GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

ptb-8 This hilarious and racy staged musical is correctly commented upon here as probably as close to a genuine Ziegfeld Broadway show of the 20s as any of us will ever see. In glorious two strip Technicolor too! A fore runner to GIRL CRAZY, HATS OFF, some ELVIS bumpkin re treads like STAY AWAY JOE or TICKLE ME and WHEN THEY BOYS MEET THE GIRLS (in itself a 60s remake of Girl Crazy)...WHOOPEE is by turns hilarious, gorgeous and utterly fascinating for a study of early talkie musicals. It also shows how Woody Allen mannerisms of the 60s with his nervous romantic stchik is not all new given Cantor's romance-tics here. I can watch the musical numbers over and over and find the STETSON HAT number with its excellent clunky tap dancing sound quite compelling. The SUNRISE FINALE is just jaw dropping with the most astonishing costumes draped over almost nude skinny showgirls. 200 eagles must have died in the feather department to create some of those outfits. Overall, the dance numbers have indicated just how modern this film truly is, not just for its time but even today, it just looks new: clothes, hairstyles and those fresh lovely faces. The haircuts on the boys are very much apparent today. One young cowboy in the early scenes of the STETSON number looks exactly like 80s actor Treat Williams (Noah Beery Jnr?), and the white jeans with the red berry patterns were revived as modern 90s. It is the pinnacle of the state of the art for the time and thoroughly hilarious in its risqué racist free pre code way.

flikflak This film seems ahead of its time in regard to technical advances, such as color and visual effects. The acting is hilarious, though a little slow in a couple of scenes. A great one for late-night relaxing... comedy, music, singing, and choreography that appeal to lovers of early films AND modern progress shown by many film makers of the 1930 era.

painter_dr Despite my fondness for the pre-Hayes Code era of film (when American moviemakers were truly free), I find that this one went too far in its racial slurs. Would I have been offended if I was alive then and watching the film at a theater? Perhaps. If I had the same attitudes I have now, I would have been offended. In this one, Eddie Cantor, a Jewish entertainer, makes horrible, derogatory statements about Jews, Indians and blacks. The rest of the cast follows suit. It may have been more the scriptwriters' fault than Cantor's, but, let's face it, he did not have to agree to be in this weak musical. I saw the movie on TV 10 years ago and never want to see it again. The racism still resonates in my mind. Even Busby Berkeley's choreography can't save it. If you must see it, see it to be reminded of how America used to be and could be again if we allow it.

petelush I just watched Whoopee! on an excellent laserdisc print, and my nostalgia conceit was fed yet again. The world seemed happier and lazier, the chorus girls sweeter and prettier, the tunes bouncier and brighter. Viewers' comments about Eddie Cantor prancing in blackface miss the point: it is not racism that is projected, but a society in which racism is meaningless. My conceit, of course, is absurd; there are no "good old days", and it was no bed of roses to be an average Joe or Jane in 1930 when Whoopee! was made. But movies like these are my escape to Happyland, and while a steady diet of the same would be cloying, a dip into an old musical guarantees me a dreamy uplift.