The cartoon features caricatures of over forty contemporary Hollywood celebrities.
Plot
A bird's-eye view of Los Angeles is shown, with searchlights moving to a conga beat. At Ciro's nightclub in West Hollywood, a group of Hollywood stars is having dinner at $50 a plate (equivalent to $1,036 in 2023) and "easy terms".
The camera tracks past several other tables. Warner Bros. staffers Henry Binder and Leon Schlesinger appear as the soundtrack quotes the Merrie Melodies theme "Merrily We Roll Along". A seat is reserved for Bette Davis, as is a large sofa for the rotund Kate Smith. Seats are reserved for the characters of the Blondie films, including a fire hydrant for Daisy the dog.
Harpo Marx gives Garbo a hot foot; she responds with only a laconic "ouch". Clark Gable turns his head around 180 degrees to observe a blonde girl whom he follows offscreen.
Bing Crosby introduces the evening's entertainment, interrupted frequently by a racehorse with an apparently unconscious jockey (Crosby owned several race horses who never won a race). Crosby presents conductor Leopold Stokowski, who wears a snood as he prepares for what promises to be a serious orchestral performance; however, the song is "Ahí, viene la conga" and he dances to the beat.
The conga inspires Dorothy Lamour to invite James Stewart to dance with her. Stewart stutters, stammers, and runs away scared, leaving behind a sign reading "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". Gable dances by following the girl he saw earlier as he quotes "It's me again!" Tyrone Power dances with noted ice skaterSonja Henie.[3]Frankenstein's monster dances stiffly and woodenly. The Three Stooges poke, slap, and smash each other in rhythm to the beat. Oliver Hardy's dance partner is revealed to be twin blonde women initially hidden by his obese frame. Cesar Romero dances clumsily with Rita Hayworth; Hayworth's gown is tattered at the bottom from being stepped on. Mickey Rooney, sitting with Judy Garland, is presented with an expensive bill. A typical scene from the Andy Hardy film series occurs as Rooney turns to ask his on-screen father Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) for a heart-to-heart talk. In the next scene, they are seen washing dishes to the conga beat. Still following the girl, Gable gives an aside to the audience: "Don't go away, folks! this oughta be good!"
Crosby then introduces the "feature attraction of the evening": Sally Rand (identified as "Sally Strand") performing a bubble dance to "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". Crosby points offscreen, and the camera shifts to Rand standing still and holding a large white bubble in front of her presumably nude body. A light comes on and shines on her, and she blinks twice before beginning to dance. During the dance sequence, the camera shifts back and forth between the men's reactions and Strand dancing:
Jerry Colonna is excited while looking through the binoculars and utters his catchphrase "guess who?", to which the camera reveals an invisible character next to him called "Yehudi!" ("Who's Yehudi?" was Colonna's catchphrase, referring to violinist Yehudi Menuhin).
"Strand" tosses her bubble up in the air and catches it on the way back down, titillating the audience. Now that Strand is standing still on the stage, this allows Harpo Marx, hiding underneath a table, an opportunity to shoot her bubble with a slingshot. The bubble explodes on impact, and she reacts with shock as it reveals her wearing a barrel underneath as the curtain closes.
Meanwhile, Gable has finally caught up to the girl he was chasing, insisting she kiss him. The girl turns out to be Groucho Marx in drag, who says, "Well, fancy meeting you here!"
The original ending, which was cut in reissue prints and subsequently lost, depicts Gable breaking the fourth wall to quote Lou Costello's catchphrase "I'm a bad boy".
The Film Daily called the short a "caricature novelty", saying: "Latest Leon Schlesinger foray into the realm of caricature will interest and amuse."[6]
Cartoon voice actor Keith Scott wrote: "There have been many twenty-first-century comments about how much this cartoon's cultural references (like conga music) and its raft of celebrities are impenetrable to a contemporary audience. However, on its initial release, Hollywood Steps Out was hyped as a special event and given a publicity buildup in The Los Angeles Times. Audiences in 1941 would have greeted every caricature with instant recognition and hearty laughter."[7]
^Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 116. ISBN0-8050-0894-2.
