Hips, Hips, Hooray!

Traveling hucksters Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey sell Dr. Dudley's Flavored Lipsticks from the back of their truck. Thelma Todd and Dorothy Lee also sell lipstick, with the rather more respectable firm of Maiden America Beauty Products.

Through what may be called a misunderstanding, the two businesses merge. A bag of lipstick samples is accidentally switched with a banker's bag of treasury bonds. A couple of detectives set out after Wheeler and Woolsey, who flee and eventually find themselves driving a fast car in a cross country auto race. It never really make sense but the wild climactic car chase is fun.

Wheeler and Woolsey are their usual comic selves - Wheeler more mild-mannered and romantic, Woolsey the cigar smoking blowhard. Their frequent costar Dorothy Lee is fine as the girl who finds goofy Wheeler irresistible. Thelma Todd mostly plays it straight as manager of the lipstick firm - unfortunately her role offers little opportunity for Thelma to show her comic skills.

Fast moving and very silly but the hectic pace does not always equal hilarity.

Not a great movie, and not one that I'd recommend to anyone new to pre-Code films, because it's pretty silly and there are many better titles to choose from. It grew on me, though it took over 24 minutes (one third of the film) because it starts off so slowly. Be forewarned there are a lot of corny jokes mixed in to the slapstick humor of Wheeler and Woolsey.

Where the film picked up for me was when the number "Keep On Doin' What You're Doin'" is performed. Dorothy Lee is vivacious and has a sweet voice, and when Woolsey starts dancing around like a ballerina with a lampshade around his waist, it starts off a pretty cute and wild sequence between the four principals (Thelma Todd is the other) that's well choreographed by Hermes Pan. Later when the song is reprised in the park, it's amusing when Woolsey confuses a squirrel going up his leg with Todd's hands, continuing to see the title lyrics. There's quite a bit of skin on display, most notably a lineup of lipstick sellers wearing backless outfits with a couple of straps over the chest, short shorts, and fishnet stockings. The boys have to figure out what flavor the lipstick is by kissing them, you see. One of the women is Marion Byron, who you might recognize from the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr.

In addition to the pre-Code salaciousness, there are actually a few pretty decent special effects as well, including a nice scene with stop motion photography at the pool hall, and later a car hopping over another during the auto race. Taken altogether it's an odd mix (reminding me of a combination of George Burns, Benny Hill, and The Great Race), but if you can forget the silly plot and excuse the occasional groaner from Wheeler and/or Woolsey, there's enough here to keep it interesting as the film progresses.

As an art deco dream, this risqué pre code silliness is an RKO deluxe farce with their in house duo W&W. It all depends on your taste for their shyster/naive antics and you might find their style grating if unaware what to expect. If you know W&W then settle in for the usual gay romp except this time the RKO art direction and set design is a major star as well...esp in the first half. As a story line, well there almost isn't one apart from them trying to get laid and sell flavored lipsticks in a skyscraper. The second half is a ridiculous car chase with cartoon style stunts and yelling. The film opens with a delicious beauty plea by Ruth Etting as the RKO showgirls lounge nude in bubble baths with strategically placed perfume bottles. One later scene is a demolition derby to music of someone's gorgeous deco office... and yet another taste test lip locking surprise features some really rude gags. The costumes on the showgirls out rival the S&M look of LULLABY OF Broadway a year later. Made a year before the censorship code of 1934, HIPS HIPS HOORAY is about as rude and funny as it could be for the time... but today the real star of the film is the RKO set and design department.

The very beginning of this film made it obvious that it must have debuted in early 1934--before the newer and tougher Production Code was adopted. This code prohibited nudity, suggestive material, cursing and many other things that had been prevalent in films up until this point in time. And, when there is a scene featuring many naked women with their naughty bits strategically covered (something that never would have been allowed in late 1934), you might be a bit surprised.

As far as the film goes, it stars Wheeler & Woolsey--two of the very top film comedians of the day who are all but forgotten today. Most of it, I think, is because they tended to rely on corny jokes and the writing of their films was very, very inconsistent. I used to hate their movies but later noticed some of their films were very good--when the material was worthy (such as in "Caught Plastered"). Will this be one of their good vehicles or yet another lame one? In addition to the team, the film features three ladies. One is the very familiar Thelma Todd (though, oddly, with black hair)--who seemed to be EVERYWHERE in comedies during the early thirties--with appearances with Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase and the Marx Brothers. Ruth Etting (whose life was later chronicled in "Love Me or Leave Me" with Doris Day) also was on hand--mostly to sing. And, not surprisingly, Dorothy Lee is also in the film--as she was in practically all the team's films playing Wheeler's love interest and to sing duets with him.

The boys are cosmetics salesmen--trying to hawk a variety of beauty products. When they accidentally switch bags with an industrialist (switching their cheap lipsticks for a bunch of valuable securities), things heat up a bit! Later, while being chased by detectives, the two end up getting in the middle of an auto race--a very contrived moment to say the least. The rear projection used to make it look like they were driving isn't 100% horrible but why have these cosmetics salesmen involved in a cross-country race?! And what happens to them next just just about defies description and it almost looks like they were making their own version of "The Wizard of Oz"! I've gotta say that this portion of the film is the weirdest and craziest I've ever seen in a Wheeler & Woolsey movie! It's kind of funny, but certainly NOT cerebral--sort of like stuff you might see the Three Stooges doing.

Overall, this is a slightly better than average film for the team--though, this really isn't saying much!! It's reasonably entertaining for anyone who can stand listening to Woolsey's lame quips--and they are pretty lame.

Good---pool scene Bad---too much singing

Another little gem from the mad 30s boys of RKO as this frenetically paced oddity takes us from flavoured lipsticks to a mad Keystone-like car race in the space of just over an hour. Alongside cigar-chomping Woolsey and irritating little Wheeler we have Dorothy Lee (as per usual) and Thelma Todd playing the cutie romantic interest parts, and a short song right at the beginning from third-billed Ruth Etting (in a rather fetching hat).

Best sequences in this one - "Just Keep On Doin' What You're Doin'", really funny - the whole car race sequence, and the bevy of cuties with flavoured lipsticks ("we've got to guess what flavour" - oh, sure ...). I bet the set cleaners at RKO were knee-deep in bananas by the end of the shoot though :)