Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4 (1942)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Actress Hedda Hopper appeared in well over one-hundred movies from the silent era up to the early 40s when she pretty much retired and instead focused on radio and eventually television. HEDDA HOPPER'S Hollywood was a six part series that featured the former actress turning into a gossip columnist where she would report on various Hollywood parties and the stars that attended them. The benefit of these short films today are being able to see many famous faces including some who weren't captured on film too much during this period. It's also worth mentioning that rumor has it that Hopper was one of the biggest influences on the character Burt Lancaster played in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS.
This fourth film in Hopper's series is perhaps the weakest of the group but there's still enough here to make it worth viewing for film buffs. The film starts off with Hopper, once again, at her desk as she informs us it's Gail Withers' birthday. We then see a few pictures of her as a child before heading to her birthday party where we get to see her do a few things. We then see Dickie Moore and watch him eat. I'm serious. Finally we head to a radio broadcast where Bob Hope is entertaining some troops and this here is certainly the highlight of the short. Hope is at the top of his game but Hopper gets in on the action and her line reading was downright horrid to say the least. All in all this is a pretty entertaining short even though we don't get to see as many celebrities as the first three. Fans of Withers will certainly enjoy the birthday party stuff but it's Hope that makes this worth checking out.
