Jump in and take a Hollywood tour with two star-crazed ladies (Joyce Compton & Sally Payne), who get a spectacular chance to see Hollywood celebrities with tour guide William ‘Billy’ Benedict. Stick with these guys and catch scads of movie stars in MGM’s 1939 short subject,Hollywood Hobbies!
Pre-tour note: Morey “Buddy” Amsterdam, from The Dick Van Dyke Show, wrote the story and screenplay!
Are you ready to see the stars? Here we go …
First stop, we see Reginald Denny at his model airplane factory.
Gosh, isn’t that Clark Gable at home whitewashing his barn?
Awwww, look who is expecting. It’s Robert Young and Allan Jones as “expectant” godfathers of a new foal! Irene Hervey helps usher in the new equine!
Our last stop is a Hollywood baseball game with commentator Truman Bradley and baseball fans:Jimmy Stewart, George Murphy, Cesar Romero, Joan Davis, Spencer Tracy, Virginia Bruce,and James Cagney (with mom Carolyn).
Oh la la! Joe E. Brown is kissing Harry Ritz!
Buddy Ebsen’s on the bench. Tyrone Power is in the seats.
Jane Withers autographs a baseball. Milton Berle steps in as shortstop.
Buster Keaton covers 3rd base. John Boles is in left outfield.
Throwing out the first ball is Mary Pickford.
Frank Mitchell & Jack Durant attempt to bat while stacked on top of each other!
Arthur Lake garbles some pre-game chatter. Nat Pendleton steals home.
The Ritz Brothers umpire, if you can call it that!
Dick Powell bats a home run, ending the game and knocking out the tour guide!
All is well in Hollywood!
Thank you to HollywoodHobbies for making it available on YouTube!
One of my favorite movie actors, Jimmy Stewart, from Picture-Play Magazine, 1938. Early in his career, Jimmy appeared in quite a few short subjects: Art Trouble (1934), Important News (1936), and the Screen Snapshots series,to name a few. Also, Jimmy narrated various military-related shorts during and after WWII. Gotta love him!
Watch Sammy Davis, Jr. “channel” Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, James Cagney, James Stewart, Jerry Lewis, and more as he wows us with his on point impersonations of popular singers and actors of 1954!
Many of you remember Sammy Davis for his clear voice and terrific tap dancing. However, you may not recall or know that he was an amazing impersonator as well. “Because of You,” a Hammerstein & Wilkinson tune that I grew up listening to, superbly showcased Sammy’s amazing ear and talent for mimicry.
It looks like this 1954 TV appearance was done before the severe car crash that took his left eye in November of the same year. In 1955, Sammy released his “Starring Sammy Davis Jr.” album; on the cover, he is sporting an eye patch. This album introduced me to Sammy, which I will be forever grateful. Thanks, Mom!
“And Then There Were Four” (1950) – Sounds like an Agatha Christie mystery, doesn’t it? Not quite, although, toward the end of this short film, it was suspenseful enough to keep me watching. Let me tell you more about it.
During his acting career, James Stewart narrated many short films, this being just one of them. A 25-minute documentary to caution us on the perils of reckless driving, “And Then There Were Four” was produced by Roland Reed Productions, who gave us classic TV shows like “My Little Margie” and “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.” We meet five ordinary people who drive off to their morning destination. Set in LA, we watch our five folks navigate through their day, all with apparent poor driving habits which could contribute to their demise by auto accident. The warning sign here, however, is that only four out of our five will return home to their loved ones!
Obviously, 1950 Driver’s Ed tests were different than ours now, but it was kind of interesting to see what was available then. Also, I truly rooted for the scolding that one person receives by a no-nonsense court judge. Strangely enough, I found myself worried about who would be the person not to come home at the end of this film. Kind of sobering! To watch “And Then There Were Four,” just click the small credits pic next to Stewart’s. Drive safe, now!
Pastimes of Mine 