Hellzapoppin

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 chaotic, self-reflexive romp about the translation of a stage play into a film production and finally into a film screening is packed with fun: Olson and Johnson crack one-liners, Martha Raye belts out some terrific songs, and Mischa Auer offers his most elegant clowning. The dance sequence, by the incredible Harlem Congeroo dancers, is unbeatable: energetic, explosive, and exhausting. The routine romance between Robert Paige (as a would be writer/director) and Jane Frazee (a wealthy amateur actor) provides some welcome quiet in the midst of the almost ceaseless camera tricks and sight gags.

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.

It seems a lot of reviewers have branded this movie as "dated but good"...when in fact it's incredibly ahead of its time.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the surrealists cried tears of jealousy when it premiered; the neverending, irreverent gags and complete disregard for time and space leaves avant-garde films like Un Chien Andalou in the dust.

The humour of Hellzapoppin' is not dumb or childish but incredibly smart.

A beautiful, fun, hilarious movie and arguably a proto-postmodern classic

that deserves a reevaluation and wider circulation.

Okay, first let's dispatch this old nag - HELLZAPOPPIN' is NOT the stage play transferred to film. The 1938 show was a revue. A series of sketches, blackouts and musical numbers. Richard Lane, as the director, was right - "This is Hollywood, we change everything!" And, in my humble opinion, I think they did a darn fine job. The "love story" was merely a vehicle for a couple of very nice songs (the entire score is first-rate) and a goofy performance by the long-forgotten Lewis Howard. Jane Frazee and Robert Paige were both top drawer light players at Universal with excellent singing voices. So believe me, in making the necessary "changes", Universal gave it their best shot. As for the fun stuff, it's simply non-stop, from Shemp Howard and Jody Gilbert in the projection booth, to former Stooge Fred Sanborn playing tic-tac-toe on a horse's backside, to the singing and dancing devils (with chicks on a spit!) to Mischa Auer doing his very best "schnorrer" routine, to the other-worldly Hugh Herbert ("hello ma, I'll be home for dinner - have meat!"), to the myriad gags that break the fourth wall, to the eye-popping and breathless turn by Martha Raye, to the greatest Lindy Hop number committed to film, and on and on. If you roll your eyeballs at corny gags, this picture ain't for you! But if you revel at the shear audacity of pulling off such corn with absolutely no shame whatsoever, then you want to experience HELLZAPOPPIN'. If at all possible, see it with an audience. No comedy can be fully appreciated by solo viewing. But as laughter is infectious, the kinetic energy generated by this picture really cries out for a communal experience. One aspect of this picture is seldom mentioned and that is the musical direction. Universal was really tops in the early 40's of putting pop sounds in their B musicals. Well, this is definitely an 'A' picture, and Charlie Previn's orchestra is in fine form, especially in the "Congaroo" number. By the way - it has long been my contention that HELLZAPOPPIN' was not, at least completely, directed by the credited H. C. Potter. The style of the film is unlike anything else Potter did and is completely akin to the work of Eddie Cline, who was Universal's ace comedy director at the time and who directed the next three Olsen & Johnson features. Just a theory of mine and one for which I have absolutely no documentation or other type of support. HELLZAPOPPIN' has been buried in the US since 1966 when the rights reverted to the Nederlander Organization. But fortunately a UK DVD from Universal's 35mmm fine grain has been released and is a superb video version of the film. It is also shown occasionally on TV in Canada. Now - will someone PLEASE stop that woman from yelling "Oscar"!!