International Hellzapoppin' (1941) on region free Blu-ray from Anolis (Germany)! (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

For those unfamiliar with the 1941 film Hellzapoppin' starring Olsen and Johnson, it's never received an official video release on any format within the United States due to ongoing legal issues. It seems that the UK had a DVD at some point, but that's it. Much to my surprise, during one of my wanderings on Diabolik DVD, I noticed a listing for a German "mediabook" that was out of stock. After a little snooping, it turns out it just came out in January of this year from Anolis, followed by a plain case edition in March. I decided to take a chance with ordering that edition from JPC.de (only about $24 USD shipped).

Guess what? It's officially licensed from Universal and it's also region free. You'll have to get over the artwork and menus being in German, of course.

Seems like a high quality effort with the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, AVC encoding (31 mbps), with DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono English and German tracks. There seems to be minimal digital cleanup, so there's a fair share of dirt and scratches, but the photographic quality is generally excellent. The original English mono track is also surprisingly robust, one of the best mono tracks I've heard from the time. There's even a few extras - a commentary track (in German), a short video essay piece (in English), alternate German title sequences, and a new trailer.

 

[[email protected]]

Wow! Thanks for the heads up, I have the DVD, hopefully the other Universal Olsen and Johson films someday get released.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I've seen this on YouTube. When I first joined HTF in 2009, many complained about Universal and their management of their film library. Along with Warner, Universal has really led the way towards making their library available in the years since. If this is really officially licensed in Germany, it means that someone took the time to figure out that it was clear to license there. They deserve some credit.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Sold! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[[email protected]]

Mine is on the way!

 

[Joel Arndt]

Patrick, thanks for the heads up. Got my order completed in time as the site stated they only had one more in stock.

 

[DigniT@DigniT!]

Contains the single greatest representation of SWING DANCE ever put on film…

 

[johnmcmasters]

Ordered! I don't believe I've ever seen this film, and it always sounded like a hoot!

 

[moviepas]

For those unfamiliar with the 1941 film Hellzapoppin' starring Olsen and Johnson, it's never received an official video release on any format within the United States due to ongoing legal issues. It seems that the UK had a DVD at some point, but that's it. Much to my surprise, during one of my wanderings on Diabolik DVD, I noticed a listing for a German "mediabook" that was out of stock. After a little snooping, it turns out it just came out in January of this year from Anolis, followed by a plain case edition in March. I decided to take a chance with ordering that edition from JPC.de (only about $24 USD shipped).

Guess what? It's officially licensed from Universal and it's also region free. You'll have to get over the artwork and menus being in German, of course.

Seems like a high quality effort with the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, AVC encoding (31 mbps), with DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono English and German tracks. There seems to be minimal digital cleanup, so there's a fair share of dirt and scratches, but the photographic quality is generally excellent. The original English mono track is also surprisingly robust, one of the best mono tracks I've heard from the time. There's even a few extras - a commentary track (in German), a short video essay piece (in English), alternate German title sequences, and a new trailer.

 

[moviepas]

In the diaper days of DVD there was an Australian DVD which was good quality. They claimed rights ownership, of course. They may have done a VHS too. The business is long gone like so many other players from the time around the world.

 

[MacVoutie]

I think there is a limit of one mediabook per order, not that there is just one left.

Comments from Blu-ray forum:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=369809

 

[johnmcmasters]

I watched my copy last night. What a verifiable hoot -- heck maybe 3 or 4 hoots. I'll watch it again over the weekend. I thought the quality was quite good. It was interesting to see so many John Fulton effects packed into the story, and so many effects normally seen only in cartoons -- like the film getting stuck in the projector and characters speaking to one another from one stuck frame above to themselves below. Great great stuff. Like a Tex Avery cartoon come to life.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Order with confidence from JPC. I ordered this on July 3rd and received it in the US from Germany on July 13th. It was packaged very well, also. Looking forward to watching it this evening.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Mine just got here too! Thanks again Patrick, this has been on my radar for years, will be a pleasure to see it for the first time in high quality.

 

[timk1041]

Just wondering if this might possibly be a title Kino has as part of the new deal they have coming with Universal.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think the issue with regards to a domestic release is that a lot of the musical content is under separate copyright from the show it’s based on and the cost to clear home video rights would be astronomical. But in the European Union, copyright laws are different and that same material in the EU is no longer eligible for copyright protection so the German label was able to release it without any extra clearance hassles or expenses.

 

[Henry Gondorff]

Olsen and Johnson were a big deal in those days. It was a big, zany musical revue on Broadway before they brought it to the screen.

 

[timk1041]

I think the issue with regards to a domestic release is that a lot of the musical content is under separate copyright from the show it’s based on and the cost to clear home video rights would be astronomical. But in the European Union, copyright laws are different and that same material in the EU is no longer eligible for copyright protection so the German label was able to release it without any extra clearance hassles or expenses.

I figured that is the case.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I think the issue with regards to a domestic release is that a lot of the musical content is under separate copyright from the show it’s based on and the cost to clear home video rights would be astronomical. But in the European Union, copyright laws are different and that same material in the EU is no longer eligible for copyright protection so the German label was able to release it without any extra clearance hassles or expenses.

Not just for US home video. I tried to book a 35mm print of it for a show a dozen years ago and the guy at Universal said "It won't ever happen due to underlying rights issues."

 

[MartinP.]

^^^
Some years ago the once titled Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Ave. in Los Angeles had a surreptitious word-of-mouth showing one Sunday afternoon of this film! I was there to see a film and this was mentioned by the management. I don't know any other details.