Symphonie loufoque

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.

When the news spreads around Universal Studios that Olsen and Johnson are back, panic breaks out and everybody runs away as fast as they can - because they can still remember the making of "Hellzapoppin'" (and who of us doesn't remember "Hellzapoppin'"? If there was such a thing as an award for 'the looniest picture', it would CERTAINLY go to this one!)... So, when they're thrown right over the studio walls out on the street, Ole and Chic just try to look for an 'angel' to finance the movie they're planning to make, and a director and cast of course! And as the title clearly suggests to us, "Crazy House" will be very little less loony than "Hellzapoppin'"...

Only this time, there's more emphasis put on the many music numbers, some of which are really wonderful (especially the exotic 'Tropicana') - and besides the musical entertainment and the - as always - hilarious humor of the crazy duo, we can spot a lot of Universal regulars in cameo appearances, from Franklin Pangborn (distressed-looking as ever) to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson!

Of course, the movie's filled to the brim with surprises and jokes - nothing highbrow or ambitious, just REAL good, plain entertainment to make us laugh and forget all our problems for just a while... And that wasn't only VITAL back in 1943 during the War, but it's still a GREAT thing today - and always will be!

I just saw this film in NYC at the Film Forum, where it was introduced by a nephew of Billy Gilbert, who has a small part in the film.

It was one wild ride.

The audience enjoyed the film thoroughly for what it is, a B movie musical starring Olsen & Johnson that is insane. The comedy duo has to break into Universal in order to make a film there, since no one wants them - in fact, a secretary, on learning who they are, jumps into her desk - we got to see that bit twice because the film broke.

If you want to call the plot a plot, O & J run into difficulties getting financing for their film and, faced with huge debts, decide to auction it to the highest bidder. The film they make is awfully short.

Some of O & J's bits are quite funny and others are of the groan variety. There are many familiar faces in the film - Patric Knowles, Percy Kilbride, Hans Conried, Thomas Gomez, Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard, and some funny cameos by Universal stars in the beginning of the movie when they realize Olsen & Johnson are in the building - Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, Nigel Bruce, Alan Curtis, Leo Carrillo.

Allan Jones sings "The Donkey Serenade," the De Marcos dance, and the end of the film within a film is a huge musical number done by The Glenn Miller Singers, Count Basie's Orchestra, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Leighton Noble's orchestra, and Chandra Kaly's Dancers.

"Crazy House" has a great deal of energy and is a real oddity. It was fun to watch, but I don't think I'd want to watch it again.

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.