Hollywoodland is a movie about Hollywood and the first Superman, (he was on TV).
It was directed by Allen Coulter.
The Screenwriter was Paul Bernbaum.
The Main Stars:
Ben Affleck as George Reeves, (the first Superman).
Lois Smith plays Helen Bessolo, (his mother).
Adrien Brody as Louis Simo, (a what to be Private Detective).
Diane Lane plays Toni Mannix, (Reeve’s mistress).
Bob Hoskins as Eddie Mannix, (is the head of the MGM Studio).
Robin Tunney plays Leonore Lemmon, (Reeves’ girlfriend).
This movie was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and released in 2006.
Rated R, it takes place during the 1950’s and it takes almost 2 hours to see it.
What You Should Know Before You See The Movie:
The first Heads of most of the Hollywood Studios, (Disney is one exception), came to Hollywood from the New York City area. They acted like mobsters, (and maybe they were), and the life of those that worked for them was controlled by them.
If you didn’t obey then a few nasty things would happen to you.
The Plot:
The movie begins at the house of George Reeves in the Summer of 1959. He is strumming on a guitar and singing a Spanish Song. His girlfriend and another couple are in the room. His girlfriend has had it with this has been TV star and puts on a record. Reeves gets up and goes up to his bedroom. There is a gun shot and he dies.
Then the flash backs to his life begin from the time he arrived in Hollywood begin.
The first back is when he and a male friend are at the dining room of the Ambassador Hotel. He is sitting across the room from Toni Mannix. He walks over to her table and introduces himself to "the most beautiful woman in the room".
Toni Mannix believes she has only 7 more years before she starts to look old. She asks Reeves to dance and soon they become lovers.
Toni falls in love with George and will give him everything he wants from jewelry, cloths, a house in the Hollywood Hills and eventually the roll of Superman. They even double date with her husband Eddie Mannix and his mistress, (who only speaks Japanese).
No one at MGM thinks Superman will be a hit and because the TV show was being shot in black and white the first Superman costume was grey with the "S" logo in red!
Although MGM was finished with him his fans were devastated and his mother insisted he wasn’t the type of person who would commit suicide.
The Los Angeles Police Department quickly closes this case. Reeves’ mother arrives in Los Angeles. She tries to hire a famous Detective Company but they refuse her.
A friend at the company tell hires Louis Simo about this. Although Louis is working on another small case he convinces the mother to hire him.
Louis Simo who has convinced her he is a Private Detective and she hires him for $50.00 a day.
I don’t want to spoil the movie for you so I’ll end the plot here.
The Music was scored by Leo Klatzkin:
Superman M E, Great Pretender, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Flying Home, Bo Diddley, It’s Only Make Believe, Cumbanchero, Theme for Ernie, A Girl Can’t Help It, You’re Crying, Elephant Walk, He Will Break Your Heart, Fannie Mae and At Last.
What I Thought:
Reeves was used by MGM and show how stars can be exploited if the want to become famous.
I thought Adrien Brody almost upstaged Ben Affleck but thinking about it Affleck looked and acted so much like Reeves I’d have to stay he played the best roll.
Lois Smith was great as the mother, she even had thick ankles and back flat shoes.
Bob Hoskins and Diane Lane both played there roles very well. When I think of Diane Lane at the end of the movie my heart went out to her.
Robin Tunney was a controlling person and that’s what her part was about. I loved the music.
I thought the movie was a bit long and some scenes weren’t needed. I blame the editor for this.
The question will always be if the actor George Reeves committed suicide or was murdered! During the film there are a few hints and every time you think you know what happened things change and now you aren’t sure.
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2006