matthias s
"Hellzapoppin'" is a riotous, off-the-wall comedy that delivers laughs from start to finish, but it's definitely a bit too chaotic for me. The film is packed with rapid-fire jokes, slapstick, and visual gags that keep you entertained without a dull moment. The movie was way ahead of its time with its innovative fourth wall breaks, and I loved how Olsen and Johnson interacted directly with the audience.
I went into it with low expectations, but I was blown away by the incredible effects and clever comedic timing. However, while the humor is spot-on, the lack of a coherent story makes it hard to follow at times. It could have used a more structured plot to balance the madness. If you love zany, meta-comedy, you'll find plenty to enjoy here, but be prepared for an experience as dizzying as it is hilarious.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
07/28/24
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Kay D
This is so funny I don't know where to begin.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/19/24
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Taylor L
Fun fact: Hellzapoppin' received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song for 'Pig Foot Pete'. The only problem was, that song didn't appear in Hellzapoppin', but an Abbot and Costello film from the same year. The Academy got the studio right, but not the film.
Full of fourth-wall breaks and nonstop comedy, Hellzapoppin' is one of the most distinctive and surreal of Golden Age Hollywood comedies. The plot is thin but it's really just a loose structure for the comedy - often self-aware, featuring classic vaudevillian tropes, a series of musical numbers and stage bits lifted straight from the theatrical original but featuring several surprisingly experimental bits of film editing to give some rationale to the adaptation. The dedication to nonstop absurdism seems completely out of place for a relatively risk-averse Hollywood, a shockingly early progenitor of the Mel Brooks comedic style (particularly the infusion of full, satirical musical bits) and the Leslie Nielsen/ZAZ comedies of the '80s. Even its sensibilities seem surprisingly subversive for the time, featuring not only more active and expressive female characters but a prolonged and tastefully handled jazz dance number performed by Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a predominantly African American group.
Relatively little known today, but still featuring plenty of enjoyment for modern audiences, funny and wholesome without being simplistic. (3.5/5)
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
09/15/22
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Audience Member
great fun with the fourth wall broken beyond repair.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
04/05/22
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lariste l
Full disclosure: for a 1941 "epic musical/comedy" the film is literally overflowing with quality stunt work, dance, visual gags, bits of music and forms of technical film-making (camera tricks, rotoscoping etc) and the characters "break the fourth wall" by referring to the film projectionist. All very "meta" - now for the downside, the awful, wooden and rather sanitized all-American comedy isn't actually too funny, and instead of a farce, the film is frustratingly plotless.
In the same way major studios have, in our modern era, attempted to release an essentially experimental film work as an innovative "new" movie (Natural Born Killers, for instance), this film is indeed a compendium of about 300 bizarre, and purely filmic "tricks and techniques", the characters are basically living cartoons though, and the plot is non-existent. The film appears to be ABOUT a romantic misunderstanding amid a musical being staged somewhere, (arguably a satire of 30s era musicals.) but viewers could be forgiven for thinking the movie is just a display of stuntwork, music and ego without any at all. Jokes range from surprising and quick to very literal and kinda dumb, but lots of. Lots of everything, except story.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
You can see how elements were an early inspiration for Monty Python irreverence but it has aged really badly. Meant to be funny but the humour is very poor, not even a snigger induced all film. I don't get why they made an attractive woman out to be so hideous as one of their jokes. Made no sense. It gets bonus marks for the most impressive dance vignette I've ever seen in a film. The Lindy hop dancing for three minutes is off the charts brilliant and can be found online to save yourself watching what is otherwise a film worth avoiding.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
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