Movies in the Movies: More More Even More More 'Hellzapoppin''

By some accounts, the motion picture version of "Hellzapoppin'" differed from the splashy Broadway production. The previously mentioned projectionist gags, for example, would not have been relevant in the live version. Furthermore, the film instructs the characters to deliver a long form storyline from a freshly-minted script discussed on camera, replacing the comedy blackouts of the stage.

"Hellzapoppin'" was Universal's 1941 Christmas attraction. Curiously, two months earlier, the studio released another zany farce, "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break," written in part by and starring W.C. Fields. In it, Fields attempts to sell an insane movie script, teeming with outrageous characters and unrelated sequences, to a befuddled producer. As in "Hellzapoppin'," we see the imagined footage materialize.

The two pictures are patchworks, structurally and intentionally amok, and loosely similar. In execution and anarchy, however, W.C.'s vehicle out performs the Olsen and Johnson effort on all comic cylinders. Fieldsapoppin'.

Also, both movies feature character actress Jody Gilbert. She's "Toots" in "Hellzapoppin'," surfacing in the closing moments of this clip:

"Hellzapoppin'" Opening Number and Projection Room Lovebirds via YouTube
Ms. Gilbert has long held a special place in my protoplasm for her appearance as "Sucker's" snarly waitress. She's a fine foil for Fields and their diner scene together has been a welcomed, frequently recurring vision of mine for four decades. Let's order: