Based on Olsen and Johnson's long running Broadway show this film is probably only a shadow of its source, which changed from night to night as material was ad-libbed and current events were made fun of. On stage the show had an anything can happen feel that is nicely mirrored in the opening scenes as Olsen and Johnson throw everything you can think of at the audience in a rapid fire sequence of gags about the making of the Hellzapoppin movie. Not all of them are apparent with many being purely visual and in the background. After about 15 minutes of uncontrolled madness the film settles down as Olsen and Johnson go off to an estate to put on a show. Here the rapid fire nature slows a bit as the film is forced to conform to a "plot", however its still just as funny as characters wander in and out creating an ever changing sense of madness.

I admit thats a poor description of the film, but how to you describe chaos? You can't, you have to experience it, and anyone who loves great movies and great comedy really should see this movie. Its pure mindless fun that will keep you laughing from start to finish. This is the best Olsen and Johnson film that I've seen. While it could be argued that some of the gags in Crazy House are funnier, Hellzapoppin holds all of the insanity, and the occasional musical numbers together better (In Crazy House the madness stops for each song, here the insanity keeps right on going). If you see one Olsen and Johnson film in your life this should be it.

A film to be searched out and watched repeatedly, Hellazapoppin is one of the greatest comedies ever made. (now if someone would be smart enough to put this out on DVD in the US more people could enjoy it)

HELLZAPOPPIN' is one of the weirdest comedies I have ever seen. I really think that your opinion will differ greatly due to age-- and younger audience members will most likely love it while adults will generally think it's all rather childish! The film begins with what looks like a tired old dance number similar to those choreographed by Busby Berkeley. However, quite unexpectedly, the floor drops out and everyone lands in Hell--where the imps are having a great time tormenting the dancers. At this point, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is not your typical comedy! In like fashion, Olsen and Johnson often talk to the audience, make fun of the picture and disrupt some of the musical numbers (which there were still too many of in the film). The film is in for one odd cliché- busting joke after another. Some are quite funny (such as the bit involving the projectionist (Shemp Howard) when the picture is knocked out of alignment) and many fall very flat because the jokes are often very corny. However, like a later film like AIRPLANE!, the jokes come so fast and furious that if one fails, you're sure to be laughing a few moments later. Kids will love the ludicrousness but many sophisticated adults will find the film, overall, a bit of a chore to watch.

While I was not in love with this film, I must admit that it was far more entertaining that most of the Abbott and Costello films (also from Universal) and everything the Ritz Brothers or Wheeler and Woolsey ever did. Low-brow and silly, this film is worth a look--just be aware that it is very, very dumb--even more so than the silliest of the Marx Brothers' films.

By the way, while I mentioned that there were too many musical numbers, one I did like was the jitterbugging skit--it was amazing watching these hipsters in action.

UPDATE: I just saw this film again and loved it. So much so, I changed by score from 8 to 9. A great film to watch a second time.

There is no way that Olsen and Johnson could have done the movie of "Hellzapoppin'" the way it was done on stage. The farcial musical revue was something you had to be there to appreciate with its gags coming in as fast as a pig to his troff. So they do what other studios were already doing with movie versions of Broadway musicals that already had a full fledged plot: they created their own. Here, it is a shell of a plot with the typical poor boy/rich girl romance, just a thread to throw in as many gags as they could amongst some lavish musical numbers. And when those numbers get a bit high brow, you know that someone is going to walk by the singer with an extremely large ladder (and be on the other side of it as well),someone chasing a rubber chicken, and of course, the show's most famous gag, an old man searching for Mrs. Jones with a plant that keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Add in Martha Raye, Hugh Herbert and Mischa Auer to the cast of zanies, and you have an extremely enjoyable romp with Jane Frazee and Robert Paige as the nominal romantic leads. It is ironic that Raye briefly sings "Waitin' For the Robert E. Lee", also sung in that year's "Babes on Broadway" by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland who happened to marry Raye's ex-husband David Rose two months after Raye divorced him. Raye also shines in the production number ""Watch The Birdie". This film is so busy with gags that its probably best to try and find a copy that you can watch over and over, since it really is the "Airplane!" of its time.