Hi Diddle Diddle

This period in American movies saw such delights as "Hellzapoppin". Here the actors bring to attention that they are playing in a film. They make faces at the audience, wallpaper comes alive, there is a woman who keeps popping up in scenes where she isn't even acting. The dialog and the plot move lightning fast and there's no time at all to waste in this pleasant and often hilarious comedy. There's a wedding reception before the wedding, fortunes earned and lost in a space of minutes, a married couple disunited throughout. What's not to like? This film has been in public domain and has been copied, often badly and on stock of poor quality, so viewer beware...

HI DIDDLE DIDDLE is one of those pictures that, because it has fallen into public domain, is almost always seen in dreadful dupe prints. Well, don't let that dissuade you from seeing this picture. It is one of the fastest-paced, downright hilarious comedies of the early 40's. The combination of sharp dialogue and impeccable characterizations make this a real winner. Here is Dennis O'Keefe at his farceur best. He's a sailor-on-leave-bridegroom who spends his wedding night doing everything EXCEPT what he's supposed to be doing. Adolph Menjou is his pop, a conniver (not Connover this time!) who pledges to help Dennis' mom-in-law, dizzy Billie Burke, regain her fortune. Menjou is married to Pola Negri, a domineering Wagnerian opera singer. June Havoc is a lady friend of Menjou's and is she hot! They're all a riot. One of my favorite bits is when waiter Joe Devlin, taking Billie's order at a night club, does a double take and walks away. Billie exclaims - "He did a double take - just like in the movies!" Then Billie, Martha Scott (the bride), Walter Kingsford and Barton Hepburn all proceed to practice doing double takes. Devlin gets a gander at this and does - A DOUBLE TAKE! A wonderful musical moment is June Havoc singing alongside herself in a Panaogram Soundie machine. Composer Richard Hageman, who also appears in director Andrew Stone's SENSATIONS OF 1945, does a very wry bit as a brokerage firm president.

If you need a laugh - see HI DIDDLE DIDDLE by any and all means!

This film starts out differently, with an animated sequence before the opening credits. This is the first of several off-beat touches which makes Hi Diddle Diddle an enjoyable film. Pola Negri, former silent star from Valentino's day registers well here as a temperamental opera star. Not only is her voice understandable, but it is downright good here. She is also still quite beautiful in 1943, and it seems a pity that she did not have a bigger career in sound films. The rest of the cast, headed by Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Dennis O'Keefe and Billie Burke are all in top form, and a special mention for a musical sequence featuring June Havoc singing along with herself on a soundie screen. There are some good belly laughs to be had and, all in all, this is a charming piece of forties fluff which will whizz by painlessly enough.

Even though I'm an old movie freak I'd never heard of the movie. I checked Maltin's Classic Movie Guide before catching the flick on the internet. Maltin didn't like it, so I wasn't expecting much. But, boy, was he wrong! It's a delightful chuckle-fest with a load of imagination, double entendre, and ditzy fast-moving plot. Okay, I can understand some folks finding it too silly. Still, for folks willing to move with the ditz it's a genuine novelty. So, can inventive Menjou gyp rascal Hepburn out of big bucks so as to pay back sailor son O'Keefe and new bride Scott before O'Keefe gets shipped out to fight the war. After all, Hepburn gypped Scott's mother Burke so, as the saying goes, what goes around, etc.

The result is a rapid-fire bang-around that couldn't bore a centipede. And catch the animated wallpaper, the playing to the camera, and songstress Haver singing even while she eyeballs her own performance. No realism here. Anyway, it's 1943 and I'll bet all those brave nervous guys in uniform got 70-minutes of sheer escape thanks to the enveloping results. Meanwhile, here's my 2001 salute to the cast,crew, producer and director. All in all, the flick's a low-budget sleeper, while Maltin needs to go stand in a corner.

(In passing- the famous German composer Wagner is somewhat mocked in the film. I expect that was a shot at the Nazis and their favorite composer. After all, it is the height of WWII.)

This film is notable for the presence of Miss Pola Negri, a favorite actress of mine. She was better known for her early German silent films. I think this film is great fun and highly amusing. Good family entertainment