Hellzapoppin' (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Hellzapoppin' is 1941 film by Universal Pictures released in 1941, directed by H.C. Potter. It was based on Hellzapoppin', a musical revue which was a Broadway hit.
In the film, Ole and Chic are working for Miracle Pictures (their slogan "If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!"). A mousy screenwriter (Elisha Cook, Jr.) outlines his script for the screen adaptation of Hellzapoppin', and the rest of the movie depicts Cook's crazy script. The cast includes Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson (playing themselves), Martha Raye, Mischa Auer, Shemp Howard (between stints with the Three Stooges), Hugh Herbert, and The Six Hits. The credits for the movie assert that "any resemblance between Hellzapoppin' and a motion picture are coincidental"—a truth that is perhaps responsible for it being less successful than the stage show which engendered it. The film does have some great visual humor, however, including a number of special effects that couldn't be duplicated on stage.
The dance scenes from the movie are some of the best-known Lindy Hop scenes from the Swing Era, and they have made the film popular among modern Lindy hoppers. One frenetic routine is performed by Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, and another notable dance scene features Martha Raye and Dean Collins.
At the present, Hellzapoppin' (like almost all Olsen and Johnson films) is hard to find on home video. It is available on region 2 DVD (release date 2007).
"Pig Foot Pete", an Academy Award nominee for Best Song in 1942 (it lost to "White Christmas"), was attributed in its nomination to Hellzapoppin', but it never appeared in that film. It actually appeared in the Abbott and Costello movie, Keep 'Em Flying.
