How Long Is “All Over Town”?

Olsen and Johnson's second starring vehicle for Republic was better than their first (Country Gentlemen), but a Hellzapoppin' it wasn't. Ole and Chic play a couple of itinerant vaudevillians, teamed with Sally the Singing Seal ("the eighth wonder of the world"). Heroine Joan Eldredge (Mary Howard) is about to lose the theater left to her by her father, so O&J offer to stage a gala fund-raising show. Unfortunately, one of the potential backers (Eddie Kane) is murdered -- and for a while, it looks like the killer was Sally the Seal! Our heroes decide to capitalize on this setback by offering to reveal the real killer's identity during a nationwide radio hookup -- but first they need a sponsor, so the boys perform their old vaudeville musical act for "The Mackerel King" (played by perennial Laurel & Hardy stooge Jimmy Finlayson). Kidnapped just before the broadcast, Olsen and Johnson escape in time to finger the murderer, whereupon the culprit leads them on a zany chase throughout the darkened theater. All Over Town never really pulls together, but the irrepressible Olsen and Johnson deliver what may well be their funniest joint screen appearance. Incidentally, nominal leading man Harry Stockwell was the singing voice of the Prince in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--and the father of present-day actor Dean Stockwell.