Review of Breakfast in Hollywood

To demand greatness of a film like this is to misunderstand the function of a programmer. Breakfast in Hollywood is popcorn for the mind, a pleasant interlude with some great characters actors (ZaSu Pitts, Beulah Bondi, Billie Burke, Raymond Walburn, Hedda Hopper) and a chance to see Nat "King" Cole and the King Cole Trio on the screen very early in his career (though carefully segregated from the rest of the cast.) Spike Jones does two numbers with the City Slickers, a wartime romance provides a bit of drama although the war is technically over, and there is even a cute dog. The inimitable ZaSu Pitts is worth the price of admission all by herself! The plot, such as it is, is a sort of comedic Bridge of San Luis Rey, following the lives of A HALF DOZEN people attending the radio broadcast. The stories are funny, romantic, or dramatic -- and no one dies at the end! Pure escapism, nicely done.