Never saw it because I was told it was unavailable. I called a TV station in the 1980s and requested they show it. They nicely said that Universal wouldn't (or couldn't) release it. The same thing happened in the 1990s. A revival cinema had it booked but posted a warning that they weren't sure they could get it. As it turns out they couldn't! It seems it's available now but I'm wondering if anyone knows why it wasn't.
shareAll I can tell you is that this movie was on TV in New York City in the early 60's. I must have been 5 or 6 when I saw it.
Actually, I had no recollection of the name of the film until seeing it again today. All I remembered of it was that initial scene depicting Hell, which has stuck in my head for the past 50 years. I think that was my very first exposure to a visual image of the depths of the fiery hereafter!
Frankly, I'm tickled pink that, after half a century, I've finally stumbled across this film once again. I hope that revival cinemas can now get their hands on it. Can you imagine seeing that dance scene with the Harlem Congeree Dancers on a big screen!
Are you sure that it is now available? Or maybe what I should ask is: Do you mean that it is now available in North America / DVD Region 1 / the US?
When there are problems with the rights, things aren't always the same everywhere. Although Hellzapoppin' has been available on DVD in the UK for several years, and now looks to be available in a German DVD release as well, I still have not seen any indication that it is available in North America.
I'm not certain, but I think that somewhere along the line I read that Helzapoppin' had "rights issues" with respect to some of the music used in it. (This is why we'll probably never see the original versions of WKRP in Cincinnati in any home video format. At this point, even rerun rights have expired from the original music licenses for that TV show.)
Martha Raye was dressed up like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I'm guessing that might be the problem.
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