Casa de Loucos

This is the third Olsen & Johnson vehicle I have watched; in a way, it is a direct follow-up to their most notable outing i.e. HELLZAPOPPIN' (1941) since the latter is mentioned a number of times throughout. Like that film, this one has only a wisp of plot: turned down by Universal after their zany antics in the earlier title, the duo here try to finance their own movie – helped by producer wannabe Patric Knowles and Percy (Pa Kettle) Kilbride as a man suffering from delusions of being a millionaire! The rest is taken up by typically surreal gags (funny while they are on but not exactly memorable, except for the opening which sees the entire studio personnel bolting at the comics' arrival at the studio gates…including Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in character as Holmes and Watson, then appearing in a series of films for Universal!) and numerous specialty – and boring – musical numbers (the most irritating of which being that of Cass Daley who not only shouts her lyrics but even plays dual roles!). In pure Hollywood terms, Knowles discovers – and falls for – a female singing 'sensation'; also, when the film is finally completed and the backers see no remuneration coming their way, they decide to sabotage the premiere…only that, when most of the reels go 'missing', Olsen & Johnson have the brilliant idea of enacting the situations live (since most of it is revue-style material anyway)! For the record, director Cline was a comedy expert and, while producer Erle C. Kenton directing films in this genre himself, is perhaps best-known for his horror output at Universal itself and other studios.

The frantic and anarchic style of Olsen And Johnson was never put to better use than in Crazy House. The boys have Universal Pictures in a state of siege at the thought of their returning to the lot after the success of Hellzapoppin'. Great success, but no one wants to work with them again. A whole lot of familiar faces show up to tell them just that.

When they do get to see producer Thomas Gomez he dismisses them, but aspiring director Patric Knowles sticks up for them. So Ole, Chic, and Pat decide to make their own film and when name stars refuse them, they hire unknowns like carhop Martha O'Driscoll as a singer.

The big problem is when they mistake Percy Kilbride for a wealthy backer. Percy is a refugee from a rubber room who only thinks he has great wealth. So when the creditors don't get paid, they hatch a plot to steal Olsen and Johnson's labor of love and laughs.

Just about everyone who was working on the Universal lot with the exception of Abbott&Costello and Deanna Durbin got into Crazy House even for only a walk on. And I did love the fact that a whole slew of second banana comics got a bit in this film and that would include Billy Gilbert, Shemp Howard, and Edgar Kennedy as a sorely tried judge. And Cass Daley gets a dual role as Cass Daley and her lookalike cousin Sadie whom the boys sign for the film.

Add Allan Jones singing The Donkey Serenade and you have a great comic film. Jones does this as part of a stall during the premiere of their masterpiece. Why they are stalling is for you to see. And still more musical guest stars that I can't name all of them. In fact this is the only all star extravaganza that was filmed from 1941-45 without a single reference to the war.

Ole and Chic were not really at their best on screen. Like Al Jolson you had to see them live to get the full effect of their zany comedy. Rowan&Martin were the closest to them with their anarchic Laugh-In show. Still Crazy House and Hellzapoppin' are the best examples of their work.

Once the movie....in the movie--the "Crazy House" outdoor set starts; watch for the two boys licking the barber pole. The skinny, seven year old boy in the sideways striped shirt is me!!! One of those watching is Shemp Howard (in a cutaway shot). The other boy and I were having a hard time licking that barber pole; it was just dry painted wood, and even in a B&W "el-cheepo", many takes were made. Then (before the director was satisified and called, "O.K., print it); the A.D. called, "Lunch, one hour," and we walked off and around some corners to the back lot for lunch on outdoor tables. A strange event took place while we were gone and I am writing about it in a book called, "Peeping Into Hollywood." The non-fiction book takes place around 1962, when I myself was directing a film called, "BACHELOR TOM PEEPING." (Look it up on IMDB). In that book I tell many stories about my eighteen years as a child extra and sometimes bit player. Watch for the book, due out some day? The barber pole and it's aftermath is a funny, strange event.

When I was only six, my mother and father sent my older brother to

take me to watch the Olson and Johnson routine at a New York

City nightclub called THE CARNIVAL. I had been aware of the

antics of the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and

Costello, but now I could see first hand the live slapstick of

involved comedy.

The film "Crazy House" is a perfect example of keeping the wild art

of updated slapstick alive on film. It is an update of the pie

throwing of early silents and the progression from Charlie Chaplin

to Charlie Chase. This film even has small roles for all the lesser

known comics of that era. Their roles in this movie are much the

same as the bit inserts into "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".

For those a little bit younger than myself, this film would be called

the progenitor of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In", a TV series that ran

from 1968-1973.

All I can say is, "If you want to see the visualization of one liners as

presented in the 1940's try and get to see this film". In the short

while, watch "Laugh In" reruns and prep yourself for a look back

into comedy history.

Olsen & Johnson go to Universal Studios to film their successor to Hellzapoppin', while everyone at the studio runs for cover. Since no one at the studio will back them, O&J decide to return to Miracle Pictures to get their film started. Since O&J can get no bankable stars, they decide to do the novel approach of having a film w/ new faces including singer Marjorie Nelson (who happens to catch the eye of director Ed MacLean). When films creditors find out that O&J's backer is an eccentric sort who thinks he's a millionaire broker, they put an injunction on the film, and its up to Olsen & Johnson to prove their case in court to save the film. Probably this film was on the same page w/ the WC Fields film, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break with the plot of the comedian(s) trying to film the movie. Olsen & Johnson are up to their same antics again, but after the opening scene of the Universal lot running for cover, the film can't maintain the pace of that scene or what made Hellzapoppin a laugh riot. The musical numbers are nice, but there just seems to be so many in the film, that this is a jukebox film more than a comedy. Still the film has many funny moments and is a sure treat. Rating, 7.