"Crashing Hollywood" from 1938 is the story of a screenwriter (Lee Tracy) who meets the right -- or maybe it is the wrong - people on a train en route to Hollywood.The people he meets are Herman and Goldie Tibbets (Paul Guilfoyle and Lee Patrick). Herman, recently released from prison, is interested in becoming a duck farmer, while Goldie thinks one more robbery isn't a bad idea. When they meet Michael Winslow (Tracy) they are under the impression that he has $50,000 in a briefcase when they overhear him trying to insure it.Determined to get it away from him, they befriend him. Michael, meanwhile, is trying to make time with an actress (Joan Woodbury) whom he literally fell into earlier. Winslow shows Herman and Goldie that the $50,000 is his script. When Herman looks it over, he tells him that a lot of details are wrong - it concerns an actual bank robbery, and Winslow takes him on as a collaborator. He's unaware that Herman is giving him the names of a real crook and the actual true details of the robbery.When the real crook (Bradley Page) sees the film starring a lookalike (Bradley Page) -- he heads out to Hollywood before there are any other films featuring him, "The Hawk."Amusing film with a nice turn by Page as an arrogant actor and and a tough guy. Lee Tracy is his usual fast-talking, energetic self, and Lee Patrick is funny as Goldie, as is Guilfoyle.This is a B picture. Many of these actors went on to careers in television. Page quit films in 1943.This is a fast, fun movie.

Sprightly entertainment. The 60-minutes never rises above programmer status but does well with what it has. The plot revolves around a screenwriter (Tracy), his shady collaborator (Guilfoyle), plus an actor and his gangster look-alike (Page). Then there are the girls, a lovely Joan Woodbury and a brassy Lee Patrick. Of course, all of this has to sort out before folks can get on with their lives at the movie studio. Oh yes, shouldn't forget the unruly ducks that are good for a few laughs. And catch the movie's last line, an apparent jibe at the comical Marx Bros.I love it when the chases around the studio lot crash through the movie sets-- poor Jack Carson (the director) never will complete a shot. Plus we've got two of Hollywood's fastest talkers—Lane and Tracy. In fact, Lane steals the show as a don't-mess-with-me studio boss. I wonder if any of RKO's suits got a message. Actually, Tracy's more subdued than his usual fast-talking reporter, but still fits in well. It's also a good chance to catch some of the studio grounds and soundstages that are nicely blended into the proceedings. No, the movie's nothing special. But it does show again how delightfully entertaining these old programmers can be.

Crashing Hollywood (1938) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A former gangster (Paul Guilfoyle) gets out of prison and takes his wife on a train to California where he plans on going straight by starting a duck farm. On the train he meets a screenwriter (Lee Tracy) and the two team up to make realistic crime pictures. All goes well until a real gangster shows up wondering how the writers is getting all the details right. This film isn't nearly as funny as it should have been but it is mildly entertaining on a second film of a double feature type of way. For the most part this is just a one-joke film as our main guys make a blockbuster movie but soon the main gangster is showing up to get revenge. This leads to some rather routine gags including the gangster being mistaken for the actor playing him as well as the actor getting beaten up because people thinks he's the gangster. These scenes here are actually pretty funny but they only come up during the final fifteen-minutes. These final scenes contain the most laughs as the police are running around the studio trying to capture the real bad guys. Tracy is pretty good in his role but you have to like his style of comedy or else you'll probably find him annoying. Guilfoyle is also pretty good but he's a character actor I've always enjoyed. It's Richard Lane who steals the film as the loud mouth, fast talking producer who's always trying to sign someone to a contract. Lane would become famous for playing Inspector Farraday in the Boston Blackie movies and his comic timing here is just as good. Fans of those Boston Blackie movies will certainly get a kick out of seeing Lane here.

I came across this by accident and discovered that over time people have lost sight of this movie and that is a shame. Herman Tibbits (Paul Guilfoyle) gets out of five years in prison and just wants to be a duck farmer. His wife Goldie is not sure she wants that and thinks that one more robbery would help them considerably. In an attempt to steal what they think is $50,000 they meet up with a struggling writer named Mike Winslow (Lee Tracy) who is on the same train as them heading to Hollywood. There are many plot lines to this movie. Winslow is trying to get in good with Barbara Lang (Joan Woodbury), who wants to be an actress. Mike wants to write movie scripts for Wonder Studios. Herman and Tibbits want to go straight and work with Winslow. In fact, it is Herman who knows how to be a real robber and that is what helps Winslow write very effective movie scripts. Turns out they are too effective as they are based on Herman's life before prison and that makes the attention of The Hawk (the head of the gang that Herman had been part of) who the movies are about.It is all of that coming together that makes this such an interesting movie. The movie keeps up a steady, increasing pace throughout. The dialogue is crisp and well written. The start of the movie lays out a very solid foundation. The middle builds the pace and the ending has a lot of action. It is amazing that a 65 minute movie has so much in it and yet doesn't leave you wondering what got missed (nothing does). 9/10