Hollywood and Vine
Cast & Crew
Alexis Thurn-taxis
James Ellison
Wanda Mckay
June Clyde
Ralph Morgan
Franklyn Pangborn
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When questioned by reporters about how he got his start in business, tycoon M. M. "Pop" Barkley relates the following story: While operating a roadside café outside Los Angeles, Pop meets Martha Manning, an aspiring actress on her way to Hollywood. Also dining at the café is Larry Winters, who is instantly smitten with Martha. Martha rebuffs Larry, however, and sneaks out of the café while he and a small dog, which he assumes belongs to Martha, dance to the "Emperor's Waltz." Later, Martha shows up the Chateau La Rue, the Hollywood bungalow apartments at which her best friend, Gloria Devine, lives. Although Martha is dismayed to discover that would-be actress Gloria is not the success her letters had claimed, she remains determined to become a star. After a series of studio rejections, however, Martha is forced to take a job at a drugstore on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Meanwhile, Larry, whose hit Broadway play has landed him a job at Lavish Studios, is assigned by studio head B. B. Lavish to write a script about Hollywood hopefuls. To research the story, Larry visits downtown Hollywood with Emperor, the café dog, and there bumps into Martha. Still enamored of Martha, Larry tries to return Emperor to her, but she runs off. Larry follows Martha to the Chateau and, although he is already living in a nice house with a butler named Jenkins, decides to rent a bungalow in order to be near her. When Larry once again tries to return Emperor to Martha, she finally tells him that the dog is not hers. Calling himself Larry Summers, Larry soon breaks down Martha's resistance and happily accepts the soda jerk job that she has gotten for him, thinking that he is a struggling writer. Later, Martha secretly reads Grandfather's Follies , Larry's hit, and unaware that it has already been staged and bought by Lavish, arranges to meet with the studio's story editor, B. B.'s brother Richard. The editor recognizes the play, which has no title page, and immediately calls B. B., who along with Larry's would-be fiancée, starlet Ann Mason, has been desperately searching for Larry. At the same time, Emperor, whom Martha has adopted, sneaks onto a Lavish set, where director Cedric Oscar Boris is auditioning dogs for his new film. Without coaxing, Emperor performs some cute tricks, and the excitable Cedric casts him. Before Cedric can sign the dog, however, Emperor dashes back to Martha's car and disappears from the lot. Later, B. B., Cedric and Ann, having tracked Larry through Martha, confront the writer at the drugstore. Although Larry insists that he was conducting research, B. B. is furious and fires him. Ann, whose "engagement" to Larry was arranged by Lavish's publicity department, then drops by the Chateau and smugly informs a confused Martha about her "relationship" with Larry. Hurt and angry, Martha runs off and refuses to see Larry anymore. Still determined to cast Emperor, Cedric, meanwhile, puts the dog's photograph in the newspaper. Gloria sees the photo and rushes Emperor to the studio, where he becomes an overnight star. Emperor's fame and fortune lead to a $500,000 lawsuit, filed by Abigail Whitehouse, who claims to be the dog's actual owner. During the subsequent trial, Pop testifies that Emperor had been hanging around his café for months before Larry found him and that Abigail, his neighbor, had abandoned him. Abigail finally admits that she had, in fact, dumped Emperor as a puppy, and Martha is declared the dog's legal owner. With the case dismissed, B. B. decides to rehire Larry, and Larry finally reunites with Martha, who decides to drop show business in favor of matrimony.
Director
Alexis Thurn-taxis
Cast
James Ellison
Wanda Mckay
June Clyde
Ralph Morgan
Franklyn Pangborn
Leon Belasco
Emmett Lynn
Vera Lewis
Karin Lang
Robert Greig
Charlie Williams
Ray Whitley
Dewey Robinson
Cy Ring
Grandon Rhodes
Billy Benedict
Donald Kerr
Lillian Bronson
John Elliott
Jack Raymond
Charles Jordan
Lou Crocker
Hal Taggert
"prince" Michael Romanoff
Daisy
Crew
Harold Bradow
Edward Davis
Leon Fromkess
Marvin Hatley
Don Hayes
Richard Monroe
Ira Morgan
Ferol Redd
Charles Stevens
Johann Strauss Ii
Glenn P. Thompson
George Van Marter
Edith Watkins
Edith Watkins
Edith Watkins
Charles Williams
Charles Williams
Robert Wilmot
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although Los Angeles restauranteur Prince Michael Romanoff is listed tenth in the opening cast credits, he is not listed at all in the end credits. Writer/actor Charles Williams is listed both as "Charles" and "Charlie" in the credits, and star James Ellison is listed as both "James" and "Jimmy." Actor Grandon Rhodes's name is misspelled as "Grandin" in the end credits. Although Ralph Morgan's character name is credited onscreen as "Benton," he is called "Lavish" in the film. According to Hollywood Reporter news items, in November 1943, PRC purchased an original screen story by Bernie Rubin, titled "Hollywood and Vine."
In February 1944, Hollywood Reporter announced that PRC had bought an original by Ben Lithman of the same title. It is not known if either writer contributed to this film. According to a May 1944 Hollywood Reporter news item, PRC negotiated with Sardi's owner Jules Corey and the BLUE network to incorporate the "Breakfast at Sardi's" radio program into the end of the picture. The program was not included in the final film, however. Although not mentioned by name in the picture, Schwab's Drugstore, which had a reputation as a place at which aspiring actresses could be "discovered" by movie producers, was located at Hollywood and Vine.
