Line #8 Film/WhatPriceHollywood


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/what_price_hollywood.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:"I'm in pictures. I'm in pictures!"]]
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4	''What Price Hollywood?'' (1932) is the story of aspiring actress, Mary Evans (Creator/ConstanceBennett), who rises to fame and discovers all the pitfalls of a glamourous Hollywood lifestyle.
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6	With the help of [[TheAlcoholic constant drunk]] and Hollywood director, Max Carey (Lowell Sherman), Mary shoots to super stardom, but at the cost of her marriage to Lonnie Borden (Neil Hamilton) and the sanity of the man who discovered her.
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8	This [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-code]] drama was directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor, and is a precursor to the 1937 film, ''Film/{{A Star Is Born\|1937}}'' (Cukor also directed [[Film/AStarIsBorn1954 the 1954 remake]]), sharing many of its themes, albeit a different plot.
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11	!!Tropes:
12	* TheAlcoholic: Even for an early '30s film, Max’s alcoholism isn’t played for laughs. Instead, it’s treated as his downfall.
13	* AnAesop: CelebrityIsOverrated. People die either because they have too much of it or not enough.
14	* DescentIntoAddiction: Max was in love with Mary. When she marries Lonnie, Max’s alcoholism spirals out of control.
15	* TheDeterminator: Mary works hard to get to what she wants.
16	* DrivenToSuicide: Poor [[spoiler: Max]].
17	* DrowningMySorrows: Max drinking gets worse when he loses Mary to snooty Lonnie.
18	* DullSurprise: For Mary’s first acting job, she is incredibly stiff and unnatural. In the small scene she has, she sees a dead guy, and plays this straight.
19	* FairyTaleWeddingDress: Mary’s gets ripped to shreds by rabid fans after she marries Lonnie.
20	* FourthDateMarriage: After what seems to be mere hours, Mary and Lonnie decide to get married. Doesn’t go down too well.
21	* FunnyForeigner: Mary’s producer, Julius Saxe.
22	* GlamorousSingleMother: Mary has a son soon after Lonnie leaves them, and manages to find time for work and raising a kid.
23	* GratuitousFrench: There’s a scene in [[ShowWithInAShow Mary’s movie]] where she sings something in French for no reason at all.
24	* MillionairePlayboy: Lonnie is one, and Mary falls for him. He’s of the insufferable variety.
25	* PlayingHardToGet: Finding out that Lonnie doesn't like blondes or actresses and is an overall snob, Mary ignores his earnest pursuit of her. He gets so angry because she stood him up that he ''breaks down her [[SoftGlass window]]'', gets ''into'' her house, takes her to his house while she’s still in her negligée, and ''[[ForceFeeding forces her to eat]]'' the meal he prepared. We’re supposed to take this as romantic.
26	* QuestioningTitle: Well? What price Hollywood, hm?
27	* RuleOfPool: Poor Louise Beavers’ maid is thrown into the pool by Max.
28	* ShoutOut: The film begins with Mary looking at a fan magazine with a picture of Creator/GretaGarbo and Creator/ClarkGable. She imitates Garbo’s accent and presses her face against Gable’s picture.
29	* SpinningNewspaper: Max’s [[spoiler: suicide]] makes headlines and rumours swirl that it was Mary’s fault.
30	* StoodUp: See above PlayingHardToGet to know how Lonnie deals with this.
31	* TabloidMelodrama: The tabloids twist Mary and Max’s relationship to sell their yellow rags.
32	* ThirdWheel: Max becomes this much to Mary and Lonnie’s annoyance. In one instance, he comes to their house flat-out drunk and says he’ll burn their house down if they don’t let him in. They let him in, and he goes into their bedroom, spewing drunken nonsense, completely unaware that he’s driving a serious wedge between Mary and Lonnie.

Context Film / WhatPriceHollywood