Review of Hellzapoppin'

I understand "Hellzapoppin'" was originally a stage production in New York and you could go see it every night of the week and never see the same show twice. The film version makes fun of the fact that they had to stick to a script but is as surrealistic and anarchic as possible anyway. Many, many hilarious skits are tied together as loosely as possible and people step in and out of movie screens a la "Purple Rose of Cairo" whenever they feel like it. It's loaded with memorable lines too such as one where Olsen walks past a sled with "Rosebud" stenciled on it, glances at it momentarily and comments "I thought they burned that". And remember, this film was made in 1941.

Although this wonderful movie is unavailable on video from the major distributors Moviesunlimited is offering what appears to be a commercial VHS version for sale on their web site; some years ago it was shown on Canadian TV and I made a very high quality recording from my satellite dish at that time. It remains a cherished possession.