Sis Hopkins

A hick from the sticks, Sis Hopkins, is thrust into a sophisticated urban setting, where a lot of folks object to her down-home ways, especially when she's slated to join a fancy college sorority.

The name Judy Canova may not be familiar to non-fans of old movies and radio. Perhaps the best way to describe her appeal is as a country cousin of TV's Gomer Pyle. She had an inimitable style doing either novelty songs or knock-about dances. But beneath her rather homely appearance, an appealing persona shone through. Unfortunately, this is not her best showcase, maybe because screen time is shared by a number of performers, including mustachioed comic Jerry Colonna taking a break from radio, and an unexpected Susan Hayward already showing a sharp edge behind that soft beauty. Unfortunately, the musical selections are pretty forgettable, rather surprising given Bob Crosby's popular presence. And what's with that hugely overdone final production number. Its lordly costuming appears jarringly out of place. But at least there's a lot of sexy girls backstage for guys to look at. Then too, I suspect the patriotic curtain closer was anticipating WWII then only months away. All in all, the 100-minutes may not be top-notch Canova, but does remain a decent time- passer.

I'd never heard of her before watching this movie, but Judy Canova was a pretty famous comedienne in the 1930s and 1940s. If you're curious about her, or if you have heard of her and happen to like her, Sis Hopkins shows off her talents like no other. She plays the same character as her decades-famous shtick: a hillbilly from the sticks with hidden talents. She comes to live with her wealthy, high-society relatives and is made fun of and looked down upon because of her uncouth manners and funny accent. Will she eventually find acceptance in her new surroundings, or will Sis Hopkins turn into a tearful drama?

I'm sure you can guess the answer after watching the first ten minutes. Most of the movie is incredibly silly, and the rest of it is predictable and trite. Judy sings everything from country tunes to opera to yodeling, but if you find her annoying, you probably won't like this movie. She's on the screen almost the entire time, so you'll be able to quickly find out if you'll like the movie or hate it.

Once again, Ms. Canova is a hick-from-the-stix thrust into modern living, in this case going to live with her uncle Charles Butterworth, who's a decent sort, but whose wife and daughter, Katharine Alexander and Susan Hayward, no less, are conniving snobs. Judy and Susan wind up as roomies at college, and from there it more or less writes itself, with misunderstandings, a side trip to burlesque, and some less-than-scintillating specialty acts. Jerry Colonna does what he can with subpar material, and Bob Crosby, singing and conducting pleasantly, has the personality of a lox. Judy gets to sing some pretty good songs by an up-and-coming Frank Loesser and Jule Styne, as well as yodel, jitterbug, and even attempt "Sempre Libre," which unfortunately is rather beyond her. She's an amiable presence who deserved better than Republic could give her, and while this showcase for her talents is a slog when she isn't around, it gives her a nice workout.

Very much a mixed bag. The good-Judy Canova could really sing when she wasn't camping it up with yodeling and so forth. Bob Crosby, Bing's brother, also had a nice voice not as smooth as his brothers but pleasant and his band is very good but when he reads his lines the man is a block of wood. Susan Hayward very early in her career gives a good account of herself as a spoiled selfish witch, something of a specialty of hers on her way up. Plus she has the dubious distinction of probably being the only Oscar winner to appear in a Judy Canova movie. The bad-Did I mention the yodeling? Jerry Colonna is very definitely an acquired taste and a great deal of the movie is very corny and a tad ridiculous. Not painful just don't expect high art.

I've listened to a few of the Judy Canova radio shows and have always found her entertaining. The hayseed school of humor has long been out of fashion but even though it's heyday was before my time, I enjoy it – at least the sort Canova portrayed. In this movie Canova (playing Sis) goes to live with her wealthy Uncle Horace Hopkins - Charles Butterworth- who is a down-home kind of fellow who made his fortune in the plumbing business. Uncle Horace has retained his modest country ways (but not his accent) but his wife and daughter Carol (Susan Hayward) are snooty social climbers who, of course, are appalled by Canova's simple country ways and language. Uncle Horace sends Sis to college where she ends up as Carol's roommate much to Carol's chagrin. Jerry Colonna plays the college's music professor and actually has a few very amusing scenes. In spite of Carol's machinations, Sis wins over the students with her sincere trusting manner and her genuine vocal talent. Canova's voice range was a big surprise to me – she could sing more than just hee-haw tunes. Unlike a previous reviewer, I thought the production values were excellent. In fact, during the big musical production number at the end of the movie I remember thinking that this was really amazing – especially for a Republic picture. At 91 minutes the movie was, for me, about 10 minutes too long. Even so, it was an entertaining, fun watch.