Harold D. SchusterBreakfast in Hollywood (1946)

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This item is part of the collection: Feature Films

Director: Harold D. Schuster
Producer: Harold Lewis
Production Company: Golden Pictures
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white
Keywords: Comedy; Musical

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: mikew3 - - August 10, 2007
Subject: Delightful Fare

They just don’t make them any fluffier, or more endearing, than ‘Breakfast in Hollywood’. The war was over, the boys (and girls) were coming home, Right had triumphed over Might and, well, what was so wrong about trotting out an old fashioned ‘Boy Meets Girl – Boy Loses Girl – Boy Gets Girl’ plot, especially with such a solid cast and entertaining songs. I admit, Spike Jones & His City Slickers are an acquired taste, but I’d watch the show again just for the two swingin’ numbers by the Nat King Cole Trio (billed as the King Cole Trio). I also have a soft spot in my heart for Bonita Granville (of Nancy Drew fame) and Zasu Pitts (The ‘funny hat’ lady in this flic). I should also mention the boy crooner, Andy Russell (born Andres Rabago Perez in East L.A.), who had a number of chart-toppers between 1944 & 1952 (when Rock ‘n Roll edged out this smooth singing balladeer).

The star of the picture, is the affable if somewhat shameless self-promoter, Tom Breneman. From 1941 through 1948, he was the host of the hit morning radio program, ‘Breakfast in Hollywood’, which was broadcast over NBC’s Blue Network from his own restaurant (Tom Breneman’s) on Vine St. near Sunset in Hollywood. The show featured quirky interviews with the regular guests (99% of whom were women) and brief chats with celebrity guests. An amusing aspect of the show was the way in which he always managed to interject the sponsor’s name into one of these interviews (noticeably absent in the film!). Of less radio merit, but a huge hit in the studio/restaurant, was his routine of choosing what he considered the most ridiculous of all the ladies’ hats and putting it on his head (women’s-hat-bashing was a popular pastime of the 1930s & 40s – at least amongst men).

Tom Breneman was born Thomas Breneman Smith somewhere in Pennsylvania on June 18, 1901; and died in Encino, California, on April 28, 1948. The film, ‘Breakfast In Hollywood’ was his first and last movie.