Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Izzy Adkins The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

bkoganbing The charismatic presence of Cab Calloway one of the best entertainers is reason enough to see Hi-De-Ho. The film is chock full of numbers that Calloway sang over the years in the style that made him known as the Hi-De-Ho man. But overall the film is not the best.Hi-De-Ho is an independent production made for the black audiences of the day. I doubt too many white people saw it because it played in black neighborhood movie houses in the north and in the black theaters in the segregated south. Additionally it was done on a minuscule budget and Calloway didn't exactly have a director as talented as Spike Lee. That would come in a couple of generations.Later on Calloway showed his acting chops in such films as The Cincinnati Kid, St.Louis Blues, and The Blues Brothers. Here the plot is threadbare and it involves two rival Harlem club owners who are fighting for Cab's services and two women just fighting over Cab. The last half of the film is strictly a variety with Cab and his orchestra and other black performers.One thing very much makes this film worthwhile is it's one of the few you will find where no one is playing any kind of Stepin' Fetchit type part. For 1947 that's remarkable and I have no doubt that Calloway insisted on it. Fans of the Hi-De-Ho man will love this film.

arfdawg-1 THere are actually 3 different Cab Calloway movies made named Hi De Ho from 1934 to 1947.All black casts.It is surprising that these all black movies, depicting blacks as entertainers and professionals, not gangsters or criminals didn't provide a suitable role model to lift the black culture up.The movie has the slimmest of plots and the exposition just serves as breaks between Cab's musical numbers.Those are the only good part of the film, although it is a curious piece.The Plot.Bandleader Cab Calloway is tiring of his sexy girlfriend Minnie, who in turn is jealous of Cab's manager Nettie. When Nettie gets Cab a job at the Brass Hat Club, Minnie retaliates for his imagined infidelity by setting gangster Boss Mason, owner of a rival club, against him. Will she regret her action before it's too late? (This plot resolves halfway through the film; the rest is a series of 'soundies' featuring the Calloway band's inimitable jive). All-black cast.

rooprect The plot races by in the first 40 minutes, and after that we get a series of musical numbers. That's pretty much the formula for all early musicals with the only variation being whether the musical extravaganza comes before, after or in the middle of the story. In this case it was at the end, and I actually enjoyed that format. It was as if the filmmakers were telling us, "OK now that the silly plot is out of the way, here's what you really came here for."Call me crazy, though... I actually liked the plot! And it ended on a very profound & emotional note, where Cab sings "Minnie's a Hepcat Now" a capella.The second half brings us the musical showcase with the only link to the rest of the film being the appearance of a strange man reading a Variety newspaper. He & his newspaper also appear in almost every other scene without explanation, almost like "find Waldo", lending a surreal comedic flavour to the picture.The only real downside to this movie, the disturbing part which I mentioned in my title, is the way Cab & others repeatedly smack poor Minnie around. Sure, I realize it's just a movie, but since Cab Calloway plays himself, we can't help but wonder if he may have been violent toward his women in real life. I found myself distracted by that thought.Otherwise, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable flick with some great performances. Also, somebody help me out here... even though this was a "race" film, I swear I saw a white man in Cab's trombone section at the end. If so, could this be one of the earliest instances of an integrated band? Or maybe my vision sucks. Keep your eyes peeled and you be the judge.

Terrell-4 Hi De Ho is one more of the quick, cheap movies cranked out by Hollywood featuring black entertainers and designed to fill seats in the movie houses for the segregated black audiences of the south and the unofficially but just as segregated theaters everywhere else. Hi De Ho is exceptional in one regard. It features that great showman and entertainer Cab Calloway in his prime and a year before he decided to disband his orchestra because of changing musical tastes. Calloway had a long career, and had become a star by 1930. He sang, moved (not exactly danced), strutted and jived. White audiences most probably learned what they knew about jump jazz, scat singing and the hep cat beat from Calloway. He was a fine singer, wrote a lot of his own stuff, and led one of the best swing orchestras around. He also seemed to have inexhaustible energy. So fair warning...Calloway's high energy pours out of this movie; watching it can wear you down after a while. The story line is little more than an excuse for Calloway and his orchestra to perform some great, driving, swing numbers. The movie is little more than an hour long and the plot is over in the first half hour. For the last half hour we watch a non-stop performance of some great music and specialty acts. The idea is that Cab is just starting out in the business. He has a jealous girlfriend, Minnie (Jeni Le Gon) and a new, young manager, Etta (Ida James), who is as pretty as his girlfriend. Etta wangles a gig for Cab and his orchestra at a new nightclub, but it's right across the street from one owned by a gangster. Minnie thinks Cab has fallen for Etta, so she convinces the mob boss to eliminate his new competition by shooting Cab. Then Minnie realizes her mistake, tries to save Cab and takes the bullet meant for him. This is the plot, and in 30 minutes it's all squeezed in between eight full musical numbers of him and his orchestra rehearsing or playing at the nightclub. Now we learn that Cab has become a huge success. For the next 30 minutes we're in a plush nightclub where we watch nine terrific numbers, including the rotund Peter Sisters, singers, and the extraordinary The Miller Brothers and Lois, tap dancers. A highlight is Calloway doing St. James Infirmary Blues. Another is a full-throttle, sophisticated arrangement of At Dawn Time. Although his now- dead former girlfriend was named Minnie and was something of a moocher, Calloway never sings his signature, Minnie the Moocher. The closest we get is Minnie Is a Hep Cat Now. The acting, except for Calloway, is dismal. But Cab Calloway and His Orchestra show why they were first-class musicians as well as first-class entertainers. If you've ever heard Cab Calloway sing, you'll hear his voice... "I was walkin' up the street feelin' bad and bold. Deep down in my pockets I didn't have no gold. I looked up to the skies and to my surprise I saw a million dollar bill floatin' before my eyes. Hey now..."