Hellzapoppin' (1941)

Directed by

H. C. Potter

Genre

comedy film, musical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 24m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 111 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Comedians Olsen and Johnson keep interrupting the movie they are in to talk to the audience and the projectionist. They mock a standard romantic story that runs in the background while trick photography and gags pile up.

chaoticsillyfast-pacedwackyself-awareplayfulenergeticcampy

What happens

Hellzapoppin' is a 1941 American musical comedy film, and an adaptation of the stage musical that ran on Broadway from 1938 to 1941. The film was directed by H. C. Potter and distributed by Universal Pictures. Although the entire Broadway cast was initially slated to feature in the film, the only performers from the stage production to appear in the film were lead actors Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, Katherine Johnson (Mrs. Chic Johnson, as the woman perpetually yelling for "Oscar"), and the specialty act Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. Alongside Olsen and Johnson, both of whom produced and starred in the Broadway musical, the cast of Hellzapoppin' includes Martha Raye, Hugh Herbert, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige, Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard, and the musical duo Slim & Slam. The film is deliberately nonsensical, with the comedians stopping the film to address both the movie audience and the projection booth (breaking the fourth wall); trick photography embellishing the visual gags; and the traditional romantic subplot ridiculed as it unfolds. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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