Crazy House

This is the third Olsen & Johnson vehicle I have watched; in a way, it is a direct follow-up to their most notable outing i.e. HELLZAPOPPIN' (1941) since the latter is mentioned a number of times throughout. Like that film, this one has only a wisp of plot: turned down by Universal after their zany antics in the earlier title, the duo here try to finance their own movie – helped by producer wannabe Patric Knowles and Percy (Pa Kettle) Kilbride as a man suffering from delusions of being a millionaire! The rest is taken up by typically surreal gags (funny while they are on but not exactly memorable, except for the opening which sees the entire studio personnel bolting at the comics' arrival at the studio gates…including Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in character as Holmes and Watson, then appearing in a series of films for Universal!) and numerous specialty – and boring – musical numbers (the most irritating of which being that of Cass Daley who not only shouts her lyrics but even plays dual roles!). In pure Hollywood terms, Knowles discovers – and falls for – a female singing 'sensation'; also, when the film is finally completed and the backers see no remuneration coming their way, they decide to sabotage the premiere…only that, when most of the reels go 'missing', Olsen & Johnson have the brilliant idea of enacting the situations live (since most of it is revue-style material anyway)! For the record, director Cline was a comedy expert and, while producer Erle C. Kenton directing films in this genre himself, is perhaps best-known for his horror output at Universal itself and other studios.

I recently saw this film with Quentin Tarantino's introduction to this film on video tape from Trio. Quentin goes on about how Mel Brooks lifted a good chunk of the premise of this movie for Silent Movie. While the basic idea is the same, down on their luck film makers try to sign big stars for their up coming film, the results are decidedly different. Brooks played it pretty much as a straight film, while Olsen and Johnson used it as an excuse to do silly things with famous people. I prefer the pure insanity of Olsen and Johnson's take.

This is one of the best films that Olsen and Johnson ever made, even if it has one really big problem (which I'll get to in a minute). This is pure Olsen and Johnson insanity. Its a film where anything can happen, usually the silliest of all possible options. Its wild and wacky with Olsen and Johnson acting as steam rollers over Hollywood and the studio system. When the comedy is happening its a rapid fire collection of jokes and gags that never seem to stop.

Or rather stop a bit too often. The one really big problem I was talking about is that the comedy and the madness stops every couple of minutes for a musical interlude. These interludes pretty much stop the movie dead since any of the momentum thats been built up comes crashing to a halt. Most of the numbers are played straight so its a radical shift in tone that really annoyed the heck out of me. (Actually the numbers aren't bad they just belong in a different film) I know that the numbers are the result of this being one of those "studio" films where everyone in the studio appears partly as part of the story, but also as an advertisement for themselves and what ever movie they are currently promoting. (Hollywood turned these out every now and again often to mixed results)

Music aside I really like this movie. If you want to see Olsen and Johnson in great form this is a good choice to make.

When the news spreads around Universal Studios that Olsen and Johnson are back, panic breaks out and everybody runs away as fast as they can - because they can still remember the making of "Hellzapoppin'" (and who of us doesn't remember "Hellzapoppin'"? If there was such a thing as an award for 'the looniest picture', it would CERTAINLY go to this one!)... So, when they're thrown right over the studio walls out on the street, Ole and Chic just try to look for an 'angel' to finance the movie they're planning to make, and a director and cast of course! And as the title clearly suggests to us, "Crazy House" will be very little less loony than "Hellzapoppin'"...

Only this time, there's more emphasis put on the many music numbers, some of which are really wonderful (especially the exotic 'Tropicana') - and besides the musical entertainment and the - as always - hilarious humor of the crazy duo, we can spot a lot of Universal regulars in cameo appearances, from Franklin Pangborn (distressed-looking as ever) to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson!

Of course, the movie's filled to the brim with surprises and jokes - nothing highbrow or ambitious, just REAL good, plain entertainment to make us laugh and forget all our problems for just a while... And that wasn't only VITAL back in 1943 during the War, but it's still a GREAT thing today - and always will be!

1943's "Crazy House" may not strike many as Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson's best film, but it's one of the highlights of their Universal resurgence in the 1940s, a gaggle of guest stars in a wacky satire of Tinseltown that would be repeated by Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" in 1976, and "The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood" in 1980. The picture opens with Olsen and Johnson making their triumphant return through the studio gates, or rather flying over it since studio chief N. G. Wagstaff (Thomas Gomez) made it clear that they stay locked out; they proclaim themselves 'Universal's most sensational comedy team,' and are immediately welcomed as Abbott and Costello! This is by far the most engaging part, familiar faces scrambling to escape the shadow of Olsen and Johnson, from Andy Devine and Leo Carrillo preferring the company of a skunk, to Nigel Bruce's Doctor Watson making the announcement to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, who is already aware of their presence: "I am Sherlock Holmes, I know everything!" (the duo were currently shooting "The Spider Woman"). Nothing else comes close to this self spoofing, and six contract players include this title on their resumes without actually appearing on screen: Lon Chaney, Evelyn Ankers, Louise Allbritton, Turhan Bey, Grace McDonald, and Gale Sondergaard. Chaney would join Andy Devine and Leo Carrillo for the next Olsen and Johnson caper, "Ghost Catchers," but not their screen finale, 1945's "See My Lawyer." Today's viewers might understandably find it difficult to tell the team apart, Ole Olsen the short one with high pitched giggle, his more straight laced partner a smidgen taller.

When I was only six, my mother and father sent my older brother to

take me to watch the Olson and Johnson routine at a New York

City nightclub called THE CARNIVAL. I had been aware of the

antics of the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and

Costello, but now I could see first hand the live slapstick of

involved comedy.

The film "Crazy House" is a perfect example of keeping the wild art

of updated slapstick alive on film. It is an update of the pie

throwing of early silents and the progression from Charlie Chaplin

to Charlie Chase. This film even has small roles for all the lesser

known comics of that era. Their roles in this movie are much the

same as the bit inserts into "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".

For those a little bit younger than myself, this film would be called

the progenitor of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In", a TV series that ran

from 1968-1973.

All I can say is, "If you want to see the visualization of one liners as

presented in the 1940's try and get to see this film". In the short

while, watch "Laugh In" reruns and prep yourself for a look back

into comedy history.