Questo film trasuda genialità da ogni fotogramna: la regia in primis, ma anche le performances degli attori, la colonna sonora, la fotografia, il simbolismo. Un film che è stato copiato, citato e da cui tutta la comicità demenziale di Hollywood ha oreso spunto. Non hanno mai provato a farne un vero remake, chiedetevi il perché: semplicemente perché come un "Citizen Kane" o un "Apocalypse now" (cito a caso) è impossibile anche solo sfiorarne l'eccellenza.
"Anything can happen and it probably will", it does. Well paced manic comedy. The songs may not be memorable but the dance numbers are. When the staff break into a musical and dance extravaganza you will agree that 'you can't get servants like you used to'. Ole & Chic supported by Martha Raye and Mischa Auer engage us through a wild antic filled production. Watch for W.C. Field's nemesis from "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break".
... wenn man die Marx Brothers genial findet und diese Mischung aus Vaudeville, Slapstick, Wortwitz und stand up comedy nicht nur als Konsument genießt, sondern auch die Fähigkeit der Darsteller und des ganzen übrigen Teams bewundert, Gags wirklich auf den Sekundenbruchteil genau zu timen.
Dies sind die legitimen Erbschleicher der Marx Brothers - das fand übrigens Groucho auch.
Um keinen falschen Eindruck zu hinterlassen: die Zeit ist über diesem Film hinweggegangen und eine wirkliche Weiterentwicklung habe ich nie gesehen. Wenn so etwas überhaupt möglich war.
Aber auch als historisches Filmdokument ist "Hell's a-poppin" - auf deutsch war das "In der Hölle ist der Teufel los" (haha) nicht zu umgehen. Chaotisch, subversiv, respektlos im Umgang mit dem Publikum, wegweisend um nicht zu sagen: wegwerfend.
Was this film REALLY made 60 years ago? When you look at the black and white production, the cheap sets and props and so on, then yes, you can really believe it. But as you adjust your computer-generated image focus to zoom in on what real film making is (or should I say, was) all about, then you start to understand what whimsicality is all about and find yourself wondering "why can't they make films like this today?" The story is basically a story within a story - how two bumbling heroes try to set out to demolish a theatrical performance as they believe that success will ruin its producer, whereas everyone else understands that success is vital to the producer's future love plans with the heroine of the piece. The situations that inevitably arise are, to an audience from the year 2002, frightfully corny and you're sure you've seen them all before. And indeed you have - in films from the 1960s and 1970s when they were paraded as avant-garde and new! So now you know where all avant-garde, alternative comedy actually came from. And this is what makes this film so interesting. This is the precursor of "Monty Python". This was the precursor of "Not the Nine O'Clock News". You find yourself wondering "how many times did Marty Feldman or Mel Brooks watch this film before starting to produce their own?" But it's not just an interesting historical curio. It's actually quite funny - in fact it's hilarious. And it captures your attention without being violent, or without being vulgar - something no film maker can manage today (unfortunately). And the special effects, stunts, and so on, all done with the camera and the usual split-second timing but with an added sophistication that made a brief appearance at the end of the 30s and went missing again (sadly) once film producers discovered computers. No, this counts as one of the most amazing films that has ever been made - and there has never ever been another like it. Are you a comedy fan? A collector of film curios? Or merely someone interested in seeing a Monty Python film from 60 years ago? Well, buy this one. You won't be disappointed. Not at all