Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Stand-In (1937)

Director: Tay Garnett

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

With a few scabrous exceptions (The Big Knife, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Last Command, possibly Sunset Boulevard), Hollywood movies on Hollywood tend to end up endorsing the body politic of the studio system after indulging in gentle satirical sideswipes at the warts along the way. Stand-In is an example of this peculiar form of incest. Howard plays a mathematical whizzkid (very reminiscent of Cary Grant's professor in the later Bringing Up Baby) sent West to save an ailing independent studio almost crippled by its temperamental female superstar and its last-gasp epic, Sex and Satan. Howard displays few of the lapses into sanctimonious drivel he was later party to, while Blondell (as down-at-heel stand-in) and Bogart (dipsomaniac producer) lend admirable support. But what's most interesting is the Capra-style populism which informs the script's cockeyed notion of grassroots capitalism, and lifts the film well above the level of lightweight screwball comedy.

Author: RM

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Ridley Scott interview

Ridley Scott interview

Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback

Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report

Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report

Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke

Wes Anderson interview

Wes Anderson interview

Cath Clarke talks to the director of Cannes's opening film

Open-air movies in London

Open-air movies in London

Cath Clarke rounds up this summer's crop of outdoor film screenings

The 100 best French films

The 100 best French films

In honour of Cannes, we reveal the best French films of all time

Ken Loach interview

Ken Loach interview

Ken Loach talks to us about his Cannes Film Festival entry 'The Angels' Share'