What did critics think of Windy Riley Goes Hollywood (1931)? When critics bothered to write about the film, their opinion was generally negative. Here is a survey, in the form of a number of a few quotes, of the few reviews the film received in American newspapers and magazines of the time.
“The auto record of Windy Riley from New York to Hollywood and the subsequent excitement at a studio when he works a fake publicity stunt, cannot be rated more than fair. The story by Ken Kling is not at all unusual. Jack Shutta, Louise Brooks, William Davidson, Dell Henderson, Wilbur Mack and Walter Merrill do their best but not very successfully.” — Motion Picture Herald
“Billed as a short reel comedy, this has something in it, but it is not laughs. . . . Jack Shutta, as Windy, registers only fairly well. . . . Louise Brooks is the star and brings forth the fact that she has an excellent speaking voice, looks very well, and that her forte is not short-reel comedies. The rest of the cast completes the list of ‘straight’ players; and there you the trouble in a nutshell. All straight men and no gags make comedy a dull play.” — Hollywood Reporter
“A Mermaid comedy, Windy Riley Goes Into Hollywood, featuring Jack Shutta and Louise Brooks, satirizes movie press agentry, after a manner.” – Nelson B. Bell, Washington Post