The Hollywood Revue of 1929, or simply The Hollywood Revue, is an American pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films. Produced by Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg and directed by Charles Reisner, it features nearly all of MGM's stars in a two-hour revue that includes three segments in Technicolor. The masters of ceremonies are Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny.
Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Charles William Haines was an American actor and interior designer.
Leila Hyams was an American film and stage actress, model, and vaudevillian, who came from a show business family. Her relatively short film career began in 1924 during the era of silent films and ended in 1936,. She started out her career as a vaudevillian, stage performer and model, before embarking on a career in film, and although her career in this genre only lasted around twelve years, the blonde blue-eyed ingenue and leading lady appeared in more than 50 film roles and remained a press favourite, with numerous magazine covers.
Henry Leroy Willson was an American Hollywood talent agent who played a large role in developing the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was known for his stable of young, attractive clients, including Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Chad Everett, Robert Wagner, Nick Adams, Guy Madison, Troy Donahue, Mike Connors, Rory Calhoun, John Saxon, Yale Summers, Clint Walker, Doug McClure, Dack Rambo, Ty Hardin, and John Derek. He noticed Rhonda Fleming as she was walking to Beverly Hills High School, brought her to the attention of David O. Selznick, and helped groom her for stardom. He was also instrumental in advancing Lana Turner's career.
Pauline Theresa Moran billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and comedian.
Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans. The term almost exclusively refers to adult male actors.
James Mitchell Leisen was an American director, art director, and costume designer.
William J. Mann is an American novelist, biographer, and Hollywood historian best known for his studies of Hollywood and the American film industry, especially his 2006 biography of Katharine Hepburn, Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn. Kate was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2006 by The New York Times. William J.Mann also used the pseudonym Geoffrey Huntington under which he wrote the Ravenscliff Series.
Way for a Sailor is a 1930 American Pre-Code film starring John Gilbert. The supporting cast includes Wallace Beery, Jim Tully, Leila Hyams, and Polly Moran. The film was directed by Sam Wood, who insisted on no screen credit. The film is reputed to be so bad that the studio might have used it to sabotage leading man Gilbert's career in the sound era due to animosity from Louis B. Mayer. MGM produced a Spanish language version of this film, Love in Every Port, starring Jose Crespo and Conchita Montenegro.
Gene Malin, also known by stage names Jean Malin and Imogene Wilson, was an American actor, emcee, and drag performer during the Jazz Age. He was one of the first openly gay performers in Prohibition-era Speakeasy culture.
Buddy Roosevelt was an American film and television actor and stunt performer from Hollywood's early silent film years through the 1950s.
The Girl Said No is a 1930 pre-Code American romantic comedy film starring William Haines and Leila Hyams. In the film, a young college graduate goes to extreme lengths to win the girl he loves.
Sailor's Luck is a 1933 pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Raoul Walsh for Fox Film Corporation. It stars James Dunn, Sally Eilers, Victor Jory, and Frank Moran. The plot has a sailor on shore leave falling for a nice girl, with a series of misunderstandings leading them to doubt each other's loyalty. A cast of colorful characters provides comic relief and the film concludes with a massive brawl between sailors and bouncers at a dance marathon. The film is noted for having a gay swimming-pool attendant.
Since the transition into the modern-day gay rights movement, homosexuality has appeared more frequently in American film and cinema.
Vito is a 2011 American documentary film produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of the Los Angeles-based production company Automat Pictures. The film documents the life of Vito Russo, gay activist, film scholar, and author of The Celluloid Closet.
Take It Big is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Howard J. Green and Joe Bigelow. The film stars Jack Haley, Harriet Hilliard, Mary Beth Hughes, Richard Lane, Arline Judge and Fritz Feld. Also featured is Hilliard's husband in real life, bandleader Ozzie Nelson.
The Champion Film Company was an independent production company founded in 1909 by Mark M. Dintenfass. The studio was one of the film companies that merged to form Universal Pictures.
Three in the Saddle is a 1945 American Western film directed by Harry L. Fraser and written by Elmer Clifton. The film stars Tex Ritter, Dave O'Brien, Guy Wilkerson, Lorraine Miller, Charles King and Edward Howard. The film was released on July 26, 1945, by Producers Releasing Corporation.
Joseph Jiquel Lanoe was a French actor who appeared in films and theater in the United States. He had roles in more than 100 American Biograph films. A gay man, D. W. Griffith cast him as a gay Eunuch character in Judith of Bethulia.
