Perhaps its hyperbolic delusion, or possibly even sleep deprivation, but when it comes to choosing the funniest film ever made, there seem to be few options better than Hellzapoppin’, which is especially notable considering we tend to view the works of Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges and Ernst Lubitsch as being the reigning champions when it comes to this era of comedy, despite none of them being involved in the production of this film. However, the unnecessary comparison is the death of artistic critique and only does a great disservice to the present discussion. When H.C. Potter (an established and solid director who worked on both stage and screen) set out to adapt the popular musical revue known as Hellzapoppin’, the possibilities were endless, and this is a story that could have gone any number of directions – but what a thrill it is to witness the version he chose, which turned out to be the exact approach needed to bring this bizarre but captivating work to the screen, where it would be recorded for posterity. Working with Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, who were the anchors of the original show and who prove themselves to be comedic masters in their own right, Potter crafts a brilliant and subversive film that pays sufficient tribute to a stage production that constantly left audiences both enthralled and bewildered, and somehow manages to incite the same reaction in the film version, with the viewer being invited to participate in this peculiar voyage into the other side of reality, one where absolutely nothing makes sense, and rational thought is a far-fetched fantasy rather than anything mandatory – and it keeps us entertained in every moment, which is a difficult achievement for any film, but one that Hellzapoppin’ seems to do without any a slight amount of difficulty.

When it comes to bringing a beloved stage show to the screen, there are many challenges that a director faces – most do whatever they can to make it profoundly cinematic without losing the spirit of the show, which can be quite difficult considering how there is such a narrow boundary between something being a worthwhile piece of filmmaking or a cheap attempt at capitalizing on another medium’s radical success. Potter certainly had his work cut out for him when it was decided that Hellzapoppin’ would be brought to the silver screen, despite not being a show that necessarily lent itself to the cinematic form in any logical way. That is the exact reason why this adaptation works, because it abandons all logic from the very first moment, and instead goes in pursuit of some of the most deranged interpretations of this material imaginable, using surreal techniques and bizarre methods to ensure their vision was memorably reflected on screen. We’ve seen so many carefully-structured productions fall into complete disrepair when it comes to bringing them to the screen, so one can only imagine the effort it took to even begin to conceive of a method to bring Hellzapoppin’ to life, especially since this was a show that may have utilized the same gags and jokes, but where every show was somehow different – you never knew what to expect once the curtain rose, and Potter does exceptionally well in maintaining this same sense of surprise. You quite simply cannot predict where Hellzapoppin’ is going, and even repeated viewings reveal jokes that you may not have noticed at first glance. Few comedies feel as rewarding to attentive viewers as this one, which is all part of its unhinged brilliance and ability to evoke a very peculiar atmosphere with seemingly very little need to depend on conventions, proving this to be one of the most brilliantly unorthodox comedies of its era.

The best way to describe Hellzapoppin’ is as controlled chaos – there is not a single moment in this film that feels like it is governed by any known laws of logic or rational thought, and is instead a series of moments that are only loosely connected, and exist solely to showcase the madcap energy that audiences witnessed every night when watching this beautifully anarchic revue that Potter has so meticulously tried to capture on film. There aren’t many films that can be comparable in the sheer number of jokes compacted into a single scene, and if you take any sequence of Hellzapoppin’, you’ll find not only an abundance of wildly funny jokes but a scenario where every attempt at humour lands perfectly, never feeling like it is just using rapid-fire comedy as a way to distract from the fact that there isn’t much of a plot here. It takes a lot of ambition to make a film that entirely lacks a premise, but through using a cavalcade of jokes, it somehow convinces us that there is a plot that runs through the film – and there is not a single moment where this is brought into doubt, since there’s so much going on in every frame, it is impossible to know exactly where to look, or what information needs to be retained for future reference, and which only exist in that specific moment. The reality is, absolutely nothing makes sense here, and the filmmakers are just enjoying taking the opportunity to create something so abstract, it starts to make sense after a while. There’s an elusive quality to Hellzapoppin’ that is difficult to describe, with the general sentiment here being that this is not a film that one is supposed to try and rationalize – we just sit in a state of awe-inspired glee as these deranged but brilliant comedic minds take us on this strange voyage, not anticipating where it will lead, but knowing that wherever it lands will be worth the time and effort that it took to get there, which is one of the many factors that make Hellzapoppin’ such an utter delight.

In a time when we are given far more access to entertainers of the past and have grown to appreciate the work done by many performers who were at their peak nearly a century ago, it seems bewildering that Olsen and Johnson have remained relatively obscure. Outside of Hellzapoppin’, they carry very little cultural cache and are mostly viewed as remnants of the vaudeville era, having struggled to break through and establish themselves as performers of historical importance. This is unfortunate, considering how incredibly talented they were – and much like other comedic pairings and troupes that had radical success on screen in and around the vaudeville era, their comedy depended on a multi-tiered approach to humour. Slapstick, social satire and absurdism were their greatest tools, and this film gives them 80 unrestricted minutes to incite nothing but pure insanity by offering them the chance to run amuck, the producers and director being secure in the knowledge that they’d be getting their money’s worth by the end of it. This is a film that needed actors who possess the ability to both command the screen, but also blend into the background when the chaos around them needs to be the focus – and both Olsen and Johnson were consummate professionals, being able to capture our attention when it was necessary, but also could let those around them have the spotlight, only to return funnier and more compelling than ever before. These are two very funny performances that I can’t imagine anyone else would be able to give, especially considering how their brand of comedy was very much about surreal flights of fancy, which is an acquired taste, especially from an era where humour was supposed to be neat and compact, and where every joke needed to have a consistent structure and striking punchline, which is precisely what is being challenged with this film.

There is a regular critique that has followed film for about as long as it has existed, which is that Hollywood only has a few consistent ideas, and that original thought is rapidly fading when it comes to the stories being told. For every complaint about the lack of originality, there is a film like Hellzapoppin’, which turns the entire concept of bespoke cinema on its head, being a perpetual stream of the most abstract ideas, created long before the rise of postmodernism where such unconventional approaches to storytelling were popular. It may seem hyperbolic, but this is a revolutionary film, a daring and complex series of comedic scenarios interspersed with what appears to be a thrilling melodramatic plot (which eventually becomes the most absurd aspect of the entire film), going in search of many complex ideas, all of which manifest in this unorthodox voyage into the most surreal recesses of the human imagination. There are so many reactions one can have to Hellzapoppin’ – you are almost certainly going to be confused by the head-spinning script, and the mile-a-minute humour is bound to cause quite a stir. Delight is inevitable, as this film is simply too charming to resist, which makes the fact that we will be utterly bewildered by how it approaches many of these ideas so much more compelling. However, one entirely unlikely reaction is boredom – regardless of your perspective, Hellzapoppin’ is an objectively entertaining film, a strange but compelling comedy that sets out to entertain through many different styles of comedy, and even if this brand of surreal humour is not to one’s taste, there is always something to keep us engaged. It’s a challenging, entertaining film with many striking ideas and a lot of heart, which all add up to the delightful irreverence and undeniable poignancy of this terrific satire that relishes in its ability to leave the viewer entirely puzzled and thoroughly entertained.