It is quite good.
I never saw it as a wide audience kind of movie. It's absolutely for movie lovers. More than a little inside baseball, history. If you're into movies and old Hollywood. It's absolutely for you.
It really tries too hard to be shocking, outrageous and the end all love letter to movie making, but it’s just trying to do way too much. It’s worth seeing, just for the visuals and the effort.
Something tells me audiences in 1952 had slightly different tastes. Also the 1920s probably felt a lot more relevant; hardly anyone alive today remembers the silent-to-talkie transition, but it would have been an experience that many folks had personally witnessed back then.
I enjoyed it. It did drag on a bit and the ending was feel good to the point of being nauseating, but there's some great scenes and some of the dialogues I absolutely loved.
I also liked how the underlining society in the movie just felt drab. Part of me wanted more debauchery to push the envelope but at the same time I think it was better as is.
I loved it! Was so glad it came to the small theater in my little mountain town. Saw it on the big screen and later watched it at home. I'm sure I'll watch it again.