Pandemônio

I grew up on this movie, I have the movie completely memorized and I still laugh at the jokes. Granted I must say that its not for everyone, people who like a more sophisticated kind of humor may not like this movie. But if you want good old fashioned slap stick, one-liner, running gag, and completely random kind of comedies this is for you. I must say that the jokes do go by pretty fast and you could miss a good one liner really easily if you don't give the movie your full attention. Also, a good copy of the film may be a little difficult to come by, but its worth watching. If anyone in the movie business is reading this that has the power to do so, please get this out on DVD!

This movie pops up regularly on TV or at revue cinemas and I'm always surprised at how many youngsters are familiar with it.

Olsen and Johnson never had the following of Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello but they were capable vaudeville comics who made a few movies, Hellzapoppin and Crazy House are the best remembered. Hellzapoppin is the a much sanitized film version of Nat Perrin's famous stage revue.

The jokes come fast and furious, some of them are very dated now and some were never very funny to begin with, but you don't have time to analyze, you're into the next before you know it. There are some familiar faces Misha Auer, who had a long career playing the same character (a Russian aristocrat with dubious credentials), the loud and brassy Martha Raye and the very funny Hugh Herbert with his "yoo-hoo's" and mumbled asides the audience. The special effects were innovative for their time.

As brief respites from the madness there are a number of variety acts, synchronized swimming, crazy diving, a few pleasant songs with the corny lyrics typical of the period and the fantastic dancing of the Harlem Congeroo Dancers which even today is greeted by gasps of amazement and applause.

Well you can't say the maker's of this movie weren't trying to entertain.

For those who feel the Marxes were the last word in over the top hollywood product, I heartily recommend this adaptation of the Broadway show that made Ole and Johnson such a huge sensation, albiet briefly. This one has non-stop gags (not all of which work), and is unlike anything I have ever seen the studio system produce. H.C. Potter is credited with the direction, but its hard to imagine him doing more than assembling the cast each morning and saying "Okay folks - go nuts!"

A habitue of the 60s might describe this as a Crosby and Hope road picture on acid, but that's missing the point. Audiences embraced this thing in part because it represented an exhausting escape from what was becoming a pretty stressful world.

See it whenever you can!

This movie was one of my childhood favorites. I had not seen this movie during the last 20 years. I attempted to contact the production studio and even the motion picture academy. The academy infomed me that there was a long-standing legal dispute about the writing credits. Because of the legal dispute the film has not been shown in the US (TV & Video) for over 20 years.

Good news, I was able to purchase a VHS tape from a video distributor in Ireland. The tape was in PAL format and not viewable in VCRs made in the US. I had the tape transferred to US format. Now I can enjoy this wonderful movie anytime I want.

A really crazy, fun ride through a Broadway show, there are moving sets, one liners and all around comic mayhem. The irrepressible Martha Raye is all over this film, being a bit obnoxious, overbearing and, eventually, kind of humiliated. But she is just one person in a seemingly endless array of actors who walk in and out of scenes. I loved the film'special effects, they were actually fairly impressive for a film from the early 1940's. There is lots of music, lots of dancing, slapstick, drama and..well, you get the idea. The film whizzes along quickly, and its this pace that makes it never boring. As a matter of fact, blink your eyes and you'll miss something. Enjoy this, it really was a lot of fun.