Bank of America Cinema - Saturday, 8pm
This is what happens when a Broadway
show that was basically vaudeville gets made into a film. Disconnected
and thin on plot, this is nevertheless a cinematic plum. Our hosts for
the evening are Olson and Johnson, a comedy duo made up of two straight
men who can't help but talk to the audience and yell at the projectionist.
There's some funny gags, a song or two from "the Big Mouth," Martha
Raye, and a great Lindy Hop dance scene featuring Frankie Manning, but
the shining moments are when the characters get to play with the fourth
wall. In what can only be the inspiration for MST3K, the opening sequence
takes place on a soundstage where Olson and Johnson argue with a director
and screenwriter about how to turn their show into a movie. They sit
down to watch some footage covering the tacked-on love story, and make
up their own dialog for the on screen action before seamlessly becoming
part of it. Despite failing to capture the mythic energy of the stage
show with which it shares a name, HELLZAPOPPIN' still pleases almost
70 years later. (1941, 84 min, 35mm) JH - Cine-File.info
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