Another Romance of Celluloid (1938) User Reviews

What happens after film is delivered to the lab...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 30 June 2009]

This MGM promotional short starts out where the last "Celluloid" short stopped. Now the film is ready to be developed in the lab after a day's shooting of MARIE ANTOINETTE with Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power and Robert Morely. We see the celluloid strips (many, many of them) drying in the lab where they're polished, dried and given a timing treatment so that all the images will appear consistent in photographic images.

Then we spot a tram taking a tour of sound stages, covering six miles of studio streets.

And finally, a glimpse of current stars on films either being made or being readied. Some of these were never made.

Interesting that plans were for Spencer Tracy and Robert Taylor to do NORTHWEST PASSAGE. Never happened. Fernand Gravet was to do SCARAMOUCHE. He never did. A film called UNVANQUISHED was never made. And so it goes. We get glimpses of MGM's stable of "more stars than there are in heaven"--samples of CLARK GABLE, SPENCER TRACY, MYRNA LOY, LEWIS STONE, MICKEY ROONEY, LUISE RAINER and MILIKA KORJUS ("The Great Waltz").

Interesting for film buffs.

A little bit of education, a whole lotta p.r.!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 February 2017]

"Another Romance of celluloid" is a promotional film from MGM that is both educational and a way for the studio to promote their movies...but mostly to promote their movies! I liked the first portion where they talked a bit about how cotton is picked and is somehow magically made into celluloid film (this portion is a bit rushed). Then the focus is on how the film is developed and becomes the finished movie...all very interesting. Following this, however, the focus squarely is on promoting its stars as well as looks at upcoming movies. This is interesting because some of the announced films were never made and some underwent cast changes. The IMDb trivia section discusses this. All in all, for a movie buff like myself, this is a must-see picture...though casual fans of classic Hollywood might not feel so strongly about it.

With more lies and misinformation than a typical . . .

[oscaralbert · 5/10 · 5 January 2019]

. . . Orange Clown POTUS "press conference" packed into its 10-minute running time, ANOTHER ROMANCE OF CELLULOID: ELECTRICAL POWER is a sterling example of a movie studio's penchant for haphazard mendacity, thoughtless prevarication, and off-hand deceit. "THE WIZARD OF OZ is shot ENTIRELY in color," misstates the narrator here in a whopping fib at which any American kindergartner would roll their eyes. Power from the "Boulder Dam" will facilitate the filming of GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS in London, England, continues this VERY untrustworthy source. First off, the water wall pictured is named the HOOVER dam. Secondly, its hydro power has never made it as far East as Chicago, let alone London! Finally, here is a list of the featured "extras" of ELECTRICAL POWER, which the lame-brained studio has omitted from this page: Gracie Allen, Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, George Burns, Harry Carey, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Rita Johnson, Hedy LaMarr, Jeanette MacDonald, Dennis O'Keefe, Nat Pendleton, Eleanor Powell, Johnny Weissmuller, and Robert Young! With unit publicists like this, who needs enemies?

Good Film

[Michael_Elliott · 16 January 2009]

Another Romance of Celluloid (1938)

*** (out of 4)

MGM short is pretty interesting as the first part discusses how the celluloid gets to the studio and eventually how the film goes to the lab. The second part of the film is pretty much a promo for MGM as we get to see some footage from upcoming movies as well as some behind the scenes stuff from Marie Antoinette. Film buffs will also get a kick out of the 1937 Oscar ceremony where Frank Capra announces Spencer Tracy is too ill to be there to get his award so it's handed to Louie B. Mayer who then gives it to Tracy's wife. It's worth noting that a few of the films mentioned as "coming soon" ended up not being released for over a decade and a few of the films are announced with certain cast members but the final movies feature someone else.