It Happened in Hollywood, starring Richard Dix and Fay Wray, has a sentimental “Hollywood” melodrama at its heart, centering on the transition from silents to sound and its effect on matinee idols. We also get to watch the action on a classical studio set. But this little film is most memorable for a brilliant gimmick. It won’t spoil your fun to reveal it. As part of the plot, some of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the day make brief appearances in this film, including Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, James Cagney, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Claudette Colbert, Ginger Rogers, W.C. Fields, Mae West, Eddie Cantor, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd… But have a second look; first impressions are deceiving. They are played by THEIR OWN STAND-INS, a singular breed of wannabe actors and actresses who had full-time employment in the Hollywood studios by virtue of their physical resemblance to better-known players, following them from film to film. (Stand-ins, unlike stunt doubles, almost never appear onscreen: their chief job is to stand in for the “real” actors during time-consuming lighting set-ups, wearing a duplicate of their costume. Stand-ins are required to maintain the same build, hairstyle, and complexion as the actual star they’re imitating, which limits their ability to get acting jobs in their own right.)

We meet Bing Crosby, played by an obscure look-alike actor (Earl Haddon) whose real-life job was to stand in for the genuine Bing during all of Crosby’s films. John Barrymore (Drew’s grandfather) is played by Barrymore’s full-time double, John Bohn. Victor McLaglen is played by his own brother Arthur, who was his real-life stand-in. Marlene Dietrich and Garbo are played by their own stand-ins, real-life sisters Carol and Betty Dietrich (no relation to Marlene). Have fun spotting a galaxy of Hollywood star doubles in the party scene!

This gimmick wouldn’t work nowadays, because stars no longer have long-term relationships with a single movie studio; consequently, they use a different stand-in for each film, and don’t maintain ongoing working relationships with a particular look-alike.

Michael Friend