Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the finest, June 13, 2007
I watch this film, and I can see where Ernie Kovacs came from. I also note that a lot of the gags and set up in the film spilled over into the Warner Brother's cartoons of the era, and much later, with references to the way the film is being used. Not the camera, the film itself (to be understood if you see the DVD).
This was based on a Broadway play, it was a shapeless play, was different every night and before it became a movie had the distinction of running longer than any other broadway play.
Describing it only tends to spoil the viewing you will have later. I knew about the movie as a rumor and as a "you have got to see this film!!" kind of introduction. Some of the best dancing you will ever see on film.
Many laughs, much fun. Martha Raye is pretty good, though the "weirdness" of being a man chaser seems a little dated, and I met a few like that and didn't react the way it's placed in the film...(oh, never mind).
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, June 2, 2009
I have heard that this is the funniest, craziest comedy ever. It does have its funny moments, and clever twists, and it must have been quite original at the time, but it is still essentially a 1941 comedy, slightly dated. Entertaining, nonetheless.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
It's like live-action Looney Tunes!, March 30, 2009
Hellzapoppin' (H. C. Potter, 1941)
There was a time, believe it or not, when Hollywood was actually open to the idea of... skewering Hollywood. (Not only that, but nominating a film skewering Hollywood for an Oscar, even if it was only for Best Original Song.) One of Hollywood's great parodists was Nat Perrin, better remembered these days for being the producer of TV's megahit The Addams Family. Perrin, however, poked more fun at his Hollywood contemporaries than one can shake a sizable stick at during his writing days. And when it came to turning the sacred cows into shish kebabs, Perrin never did it better than in his stage-play-turned-Hollywood-blockbuster Hellzapoppin'. Despite being well-received in its day, the movie has faded well into obscurity over the past half-century; it seems the only American DVD release of the film is long out of print. This despite it being on Jonathan Rosenbaum's list of the thousand best movies ever made, a list I'm starting to think of as the canonical one. He's usually on the money; I've seen a lot of fantastic films I'd never have seen had I not come across that list, and this is the latest of the bunch.
The film stars Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, a vaudeville comedy team who never quite made it in pictures, but were still popular long after vaudeville was. Here, Ole and Chic are contracted to make a movie. The director, however, isn't happy with what he's got, so he brings in a new writer. And what a story this guy dreams up. There's a love triangle, a Russian count (or so he claims) pursuing Johnson's sister, a big wedding that hinges on the success of a new Broadway play, and... well, I've just scraped the tip of the iceberg here. A full plot summary of this would be as long as the movie itself, there's so much going on here. All of it, of course, as a framework for the silliest gags imaginable.
But that's what makes Hellzapoppin' work so well--the stupid thing is out-and-out hysterical for much of its length. Imagine Renoir's The Rules of the Game as written by Howie Mandel viewed after the ingestion of copious hallucinogenic substances, and you've got the merest beginnings of the idea. Now, that said, the comedy isn't the only thing it's got going for it; despite the many threads running through here, the plot holds together pretty well, and there are some laudable performances to be had here, especially Mischa Auer as the crazy Count. Potter (Mister Blandings Builds His Dream House) wasn't exactly a slouch in the director's chair, either, which always helps.
A long-neglected American classic that needs to be brought back. You can check it out through Amazon's Video on Demand service, and given the cost of a seven-day rental, what have you really got to lose? Absolutely worth every penny, and a whole lot more. Can't recommend this one highly enough. Fabulous. **** ½
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