Hellzapoppin'
A rare revival of this insanely self-reflexive film about the making of a film from an original Broadway hit. (As William K. Everson points out, the in-gags get responses from today's film-wise audiences that they didn't get in 1941!) The film opens in Hades, which turns out to be a Hollywood film studio, and from there the devil takes the hindmost and all vaudeville breaks loose. Featuring the comedy team of Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, who starred for three years in the Broadway production, the film abounds in crazy gags too ridiculous to mention, with Hugh Herbert in an array of silly costumes and Martha Raye herself poppin' in and out of the story in hot pursuit of an eccentric count (Mischa Auer). The music is vintage Forties, with an excellent jam session with the Harlem Congaroos.