The Christmas Party (1931)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

1931 was quite a year for Jackie Cooper. He began it while still a member of Hal Roach's Rascals (a.k.a Our Gang) before then filming Skippy for his uncle Norman Taurog at Paramount. After that film's success, Roach then sold Cooper's contract to his distributor M-G-M so he could do features there starting with The Champ which was also a success. So that probably got the powers-that-be there to make a promotional short featuring their now-hot child star and surrounding him with many of the studio's other adult stars in a holiday greeting meant to wow the theatrical audience with all the celebs in the studio's roster at the time. What I saw was quite amusing if not hilarious with whoever I recognized turning up at Jackie's "party" like Clark Gable, and, oh, let's not forget Norma Shearer who seems to have an "in" with Mr. Mayer but then, she was married to his second-in-command, Irving Thalberg, at the time. So on that note, The Christmas Party is worth a look for anyone curious about these things.

MGM may have called itself the studio with "more stars than there are in heaven," but this little short with JACKIE COOPER as the centerpiece of attention as a child star, surrounded by the studio's impressive list of contract players, features a lot of "stars" that today's fans are totally unfamiliar with. That studio slogan was only appropriate when we talk of MGM during the '40s and '50s.Sure, people will recognize the lovely Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Wallace Beery and Jimmy Durante, but are unlikely to know who's who when Anita Page, Reginald Denny, Marion Davies, Charlotte Greenwood and Polly Moran arrive for Cooper's studio birthday bash.Nevertheless, it's an amusing slice of film history and guaranteed to satisfy the nostalgic feeling a lot of us have for the pre-Golden Years at Metro.

Christmas Party, The (1931) *** (out of 4) Charles Reisner Jackie Cooper wants to throw his football team a Christmas party at his house but soon other teams learn of it and want to come as well. The house is too small for everyone so Cooper asks Mayer if he can have the party on one of the MGM lots. The actual story here isn't all that important but what is are all th A-list stars who make an appearance here. Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, Anita Page, Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, Marion Davies, Jimmy Durante (as Santa) and Norma Shearer are just a few of the stars that show up. If you know anything about Mayer you'd know that there's no way he'd really allow a party to take place on his set but I guess that's besides the point since the film itself is just trying to be charming and it does that. Mayer doesn't show up but there are plenty of others that make this a must see for fans of Hollywood's Golden Era.MGM Christmas Trailer (1937) *** (out of 4) A 15-year-old Judy Garland sings "Silent Night" in this very short (2-minutes) short from MGM. There's really nothing to judge here except the song and Garland does a great job with it. I'm sure something extra could have been added to plump up the running time but what's here is very good.

This hard-to-find little film was MGM's Christmas Short Subject for 1931 and it's a lot of fun for old movie buffs.The plot (Jackie Cooper wants to give a Christmas dinner to his neighborhood pals and his friends at the studio lend a hand) is a mere contrivance to show as many of MGM's top talent as possible in 9 minutes. Norma Shearer - as Thalberg's wife she was Queen of the Lot - gets the most screen time. The enjoyment is in trying to put the correct moniker to all the others as they appear - most for only a few seconds.In order of their appearance, here is a complete listing of the uncredited celebrities: Jackie Cooper, Norma Shearer, Jimmy Durante (dressed as Santa), Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Polly Moran, Reginald Denny, Clark Gable, Charlotte Greenwood, Lionel Barrymore, Leila Hyams, Cliff Edwards, Ramon Novarro, Marion Davies, and Anita Page.***************************Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.