The Hollywood Kid

I feel so luck to have caught this rare film at CINEFEST the annual early & rare film festival in Syracuse, NY - March 2003. More film buffs should support these festivals and share their discoveries on the IMDB so other film fans can track these old titles down. THE HOLLYWOOD KID (1924, Sennett, D: Roy Del Ruth) A short packed with more stars and gags than most features of its day, this film delivered a gaggle of guffaws! With appearances by Mack Sennett, Andy Clyde, Vernon Dent, Ben Turpin, Marie Prevost, Billy Bevan, Charlie Murray, a dozen bathing beauties and a toothless lion! The most fun in this comedy was seeing all of the behind the scenes shots of the studio as it really was and all as part of the frenetic plot.

"The Hollywood Kid" is a crazy movie....even by Mack Sennett standards! The film seems to hae EVERYTHING crammed into it....and it's hard to imagine that the film is less than 22 minutes long because there is so much happening in this weird but enjoyable comedy.

The story begins in Mack Sennett's office. Sennett himself is sitting calmly as a director (Vernon Dent) is pitching a new idea for a film. During this entire sequence, complete chaos is happening....guys running in and out of the office chasing each other with guns, bathing beauties lining up for inspection and even a lion! As for the lion, it was real and Sennett sat about a couple feet away...which is totally insane.

The scene changes and the director goes off to look for ideas. When he comes upon some kids playing baseball, he thinks one of the kids is a great talent and he wants to sign him up with the studio. But a spy from another studio (Andy Clyde) discovers the plan...and a frenetic chase ensues. It has all the goofiness you'd expect in a Sennett film!

Once the boy is signed up, you'd think the film would be over....but it has plenty more to go...including the boy's family running about the lot as well as a chimp, Ben Turpin, Billy Bevan and various bathing beauties!

The film is funny, frantic and seems to have nearly all the usual early 20s Sennett plot devices. However, compared to the earlier Sennett films, this one is not just more plot-driven but also funnier. All in all, a very clever comedy with just about everything for everyone! And, most importantly, it holds up quite well after 97 years!

I first read about this Mack Sennett short when Leonard Maltin & Richard W. Bann in their book "The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang" mentioned it as a parody of Hal Roach's popular kid comedy series. In this one, Sennett is on the phone as various chaotic goings-on, like various crashes like in his comedies, are happening. A director then comes in his office to tell him about a kid he saw in a yard and how he thinks he'll be great for the movies. We then see plenty of scenes of kids playing baseball. There are also cameos from various of Sennett's stars like the cross-eyed Ben Turpin. You know, I think I've written enough about this, so I'll just say you can watch The Hollywood Kid on YouTube and marvel at all the hilarious things happening in it, that's for sure!