Hips, Hips, Hooray!

Hips, Hips, Hooray! is a 1934 American Pre-Code slapstick comedy film starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Ruth Etting, Thelma Todd, and Dorothy Lee.[3][4] During its initial theatrical run, it was preceded by the two-color Technicolor short Not Tonight, Josephine, directed by Edward F. Cline.[5]

Hips, Hips, Hooray!
Directed byMark Sandrich
Written byBert Kalmar
Edward Kaufman
Harry Ruby
StarringBert Wheeler
Robert Woolsey
Ruth Etting
Thelma Todd
Dorothy Lee
Music byRoy Webb (Uncredited)
CinematographyDavid Abel
Edited byBasil Wrangell
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • February 2, 1934 (1934-02-02) (US)[1]
Running time
68 mins.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$336,000[2]
Box office$625,000[2]

Plot

Todd stars as Amelia Frisby, the owner of a beauty supply business. Andy Williams (Wheeler) and Dr. Bob Dudley (Woolsey) convince her to hire them as salesman to promote her new flavored lipstick, and hilarity ensues. The film features Etting singing "Keep Romance Alive" and Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee singing "Keep On Doin' What You're Doin'" by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.

Cast

Pre-Code era scenes

Hips, Hips, Hooray! showed scantily clad burlesque-style showgirls and female extras as typical of the Hollywood musicals in the Pre-Code era. Doris McMahon portrayed a nearly nude maid who wore only an apron.

Production

"Keep On Doin' What You're Doin'" was originally intended for the Marx Brothers' 1933 film Duck Soup.

A romantic subplot involving Ruth Etting was planned, but removed from the finished film. Despite being third-billed, in the finished film, Etting only has one scene.

Reception

The film made a profit of $8,000.[2]

The New York Times gave Hips, Hips, Hooray! an unenthusiastic review, stating that it featured "three reasonably hilarious gags and perhaps fifty more that depend on whether you are for or against the ex-vaudeville clowns to begin with."[6] Alternately, the Prescott Evening Courier described it as "smartly and enthusiastically insane... surpassing all [Wheeler and Woolsey's] previous efforts."[7] An Australian reviewer for The Age, felt that it "proved a fairly generously-endowed medley of eccentric dancing, buffoonery and burlesque" and that it provoked "much merriment" from its audience.[8]

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References
  1. "Hips, Hips, Hooray!". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  2. Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56
  3. Variety film review; February 27, 1934, page 17.
  4. Harrison's Reports film review; January 27, 1934, page 15.
  5. Advertisement. Florence (Alabama) Times Daily. May 7. 1934. p 4. Web. June 23. 2010
  6. "Wheeler and Woolsey".
  7. Prescott Evening Courier. 2 July 1934. Page 2. Retrieved July 24. 2012
  8. The Melbourne Age. 23 July 1934. Page 13. Retrieved July 24. 2012
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