Alice in Movieland
Director: Jean Negulesco
Year: 1940
Rating: 6.0
This is rather a fun curiosity. It is a short of 21 minutes produced by
Warner Brothers that acts as both a promo for Warner Brothers and as an introduction
to audiences of Joan Leslie. Leslie was only 15 at the time and had appeared
in a few tiny uncredited roles but Warner's had hopes for her. In this short
Alice Purdee (Leslie) wins a beauty contest and the prize is a try out in
Hollywood. The whole town turns out to see her off. The short tells of her
experiences in tinsel town trying to break in and manages a few quick cameos
of Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale, Alexis Smith, Craig Stevens, Jane Wyman and
mentions of Bette Davis, Ann Southern, Ida Lupino and a few more. All Warner
contract players.
Leslie shines in the film with a smile that radiates and within two years
had appeared in High Sierra, The Wagons Roll at Night, Sgt. York, Yankee
Doodle Dandy and went on to a fine if not spectacular career. Of note also
is the director, Jean Negulesco, who was a good director with The Mask of
Dmitrios, Humoresque, How to Marry a Millionaire, Three Coins in the Fountain,
Daddy Long Legs and many others to his credit. He moved to the USA from Europe
in 1927 and got into the film business but first as an art director, then
Assistant Director and then directing shorts for four long years until he
finally got his chance with Dimitrios.