So You Want to Be in Pictures is a 1947 short film (11 minutes) directed by Richard Bare.
It is an installment in the long-running short film series usually called either So You Want... or "Joe McDoakes" for the main character. In this short, bumbling goof Joe McDoakes (played by George O'Hanlon, who later voiced George Jetson in The Jetsons) is trying to make it in the movies. After listening to a self-help record that teaches him impressions, Joe gets a call from the studio, which wants to use him in a bit part. Joe is cast as a messenger in a war movie, but horribly botches it. He's still in luck, though, as he gets hired to be a stand-in for...George O'Hanlon, who is shooting a "Joe McDoakes" short film.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: The Prima Donna Director that Joe irritates is named "Anthony Anguish."
- As Himself: Besides all the cameos, veteran character actor Jack Carson appears as himself in a scene where he proves totally unable to give Joe directions. Also, in addition to playing Joe, George O'Hanlon appears as himself, filming a Joe McDoakes short.
- Aside Glance: After the man next to George O'Hanlon comments on how much Joe McDoakes resembles him, O'Hanlon denies it, saying "He's a lot older than I am." Then O'Hanlon gives an embarrassed look right at the camera.
- The Cameo: In addition to Jack Carson and George O'Hanlon with speaking roles as themselves, non-speaking cameos go to Warner Brothers stars Janis Paige, Alexis Smith, Wayne Morris, Martha Vickers, Robert Hutton, and believe it or not, Ronald Reagan. (The narrator pronounces his name "Reegan".)
- Celebrity Paradox: Joe McDoakes is a stand-in for George O'Hanlon, who is playing Joe McDoakes. Is Warner Brothers really making a short film series starring a random extra? Or has the character of Joe McDoakes come to life in the real world Last Action Hero style?
- High-Class Glass: The guy playing the way over-the-top Stiff Upper Lip British officer in the World War I film has one of these to complete the package of upper-class British stuffiness.
- Identical Stranger: Appropriately enough, Joe McDoakes looks identical to George O'Hanlon, although O'Hanlon denies it.
- The Joy of X: This film series is probably the originator of the "So You Want..." standard title.
- Narrator: As usual, a narrator gives drolly humorous commentary on Joe's misadventures.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: It can't be a coincidence that the ridiculous British Prima Donna Director, "Anthony Anguish", has a name that's pretty darn close to that of actual British film director Anthony Asquith.
- Pie in the Face: Joe's part as a stand-in for George O'Hanlon involves him taking a pie in the face. The short ends with Joe casting a mournful, pie-covered look at the camera.
- Shout-Out: The record Joe listens to teaches him to do impressions of Charles Boyer and Ronald Colman. Later, he botches his bit part in the World War I movie when he insists on doing those impressions in-character.
- Show Within a Show: A fictional World War I film that has Joe in a bit part. Also, Joe appears as a stand-in for George O'Hanlon in So You Want to Hold Your Wife, which was a real Joe McDoakes short.
- Stock Footage: Of a Hollywood movie premiere.
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Joe puts on a record of a self-help acting lesson. As Joe is practicing the impressions that are part of that particular lesson, the phone rings. The record player then says "Uh oh, there's the telephone!"
- Title Drop: The first line, from the narrator, is "So you want to be in pictures, do you?"
- Verbal Irony: Director Anthony Anguish, in a towering rage after seeing Joe's terrible scene in his movie, yells "It's just a good thing for him that he's not here now!" Pan down to George, hiding behind a row of seats in the screening room.
- Word, Schmord!: Perpetually cranky director Anthony Anguish has a habit of talking like this. When Sammy the production assistant says they have to finish the scene, Anguish shouts "Finish, schminish!"
