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Musical revue

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

Year
1929
Length
113 minAFI 113-minute release record Version sources ↓

MGM stars appear in a succession of songs, comedy sketches, dances, and novelty acts designed to display the studio’s arrival in sound.

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Language
English
FunnyBeautiful Approachable · Moderate Musical revue
Dark purple title lettering fans out between white rays on a peach background.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

What to expect

The revue preserves the excitement and awkwardness of a medium advertising its newest capability. Rather than a unified story, it offers a studio portrait assembled from voices, personas, technology, and promotion.

How to ease in

Approach it as a programme, not a narrative. Individual numbers vary sharply; the interest lies partly in watching performers and technicians discover what a filmed revue can be.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes racial stereotypes, blackface, sexual and gender stereotypes, uneven early-sound pacing, and revue material that may feel culturally remote.
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Everyone has been invited to demonstrate that the screen can speak, but no one yet agrees on what it should say. I enjoy the uncertainty hiding inside the confidence of the advertisement.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Credits & versions

Version map

AFI 113-minute release record 113 min 113 minutes is attached only to the named AFI 113-minute release record. No unsupported cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration detail is inferred. Source: American Film Institute — The Hollywood Revue of 1929 Runtime reference · Checked 2026-08-22

Where to go next

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