Hollywood Golden Age of Cinema@HGACinema
โHollywood Steps Outโ (1941).
โHollywood Steps Outโ is a 1941 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Tex Avery and produced by Leon Schlesinger. The cartoon features caricatures of over forty contemporary Hollywood celebrities (along with guest appearances).
PLOT
A group of โcaricaturedโ Hollywood stars is having an expensive dinner at Ciro's nightclub in West Hollywood. The first stars seen are Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, Adolphe Menjou and Norma Shearer. Greta Garbo, working as a cigarette girl, sells a pack to Cary Grant, then lights his cigarette by striking a match on her very large foot.
Edward G. Robinson asks Ann Sheridan โHow's the Oomph girl tonight?โ. Sheridan responds by uttering the word โoomphโ several times.
Warner Bros. staffers Henry Binder and Leon Schlesinger are shown. A seat is reserved for Bette Davis, as is an extra-wide sofa for Kate Smith. More seats are reserved for the characters of the Blondie films, including a fire hydrant for Daisy the dog.
In the cloakroom, Johnny Weissmuller checks a coat with Paulette Goddard that reveals his Tarzan outfit. Sally Rand leaves her trademark feather fans behind and is presumably naked.
James Cagney prepares Humphrey Bogart and George Raft for a risky task: pitching pennies.
Harpo Marx gives Garbo a hot foot, who reacts with a weary โOuchโ. Clark Gable turns his head around 180 degrees to observe a blonde girl, whom he follows offscreen.
Bing Crosby introduces the evening's entertainment, interrupted frequently by a racehorse with an apparently unconscious jockey. Crosby presents conductor Leopold Stokowski, who wears a snood before performing โAhรญ, viene la congaโ (also known as โHere comes the congaโ in English).
The conga inspires Dorothy Lamour to invite James Stewart to dance with her, who stutters, stammers, and runs away scared. Gable dances by, following the girl he saw earlier. Tyrone Power dances with Sonja Henie. Frankenstein's monster dances stiffly and woodenly. The Three Stooges abuse each other in rhythm to the beat. Oliver Hardy's dance partner is revealed to be twin blonde women initially hidden by his obese frame. Cesar Romero dances clumsily with Rita Hayworth. Mickey Rooney, sitting with Judy Garland, is presented with an expensive bill, who turns to ask his Andy Hardy movie father (Lewis Stone) for a heart-to-heart talk. In the next scene, they are seen washing dishes. Gable is still pursuing the girl.
Crosby then introduces Sally Rand (identified as โSally Strandโ), performing a bubble dance to โI'm Forever Blowing Bubblesโ, as the camera cuts between the men's reactions and her dancing. Spectators at various tables include:
Kay Kyser, William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Ronald Colman, Errol Flynn, Wallace Beery, and C. Aubrey Smith, who wolf-whistle in unison (by saying โBaby!โ), Peter Lorre, Henry Fonda, whose โmotherโ pulls him away by his ear (in its reference to The Aldrich Family), J. Edgar Hoover, Boris Karloff, Arthur Treacher, Buster Keaton, and Mischa Auer, asked by Ned Sparks if they are having a good time, and Jerry Colonna, who reveals an invisible character next to him called โYehudiโ.
Now that Strand is standing still on the stage, this allows Harpo Marx an opportunity to shoot her bubble with a slingshot. The bubble explodes on impact, and she reacts with shock, as it reveals she is wearing a barrel, held up by suspenders.
Meanwhile, Gable has finally caught up to the girl he was chasing and insists she kiss him. The girl turns out to be Groucho Marx in drag.
CAST
Kent Rogers as James Cagney, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson, Clark Gable, Ned Sparks, Peter Lorre, Groucho Marx, Mickey Rooney, James Stewart, J. Edgar Hoover, Henry Fonda, Bing Crosby, Kay Kyser, Lewis Stone, Mel Blanc as Jerry Colonna, Sara Berner as Greta Garbo, Ann Sheridan, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, and Henry Fonda's mother.
Directed by Supervision: Fred Avery
Story by: Dave Monahan
Produced by: Leon Schlesinger
Starring Sara Berner, Mel Blanc and Kent Rogers
Edited by: Treg Brown
Music by: Carl W. Stalling
Animation by: Rod Scribner
Color Process: Technicolor
Production Company: Leon Schlesinger Productions
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Dates: Mayย 24,ย 1941 (original); Octoberย 2,ย 1948 (Blue Ribbon reissue).