studio and producer of the current film that will keep the studio afloat if it's a box office hit.But contributing to the film's downfall are a host of folks who are in on a ruse – all with different deals worked out with Ivor Nassau, president of the Hollywood Cinema Finance Co. He buys troubled studios for a song and then closing them down, putting a few thousand employees out of work. He makes money on the property and salvage. C. Henry Gordon plays Nassau. The people in the employ of Colossal who are making the next film to bomb are the real test for Dodd when he arrives to take charge. He has to try to learn the business if he's going to save it. Marla Shelton is the glamour headliner, Cheri, whose star is fast fading. Alan Mowbray is the fake foreign director, Koslofski. And, Jack Carson is the studio publicity man, Tom Potts. Carson's role is particularly grating – he plays the loudmouth PR pusher perfectly. Mowbray's Koslofski is overboard. All of these characters come across as hammy – no doubt intended that way. And that works well against Howard's Dodd who, though an expert numbers cruncher, is very naive about the goings-on in movie productions. Quintain and Lester come to his rescue, and Dodd turns over a leaf that surprises all and saves the studio in the end for the people -- the employees and the stockholders. Some other characters figures in the early scenes before Dodd sets off for California. Tully Marshall is especially good as Fowler Pettypacker, the grandfather and head of the family banking firm, of which Dodd has been the executive manager. Today his position would be called a CEO. Fowler's son and grandson are on his board of directors – and they're two robot "yes" men. This is a fine film for Howard in a role that shows his versatility as an actor. I sometimes find Joan Blondell a little aggravating in her films in which her part seems to go overboard; but she's just right in this film. I think it's one of her better comedy roles. The comedy here is in a combination of witty lines and delivery and some hammy filming and acting scenes. The film mixes in some sweetness as Dodd comes out of his shell. One hilarious scene has Quintain a little tipsy and being turned away at the door of a favorite nightspot. He has ad boards over his head that read, "This café is unfair to Quintain." His Scotty dog on a leash has ad boards on him that read, "This café is unfair to me too."Here are a few funny lines from the film. Dodd, "Miss Plum, I sometimes find it difficult to differentiate between facetiousness and sincerity." Lester Plum, "Tell me. Did your studies reveal any faint trace of beauty?" Dodd, "Well, you must be rather beautiful, Miss Plum. Otherwise the impulse to observe you would never have occurred to me." Miss Plum, "You're capable of great restraint in your admiration."Dodd, "But I know you. I require someone who can't be corrupted and who will be absolutely faithful to me." Lester, "Strangely, most men like women that are faithful but that corrupt easily."Quintain, "You realize that this makes you a libertine and a charlatan, don't you?" Dodd, "Yes, I'm fully aware of that. I'm quite willing to make the sacrifice."

GManfred Often I don't agree with Leonard Maltin, as he obviously doesn't see all the movies in his review books. But here his remarks are spot-on, as "Stand-In' does, indeed, tail off into disappointment in the second half. Naturally, viewers want to see Humphrey Bogart do comedy, but he's not really funny here. He's surrounded by some people who are pretty good at it, mainly Leslie Howard and Joan Blondell, but when Bogie's on screen he's usually teed off or griping about something, so this picture is not a good test of his comedic instincts.The picture hums along and is reasonably funny and entertaining, but the screenwriters have ace accountant Leslie Howard 'see the light', and the end of the film descends into confusion and a hastily contrived ending, with Howard doing a Spartacus turn and leading the workers in revolt. Not funny, and very unsatisfying. "Stand-In" is a curiosity that doesn't really need to be seen, except that it's billed as a comedy that Bogart is in.

MartinHafer This film is enjoyable to watch mostly because of the performances of Tully Marshall and Leslie Howard. While Marshall is in a smaller role, it's hilarious seeing him playing the old and nasty guy who is the head of a mega-corporation--and the way his son and grandson react to him. Marshall has never been funnier--and the same can also be said for Howard. Howard is in his element playing a very stuffy but funny guy--one of his best.The film begins at a meeting of the board. Marshall learns that his corporation owns a failing movie studio and he's not sure whether they should sell it or keep it--so he dispatches Howard to investigate and makes him the temporary head of the studio. Soon, however, it becomes obvious that Howard is ill-prepared for this job. Although he's great with economics and figures, he doesn't know people. Many of his employees run all over him and he barely notices that one of them (Joan Blondell) is infatuated with him. Can he somehow work all this out or will the studio be sold to the highest bidder? The film has some nice supporting actors. In addition to Marshall and Blondell, you've also got Humphrey Bogart in a VERY unconventional role as the head of programming. All in all, the stars did a nice job. And, it didn't hurt that the script was quite witty and fun. All in all, a nice little parody of the studios--with many of their foibles roasted here in this cute film. Worth seeing.

dbborroughs Atterbury Dodd is opposed to his New York banker bosses selling off Colossal Studios for only half of what he thinks its worth. Being the first person ever to stand up to the big boss he's sent off to see whats going on with the seemingly failing studio. Once there he finds that the buyer is manipulating the latest Colossal movie into being a turkey so he can buy the studio cheap and turn a profit when he closes it down. Dodd also runs into Miss Plum who will soon becomes Dodd's guide through the madness of film making.Much of the film is concerned with Dodd dealing with the insanity of film studios while not realizing that he's falling in love with Miss Plum. The last third of the film concerns efforts to turn save the studio and the film.This is really a Leslie Howard movie. Howard and Joan Blondell, as Miss Plum are a wonderful screen couple and one wishes there was even more time of them together. Although Humphrey Bogart is listed third he's in maybe 20 minutes of this often funny film. He is wonderful in a the role of the previous studio head and producer of the turkey in the making. The film is filled with funny lines and fleeting appearances, Charles Middleton is a scream; as is a stuntman who refuses to do his stunt for money. This is a funny funny movie especially if you love old movies.The problem is that the film is at times unfocused. Is it a comedy? A Romance? The sequences with the villain seem to be from another movie. I question why some of the characters are allowed to be so annoying, Potts, the publicity man in particular, is the screen version of fingernails on a blackboard. I'm sure there were people like that in Hollywood, but I never want to meet them.I also have a problem with the ending which ends too soon for my tastes.Still this is 90 minutes of great fun, especially if you love old films.Worth seeking out, possibly even buying.7 out of 10 with spikes of truly wonderful moments (Going under the table for one)