'Haunted Spooks' is among Lloyd's best

Haunted Spooks (1920)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Ernest Morrison, Blue Washington, Marie Benson, and Wallace Howe
Directors: Alf Goulding and Hal Roach
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

After she inherits the entirety of her uncle's estate Mildred Hillary (Davis), is swiftly married to a young man with nothing to lose (Lloyd), because the will states she must live in the main house with her husband for a year or everything goes to her other uncle (Howe). Meanwhile, said other uncle comes up with a scheme to scare the newlyweds off the property by making them think the house is haunted.

I sat down to watch "Haunted Spooks" with some trepidation--given its age and its title, I feared I may be in for a movie that hadn't aged well. Turns out, my fears were unfounded. While the film does feature "superstitious negroes", they are no more or less rediculous than the white characters who run around the old house while panicking after being confronted by the fake ghosts. Further, the black butler (played by Blue Washington) gets to redeem himself by throwing the greedy hoaxers by throwing them out of the house as the movie is coming to an end (come on, that's not a spoiler... does anyone watching this film a century later really think there was ever any chance the bad guys would be successful?) while our skeptic hero, Harold Lloyd, has one last moment of panic when it appears the house really might be haunted after all.

As for the rest of the movie, everything flows smoothly, and while the team here comes dangerously close to making the same mistakes that sank "Captain Kidd's Kids" (1919). Like "Captain Kidd's Kids", this film takes a long time getting to the spooks we're promised in the title and on the poster; the film is more than half over before Harold and his new bride arrive at the supposedly haunted house. However, unlike "Captain Kidd's Kids", the long journey to the pay-off is one that we share with likable and rediculous characters, so it's a fun ride all the way. (In the other film, there was little to nothing to like about the lead characters.)

The ending to this film is also one of the most satisfying of any of the ones to a Harold Lloyd film I've seen so far. Often, even when it's a generally happy ending for most of the characters in the film, they've involved Harold running for the hills to escape disaster, or him going off to wallow in self-pitiying misery. Here, we get a happy ending all around (except for those dastardly relatives who were trying to steal Mildred's inheritence), and the writers even get in one final joke that I found to be among the funniest in the whole picture.

There's an excellent version of "Haunted Spooks" that can be watched on YouTube. There are a few missing frames here and there, but the image is constently clear and the music isn't half-bad. I've embedded it below, so you can take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy yourself right now! (I should note that fans of romances and Scooby-Doo cartoons will probably like this alot: The first half of the film is a highly amusing send-up of common gothic romance tropes while the second half could well be a Scooby-Doo plotline.)

'Maids in Hollywood' is a fun Todd/Kelly vehicle

Maid in Hollywood (1934)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Eddie Foy Jr., Alphonse Martell, Billy Gilbert, and Constance Bergen
Director: Guy Meins
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

After failing to make it as actress, Thelma (Todd) is on the verge of leaving Hollywood forever when her friend Patsy (Kelly) manages to manipulate circumstances so her friend has one more screen-test... and one final shot at stardom.

I have observed several times that Thelma Todd managed to somehow project poise and grace even when in the most ridiculous and embarrassing circumstances. That is not the case in "Maid in Hollywood." Here, she looks every bit as frazzled as someone whose dream is dying, and becomes every bit as disheveled as you would assume someone would become in the situations she ends up in during the picture. And that is a nice change, because it adds a slightly different flavor to Todd's character in this film.

What's also nice is that one can feel a warmth in the friendship between Todd's and Kelly's characters that's missing in some of their films. Their friendship seems deep enough that it's believable that Kelly goes to the lengths she does to help Todd be successful in achieving her dream. I wonder if that might not be a sign that perhaps this script was originally written for Todd and her previous co-star in this series, ZaSu Pitts? The relationship between those two characters never had the nasty edge that sometimes creeps into the Todd/Kelly pictures, so that could explain the different tone here. (And this is despite Kelly being as loud and brash and as stupidly aggressive as she is in many of these pictures; in other films, this is one of the reasons I felt it hard to believe Todd and Kelly's characters were friends, but here, it works.)

Overall, the script for "Maid in Hollywood" is among the better ones in the Todd headlined comedies, in that it presents a full story with a beginning, middle, end, and even a denouement. This is particularly noteworthy to me, because it feels like a sequel to "One Track Minds" (1933) where Todd's character was traveling to Hollywood with hopes of becoming a movie star, and "One Track Minds" had one of the worst scripts in the series.

The film is made even better by the fact that it sports a talented cast that elevate the good material they are working with excellent performances. The reason I didn't give it a Nine of Ten rating is because much of the physical comedy that Patsy Kelly engages in feels a bit rough and under-rehearsed--it's clunky and repetitive, especially her repeated run-ins with the sound equipment on the film set.

"Maid in Hollywood" is an excellent little comedy, and it is one of several that make the three-disc collection of all of the films Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together worth your while.

'Treasure Blues' is lacking

Treasure Blues (1935)
Starring: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, and Arthur Housman
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Patsy (Kelly) inherits a diving suit and a map, so she takes Thelma (Todd) and a drunken sea captain-turned-plumber (Housman) onto the high seas to retrieve a sunken treasure.

"Treasure Blues" is one of weaker Thelma Todd/Patsy Kelly comedies. It's unfocused, not very funny, and, to make matters worse, it extends its good parts to the point where they become bad. This film is so weak that I thought "that's stupid" at some parts that had the live actors behave like they were in a cartoon universe--and I usually LOVE that sort of absurdist humor.

Unfortunately, as cartoonish action is employed in this film, it merely ruins what was up to that point a cute and fairly effective way to make it look like the characters were on the ocean floor--and this was after director James Parrott showed us, yet again, that he'd never seen a gag he couldn't drag out to the point where it went from amusing to lame.

The Four rating I'm giving this film may be a little on the generous side, but the cast members all perform admirably, especially given what they're working with. Todd is amusing, Kelly is charming (which is a rarity, since her onscreen persona in most of these pictures is like nails being dragged across a chalkboard), and Housman is amusing as his usual charicature of a drunk. It's a shame their efforts are taking place within such a poorly made film.

"Treasure Blues" is included with all of the films Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together in a single three-DVD collection.

'The Misses Stooge' has a few mild laughs

The Misses Stooge (1935)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Herman Bing, Rafael Storm, and Esther Howard
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Patsy and Thelma (Kelly and Todd) are hired by a magician (Bing), with Patsy being his on-stage assistant and Thelma being his plant in the audience, for a private performance at a high society party

It's commonly stated that the Thelma Todd-starring series of comedies was one of producer's Hal Roach's attempts to recreate the commercial success of the Laurel & Hardy films with a female comedy team. Todd fronted the longest-running of these efforts, and out of the 19 I've watched of them so far, this is first one where I clearly saw the spectre that the ladies and their box office receipts were being measured against; there are several lines spoken by Thelma Todd in this film that sounded exactly like ones that would have been uttered by Oliver Hardy, and Patsy Kelly's distressed fidgeting in a couple of scenes put me in mind of Stan Laurel. Some of the close-ups of Todd making an exasperated face while looking into the camera in some of the other Todd/Kelly pairings have previously reminded me of the reaction close-up shots of Hardy to Laurel's antics in their films, but nothing has felt as Laurel & Hardy-esque as this "The Misses Stooge".

But speaking of close-ups of Todd making exasperated faces, those are, sadly, where she is at her funniest in this picture. I think this may be the first film where I've felt like she was "phoning it in". While there's a set-up that plays to her strengths in portraying elegant women with a sophisticated air or snobbish attitude about them, little ultimately comes of it. She really has very little to do in this film, and, although this has been the case in other pieces, it's always seemed like she was trying to make the most of that very little, that does not seem to be the case here. Except for some reaction shots; those are comedy gold.

While Todd doesn't have much to do in this film, that is not the case with Patsy Kelly. Kelly not only gets to do some funny gags, she also gets to be the more competent of the duo, for the first time in any of the films I've seen in this series. Although she is clearly doing a Stan Laurel impersonation to Todd's Oliver Hardy, her character is clearly a skilled vaudevillian who is trying to support her friend Thelma who has good looks and a high opinion of herself that is not backed up by skill or talent. It's a nice switch from several previous films where it seems like it's Todd carrying her dimwitted friend. Kelly is actually so good in this film that I ended up awarding the film Five Stars as opposed to the Four Stars I almost gave it... because, in the final analysis, "The Misses Stooge" is just not a very good film.

The problem is one that is common to this series: The script isn't very good. While there are strong ideas here, the execution is haphazard and unfocused, and the jokes just aren't all that funny. The cast, aside from Thelma Todd, all try their mightiest to make the best of the weak material, but they can't overcome the unfulfilled potential (a high society setting where no pretentiousness is brought low), inconsistent tone (the magic show moves randomly from actual magic to standard illusions), and that, once again, we've got a story that doesn't get resolved so much as it just ends (admittedly with a very literal bang, but it's still an unsatisfactory one).

Aside from Kelly's strong performance, "The Misses Stooge" is at its best during a sequence when Thelma Todd is floating away like a balloon after the magician loses control of a magic trick, with Patsy chasing after her; and during an ongoing gag about the guest of honor at the party (played by Rafael Storm) being so horny for Thelma, and so stupid that he threatens to ruin the magic show. This "best" is enough to keep you entertained as you watch the film unfold, but only just.

"The Misses Stooge" is included with all of the films Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together in a single three-DVD collection.

'Sealskins' is greater than its parts

Sealskins (1932)
Starring: Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, Bert Sprotte, Charlie Hall, Frank Austin, and Billy Gilbert
Directors: Morey Lightfoot and Gil Pratt
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

The Royal Seal of Siberia has been stolen, and a secretary with dreams of being a newspaper reporter (Todd) thinks she has a lead on where the thieves are hiding it. With her reluctant friend (Pitts) in tow, she sets out to crack the case and get the scoop. Unfortunately, the trail leads them to a creepy boarding house full of even creepier characters...

"Sealskins" is a comedy of errors, a spoof of the 'old dark house genre' and a spoof of the 'newspaper reporter detective' B-movie genre, all wrapped into a single package. Individually, the jokes and bits in the film aren't all that great--some are outright duds--but the way they are blended together add up to a very cute and highly amusing film.

What makes this work, first and foremost, is the sense of warmth and friendship between the two main characters; it's fully believable that ZaSu Pitts' character would let herself be dragged along on what is at best a fool's errand and at worst truly dangerous, because of this sense of camaraderie between them. If this same story had been done with Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly (who would replace Pitts as co-star in this series when Pitts' contract expired and producer Roach didn't want to meet her demand for more pay in order to re-up), it would have been an absolute disaster.

Another element that puts this film among the better Thelma Todd-starring shorts is the script. Unlike so many of these films, it's a complete story, with a begging, a middle, and an end. Also, it stays focused on Thelma and ZaSu, instead of letting them get crowded out of their own story by the wide array of interesting characters and subplots crammed in. (And there are plenty of interesting characters in this one--from the seal-nappes, to Thelma's rival at the newspaper, to any one of the residents of the spooky boarding house--that could easily been given more schtick to do.)

The only incidental character I wish had been given a little more screen-time is a circus sideshow Voodoo Doctor whom our heroines encounter while running around the house and inexplicably frightened by. I would have loved to see him out of costume and be somehow involved with the film's resolution to show that he was just a guy in a costume before. (But that could be my 21st century mindset shining through.)

"Sealskins" is one of 17 films that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts starred in together, and they can all be had on in a single two-disc DVD collection. The print from which it was taken is a bit more worn than most (or maybe not as much effort was put into restoring it?), but the imperfections are no so bad so as to make the action hard to follow. I have three more films left to watch before I've seen every one in the set, but I already feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth out the collection.



Trivia: Toward the end of film, the newspaper editor calls Thelma Todd's character "Toddy". This was Todd's real-life nickname.

'The Bargain of the Century' is a high point for the Todd & Pitts Team

The Bargain of the Century (1933)
Starring: Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, James Burtis, and Billy Gilbert
Director: Charley Chase
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

After causing a traffic cop (Burtis) to be fired, Thelma and ZaSu (Todd and Pitts) take him in as a roommate while they try to find him a new job.

"The Bargain of the Century" was one of the last films that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together. It is also the only installment in the Thelma Todd-headlined comedy series that was directed by the great Charley Chase. This is shame, because every moment of this film shows the influence of the master comedic craftsman that Chase was.

While the film has a relatively  thin plot, every element of it is motivated and ties in with every other element, each set-up pays off with a gag--including individual gags which sometimes are there to set up ones that are coming up later, and each cast member gets their turn on center stage while not crowding out any other performers. As in other films she made with Chase, Todd gives a great performance; he really had an ability to bring out the very best in her. In fact, everyone appearing in this film gives excellent performances.

The only serious complaint I can mount about "The Bargain of the Century" is that I wanted more of what's here. I think this film could easily have been a full-length feature, just based on the hints we get regarding the talents and interests of unfortunate police officer Buttersworth (James Burtis) when he decides to install home security systems in the apartment he shares with Thelma and ZaSu; his efforts to launch a career as an inventor or engineer in the wake of losing his police job could have easily been enough to extend this out to a full-length movie. Also, the reversal of sex roles on display is also could have led to expanded comedic bits, as we see in the scene where Thelma gets angry because Buttersworth doesn't have dinner ready when she comes home after a long day at work. The fact that I was left wanting more in the wake of the very satisfying ending to this picture is a testament to the artistry and skill that went into producing this film.

"The Bargain of the Century" is one of 17 films that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts starred in together, and they can all be had on in a single two-disc DVD collection. Not every one of these is a winner, but there are some real gems among that that make the set well worth the purchase price if you like classic short comedies.

Get ready with 'Captain Kidd's Kids'...

Today seems like the perfect day to review a silent pirate movie, and to embed it in the post so you can watch it right here. Why is that, do you ask? Well,. because it's Talk Like a Pirate Day tomorrow!

 (Oh wait... maybe there's a slight flaw in this plan. Oh well... it's too late now!)


Captain Kidd's Kids (1919)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Harry Pollard, Bebe Daniels, and Helen Gilmore
Director: Hal Roach
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

After falling overboard from a cruise ship, an obnoxious young man (Lloyd) discovers his fiancee (Daniels) and her shrewish mother (Gilmore) are operating a pirate ship crewed entirely by sexy women.

"Captain Kidd's Kids" is a short film that takes too long to get to the pirates promised in the title. It spends half of its running time hammering home how unlikable and dumb Harold Lloyd's character with a series of gags where he's abusive to his servants and other hired help. What's perhaps worse is that the gags are only mildly funny and every one of them outstays its welcome because the routines are too long.

Things get a better once we get to the ship full of sexy pirates, but even here the gags are weak. While none drag on the way the ones in the first half of the film did, they are mostly so predictable that they must have be old back in 1919. There is a very funny and surprising bit involving dinner time on the ship, it's satisfying to see Lloyd's servant throw in with the pirates and pay is boss back for all the abuse early in the film, and Lloyd's ukulele strumming inspiring an impromptu pirate chick dance party inspires a chuckle, but otherwise this is a rather disappointing affair... especially since the idea of Lloyd's dorky trickster character going up against a ship of sexy lady pirates is a concept that held so much promise.

"Captain Kidd's Kids" isn't a terrible move... it's just disappointing, because it falls short of what it could be. But why don't you watch it for yourself and tell me if you agree or disagree with my take on it? It's embedded for your convenience below.

'Maids ala Mode' is fun but flawed

Maids a la Mode (1933)
Starring: Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, Billy Gilbert, Leo White, Cissy Fitzgerald, and Billy Engle
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

After a particularly grueling day at work, Thelma (Todd) and ZaSu (Pitts), respectively a runway model and seamstress for a high-end fashion designer (Gilbert), "borrow" two dresses to attend a party hosted by an acquaintance (White). Unfortunately for them, their boss was also invited...

"Maids ala Mode" is another entry in the Thelma Todd/ZaSu Pitts series of short comedies that's a mixed bag, quality-wise.

On the plus side, it's got some really charming and funny performances from the two leads, as well as supporting cast members Billy Gilbert (as the girls' excitable German boss) and Leo White (as a flamboyant artist and high-socity gadfly for whom Thelma had once modeled). Gilbert and White also get some of the funniest lines, although they're enhanced because they're bouncing off Thelma Todd acting as the closest thing this short has to a straight-man. Certain viewers will also appreciate that the bits with the scantily clad women are all frontloaded in the film, during the fashion show that opens the film, including the nearly obligatory scene of Thelma Todd in her underwear. Finally, and this is a big plus, our heroines aren't crowded out of their own story as has happened in other films in the series.

On the downside, despite some really clever lines delivered during some really charming performances, the film is dragged down by the fact that almost every bit of physical comedy is either not very funny, or is dragged out to the point where the bit becomes tedious. This trend of not-knowing-when-to-quit, or not being willing to edit a bit into a more amusing length and shape, has been a flaw I've found with several of the short films Todd headlined either with ZaSu Pitts or Patsy Kelly. I really think this was an attempt to cover for a lack of effort when it came to creating the stories for these films--a belief that I think is underscored by the fact that this is another film that doesn't so much end as just stop. On the other hand, the resolution-free ending does come shortly after one of the film's funnier moments generated by a slight twist on the standard rule of three comedic structure... but an actual ending would have been nice.

Ultimately, "Maids a la Mode" is a flawed but entertaining little movie. The good outweighs the bad, and, while it's not one of the best of the 17 films Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together, it's far from the worst.

2019

'Three Chumps Ahead' is lots of fun

Three Chumps Ahead (1934)
Starring: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, Eddie Phillips, Benny Baker, and Frank Moran
Director: Gus Mein
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Thelma (Todd) is being pursued by a man (Phillips) she believes to be rich, but her roommate Patsy (Kelly) thinks he may be too good to be true. Although Thelma's suitor tries to pawn Patsy off on his brother (Baker), it merely gives Patty a chance to confirm her suspicions... at which point Patsy goes from trying to break up the happy couple to taking advantage the man's deception while exposing him.

"Three Chumps Ahead" is one of the best short comedies starring Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly. It's a tightly scripted where every character is deftly and firmly established through both their actions and dialogue, every joke and gag grows organically from the story, and there isn't a wasted moment or shaky performance to be found. This is a film where each cast member gets to play to their strengths as performers, and where they have good material to work with. Even better, the film has an ending I didn't see coming until its set-up was unfolding (and which I won't comment on, because I'll ruin one of the best parts of the film).

Unlike many of the Thelma Todd-starring shorts (where she first co-starred with ZaSu Pitts and then later Kelly), its female main characters remain the focus of the story and the action. Todd and Kelly even have roughly the same amount of screen-time and importance to the story, with Kelly edging out Todd slightly, because her character is more aggressive and contributes more to moving the story forward. Even better, each actress has material to work with that suits their styles, with Kelly being brash without being so obnoxious or dull-witted that she becomes annoying; Todd getting to be elegant even while doing a prat-fall and flouncing around in response to Kelly's antics.

The only complaints I have with the film boil down to quibbles really, and they did next to nothing to impact the entertainment value of the film.

First, as much as I appreciate the speed with which this film moves, it might move a little too fast at one point: Although it turns out that Patsy had good cause to be suspicious of Thelma's boyfriend, it would have been nice if there had been a little clear evidence that she could have seized on before meeting his brother and, literally, beating the truth out of him. As things stand, Patsy comes across just a little too petty when she appears to be trying to sabotage Thelma's date out of jealousy, or possibly resentment over being treated like a servant. That said, Thelma wouldn't have been treating like a servant if she hadn't been disruptive, so there's a bit of a feedback loop going on.

Second, there's a cramped, impoverished feeling that permeates this film that I haven't noticed in previous installments in this series. The apartment and restaurant sets feel so claustrophobic that the end result reminded me of some of the lower-budget Poverty Row films I've watched over the years. I know part of this is by design--Todd and Kelly's characters are presented as working class, and Todd's beau can't afford to take her anywhere but a hole-in-the-wall establishment--but I wonder if this was also a reflection of budget concerns. I have read that these films were not earning the level of money that producer Hal Roach was hoping for, so maybe the team making them was receiving less money to work with as well? I'll have to see what develops as I keep watching. (I will be reviewing one Thelma Todd vehicle every week through the end of 2019, including several more of the ones she made with Patsy Kelly.)

Finally, Thelma Todd keeps her clothes on. While I never mind seeing an attractive woman in very little, it's usually twice as fun when it's Todd who's stripping down, because of the way she usually manages to still retain an air of elegance and dignity. Plus, some of her funniest bits have been performed in a slip or dressing gown. (I can't be too unhappy that Todd remains fully clothed, as there really isn't an excuse for it anywhere in the story, and this film is so strong because it's driven by the story rather than being a cobbled-together series of gags as some of them are. Of course, Them could also be remaining fully clothed, because by the time this film was released in 1934, the Hays Production Code was in full effect, and filmmakers had to be more careful with the raciness.)

"Three Chumps Ahead" is one of the short films included in Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly three-disc DVD collection. It's also one of the films that will make you feel the set is worth your time and money.

'Asleep in the Feet' is the Todd/Pitts Team at its Best

Asleep in the Feet (1933)
Starring: ZaSu Pitts, Thelma Todd, Anita Garvin, Eddie Dunn, Billy Gilbert, and Nelson McDowell
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Thelma and ZaSu (Todd and Pitts) moonlight as taxi dancers to raise money for a neighbor's back rent.

"Asleep in the Feet" ranks among the films that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together. It's a tightly plotted, smoothly directed film where the humor grows organically out of the story and its characters, and each joke and gag is carefully set up and each and every set-up has a satisfying payoff. The supporting actors are also perfectly cast, with Eddie Dunn as an obnoxious sailor and Nelson McDowell as a moral crusader being particularly good in their parts.

More recently, I've been watching the films that paired Todd with Patsy Kelly, and I reminded of the on-screen chemistry that Todd and Pitts shared. It's something that is lacking between Todd and Kelly, and it's led me to wonder why their characters are even friends. That is never something that one wonders about with the Todd and Pitts characters; they seem like they are good, kindhearted people, and utterly loyal to each other. There's a warmth and affection here that's mostly lacking in the ones that team Todd with Kelly. From what I've seen of those so far, I also find it hard to believe that those characters would take on extra work to prevent a neighbor from being evicted, where it seems completely in keeping with the main characters in the Todd/Pitts films. The laugh and the hug the characters share at the end of the film is also one of the most heartwarming moments I think I've ever seen in a Hal Roach-produced comedy.

Another interesting aspect of this film is the window it gives us into the past. We get to see what life was like for independent, working-class, single women during the Depression Era, and it's interesting how much things have (and haven't) changed since then.

"Asleep in the Feet" is included on a two-disc set that contains all of the short films that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together

'Babes in the Goods' doesn't quite deliver

Babes in the Goods (1934)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Arthur Housman, and Jack Barty
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A pair of sales clerks (Todd and Kelly) are pressed into service by their boss (Barty) to demonstrate home appliances in the department store's display window and ordered to keep doing it until all spectators are gone. Unfortunately for them, they gain the adoring attention of a drunk (Housman) who refuses to leave...

"Babes in the Goods" is another somewhat disappointing entry in the Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly series of short-form comedies. It has a nice idea at its core--shop-workers getting locked in a window display that's set up like rooms in a house--but what it does with that idea just isn't very funny. Todd and Kelly are as good as they've ever been--with Kelly being better, because she is a little more restrained here than she has been in previous films--but they can only do so much with the material they were given to work with. It's really a shame, because they're actually the main focus of the picture, unlike in some of these shorts where there's so much going on that Todd and Kelly (or Pitts, in those where she was the co-star) are crowded out of their own story.

The film is at its funniest when Arthur Housman is doing his drunk routine, especially when reacting to poor Thelma and Patsy in the window (with the bit where he sees Thelma undress in silhouette and then interact with a mannequin being the peak).

"Babes in the Goods" is one of the short films included in the Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly DVD collection.  

'The Soilers' is almost buried by weak slapstick

The Soilers (1932)
Starring: ZaSu Pitts, Thelma Todd, James C. Morton, and Bud Jamison
Director: George Marshall
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

ZaSu and Thelma (Pitts and Todd) try to sell magazine subscriptions to the staff at City Hall and are mistaken for assassins by a judge who's been life has been threatened (Morton).

"The Soilers" is one of the weaker entries in the comedies teaming ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd. There's no much story to get in the way of the physical comedy bits, but at least there's more than in the similarly flawed "One Track Mind" (1933) and here enough thought was put into the script to bring the film to a satisfying conclusion. Still, compared to earlier Pitts/Todd teamings, this is disappointing.

I think the biggest flaw here is that the series started emphasizing slapstick and other physical comedy over the situational comedy that had dominated early entries in the series. In "Let's Do Things" (1932), for example, the physical comedy--Thelma Todd being tossed around like a rag doll, ZaSu Pitts being stupid drunk--accentuates the comedic situations the characters are in rather than being present for its own sake.

To make matters worse, the routines that "The Soilers" is packed with just isn't all that good, and several of them outstay their welcome. In the first ten minutes of the film there are four different physical comedy bits that are allowed to drag on to the point of being tedious, although the last of them is punctuated with an extremely impressive prat-fall by James Morton. (Two of the routines are just lame, and grow tedious because they are carried on for too long; but there's some business with characters stuck in a revolving door that ZaSu is too dim to figure out how to use, and a bit with a maintainence man and a ladder that culminates in James C. Morton doing an impressive head-over-heels prat-fall. (I am not joking; this was such an impressive little stunt that I literally exclaimed "Wow!" when it happend.)

The middle section of the film is the strongest. Here, we see Thelma trying to sell magazine subscriptions by being seductive to a court clerk, followed by ZaSu trying to prove that she can also be sexy... and failing. Some of the strongest physical comedy takes place here, as the girls reduce a judges' chambers to shambles and cover both him and themsleves in ink, glue, court documents, and bits of office equipment. It's all very goofy and even a little funny. Bud Jamison also gets to portray what may be the most inept plain-clothes policeman to ever grace the screen during this section, and it's also quite funny. Eventually, the film returns to the uninspired material that opened the film, but thankfully we only get a small dose of it, and the film does close on a high note--a literal bang--and a cute moment between our heroines and the judge whose day they've been ruining.

Although definately one of the weaker entries in the series of Todd/Pitts comedies, it's still ends up being a lot of fun to watch. In fact, I think if a little more effort had been put into crafting a story instead of padding the running time with lame slap-stick material, it could have ended up as one of the better entiries. The cast was excellent, and when they had good material to work with, they were excellent.


"The Soilers" is contained on a two-disc set that contains all of the short films that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together

The most complete version of 'Pinched'

As regular readers of Shades of Gray (all seven of you) have probably noticed, I've been trawling YouTube for things to review much more than I used to. This is because the place is a treasure trove of films I otherwise would never even have realized existed... and even if I had known, I wouldn't have seen them, because I am too cheap to buy DVD collections of silent films and cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s.

Every so often, I also come across someone who is using the YouTube platform to give a gift to all us film-lovers out here, at great effort. Most recently, I came across Dave Glass's restored version of "Pinched" (1917). He assembled it from three different sources, did some digital clean-up on some sections, and uploaded what, for now at least, is the closest we'll get to seeing what movie-goers saw when they settled into their seats 100 years ago.

Getting easy access to an effort like this is what makes the web so great... and it's makes it even greater because of the ease I can share it with all of you, right here, at the bottom of this post.


Pinched (1917)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, Harry Pollard, and Bud Jamison
Directors: Harold Lloyd and Gilbert Pratt
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

After being framed as his own mugger (Lloyd), a young man's attempts to avoid arrest lands in him jail for ANOTHER crime he didn't commit.

Like many slapstick comedies, "Pinched" is a loosely connected series of vinettes that each revolve around one or two set-piece gags. They are tied together in this one primarily by a checkered cap that blows off Harold's head while he is out driving with his girlfriend. It's a fun idea that makes the events of film seem a little more reasonable than they might otherwise have if the main character had just wandered from situation to situation and gotten into trouble completely randomly.

Check it out; it might be the most fun you'll have today!

'Backs to Nature' is mildly amusing

Backs to Nature (1933)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, and Don Barclay
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Patsy (Kelly) convinces her friend Thelma (Todd) that a camping trip is the best, most relaxing way for them to spend their vacation. This turns out to not be the case.

"Backs to Nature" was the second teaming of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly as Hal Roach's "female version of Laurel & Hardy." This outing feels like a step down from their debut, either because of a lazy script, or because of the passage of time. With one exception, all the jokes and routines are what you'd expect to find in a comedy about camping--difficulties setting up the tent, mishaps while chopping firewood, disasters around the camp fire, and prowling bears. Even worse, all of these standard jokes are in their most basic forms with no twists or elaborations. (Patsy cuts down a tree, it falls on the tent with Thelma in it. Moving onto the next gag.) I don't know whether it's that the writers were being lazy or that the 85 years that's passed since this film was released, but things are just a little too straight-forward here. I suspect it's the former, since the film just sort of ends without closing any story arcs, without even really ending. I had the same issue with the final film Todd made while teamed with ZaSu Pitts, so I'm thinking the blame here is lazy writing.

Despite the weak material the actors are working with, "Backs to Nature" is amusing to watch, due to the antics of Patsy Kelly and the reactions of Thelma Todd. As the film unfolds, you will find yourself rooting for Patsy to get something right, because she is trying so hard to give her friend the relaxing camping trip she promised, even if you know she's never going to succeed. Todd's character is the one around which the film revolves, but it's Kelly's boundless enthusiasm that makes it worth watching. (Although Todd once again manages to always look glamorous, even while being chased up a tree by a bear.)

That said, despite the appealing nature of Patsy Kelly's character, the way Todd's character interacts with her ends up being one of the elements that undermines the quality of this film, and, once again, makes me blame lazy writers rather than the passage of time for its failings. There is literally only one moment of warmth and camaraderie between the two, with almost every other interaction being one where Todd is irritated or angry, and Kelly is making excuses or apologizing. Despite both actresses being appealing and playing sympathetic characters, I couldn't buy that these characters would barely tolerate each other at work, let alone be friendly enough to go on vacation together.

It the final analysis, "Backs to Nature" is at the low end of average; it's not terrible but there are better films to spend your time on. It is one of 21 short films included in the three DVD set, The Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly Comedy Collection, (only 18 of which actually feature Todd as well as Kelly), and it's neither an argument for or against getting the collection. It's harmless filler, at best.

'Alum and Eve' brings chaos to the hospital

Alum and Eve (1932)
Starring: ZaSu Pitts, Thelma Todd, and James Morton
Director: George Marshall
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Thelma (Todd) tries to lie her way out of a speeding ticket by telling the highway patrol officer (Morton) that she was rushing her sick friend (Pitts) to see a doctor. When the officer kindly offers to help by giving a police escort, a of events are set into motion that throws an entire hospital into chaos.

"Alum and Eve" has a set-up that we've seen in other Pitts/Todd/Kelly comedies--the ladies are out driving and trouble ensues (like in "The Old Bull" and "Beauty and the Bus")--but this one takes a crazier and darker turn than an in any of the shorts in this series I've seen so far. This is one of those films where I can't go into to many details without ruining the viewing experience, but I think that if Hal Roach had hired H.P. Lovecraft to write a comedy starring Pitts & Todd, it would have turned out something like what we have here: What starts as a simple lie swiftly descends into a hilarious chaotic madness and doom!

Although I count this one among the best Pitts/Todd teamings I've watched so far (which is about half of the ones they made together), its flaws are pretty big. Primarily, there are a couple slapstick scenes go on for too long. First, there's a bit  where the ZaSu Pitts character is being manhandled by James Morton's highway patrol officer in an effort to get her into the hospital, but Pitts is replaced by a poorly concealed body-double which all but ruins the scene. This is followed almost immediately with a sequence involving the three stars, two orderlies, and a nurse, all tangled up in a gurney; it starts out mildly amusing, but becomes boring and dumb as it drags on. Both of these are within the first five minutes of this 18-minute film... which left with with low expectations for what was to follow.

"Alum and Eve" gets much, much better, however. Once the characters are either causing mayhem in the hospital examining rooms, or our two heroines are trying to escape before ZaSu is either subjected to some unpleasant and unnecessary medical procedures or Thelma is hauled off to jail for lying to a police officer, this is one funny movie. While I was particularly appreciated the insane, dark humor at play here, I am also very fond of a gag where Thelma Todd scampering around in her slip (since she, once again, manages to lose her clothes) brings about a medical miracle.

As for the the performances by the various actors in the film--everyone is great in their parts. This is another one where Todd and Pitts get to play to their strengths as performers, and every member of their supporting cast is perfect in their roles. The chemistry between Pitts and Todd on-screen also makes it perfectly believable that not only would ZaSu continue to play along with Todd's increasingly outlandish stories as to why she needs to have medical treatment, but that Todd will also make every effort to extract her friend from the situation she's gotten her into.

This is one of 17 short films that ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd made together, and they've all been collected into a single DVD set. It's one of the reasons you should pick it up, especially if you've enjoyed more famous Hal Roach productions, such as the short films starring Laurel & Hardy or Harold Lloyd.


Trivia: The Alum of the title (and a major part of the action during the final third of the film), is a compound that was used to cauterize cuts, because it causes skin to tighten. (I looked it up, so I thought I'd share this tidbit.) I've no idea if it still used medically today, but it apparently is still used in home-made preserves and pickling.

'Ring Up the Curtain' has Harold Lloyd bringing down the house

Ring Up the Curtain (1919)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, Harry Pollard, Bud Jamison, and William Blaisedell
Director: Alf Goulding
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

An incompetent stage hand (Lloyd) gets the hots for a flirtatious leading lady (Daniels) and ruins a performance as a result.

"Ring Up the Curtain" is a fun little tale that demonstrates the importance of having a good backstage crew supporting the performers on stage... because all the complications in this picture arise from the bad choices made by a theatre owner (William Blaisdell) in hiring a bunch of drunks. He compounds his error by firing them all, except for one, as a troupe of vaudevillians are about to put on a performance. His catastrophic mistakes are to our benefit, however, as the chaos Harold the Useless Stagehand is hilarious to watch.

The film isn't perfect, though. After a strong start, featuring the sacking of the drunken stagehands, about a minute is wasted on the theatre owner abusing Harold and some shtick with a bowler hat that drags on for too long. Once Bebe Daniels and the rest of the acting troupe shows up, the film gets back on target.

The good outweighs the bad here, though. The scene were Harold out-and-out sexually harasses Bebe Daniels in the middle of the performance and ends up on stage fighting with her husband (played by Harry Pollard) is already comedy gold, but it's made even funnier by the way Harold forces an actor practicing his lines to hold the rigging ropes in the wing.

But don't just take my word for how fun this little movie is; I've made it easy for you to check it out by embedding it below, via YouTube.

'Show Business' is full of funny business

Show Business (1932)
Starring: ZaSu Pitts, Thelma Todd, Anita Garvin, Monte Collins, and Otto Fries
Director: Jules White
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A pair of vaudevillians and their singing monkey (Pitts and Todd) get a last minute gig as a replacement act in a touring show. Things start to go wrong even before they set foot on stage, as they end up at odds with the show's ego-maniacal star (Garvin).

At the center of "Show Business" is a professional lifestyle that was coming to an end by the 1930s--that of a member of a traveling variety show that criss-crossed the nation on any number of theatrical circuits. Muscians, chorus girls, actors, and comedians... all would travel together from engagement to engagement, essentially spending their lives on the road (or, more specifically, on the train tracks). Headliners would often be fixed, but smaller acts would drop in and drop out, which is where our heroines enter the picture

After a weak beginning that should have just been used to set up the monkey and the excuse for later showing viewers Thelma Todd walking around in a hat and her underwear, but which is crippled by Pitts doing some unfunny prop comedy involving a telephone and a half-eaten apple, followed by a just-as-unfunny bit involving a dresser drawer, the film really takes off. From the moment the action changes to the train station, and we're introduced to the film's antagonists, Anita Garvin and her manager Monte Collins, through to the final fade-out, we are treated to hilarious chaos and some fine comedic acting.

In "Show Business", Thelma Todd gets to show off what made her such a fantastic screen actress (and I'm taking about the skimpy outfit she's almost not wearing in the pseudo-catfight at the train station). There are multiple in this picture where her face says everything that's going through the character's mind, and just watching Todd's facial expressions change (as she goes from confused to angry, or self-righteously indignant to embarrassed) provide some of the film's funniest moments.

Anita Garvin also shines in this picture, playing a variant of the shrewish wife she'd portray in several Laurel & Hardy pictures, but here the main target of her ire is her manager played by Monte Collins while Todd and Pitts and their mon inadvertently make both their lives very difficult. It's a common in these kinds of shorts to see self-important characters be humiliated by the bumbling clowns with whom the audience's sympathies rests, and Garvin is so good at playing an obnoxious, self-entitled primadonna that her unraveling is extra satisfying. Meanwhile, Collins occupies an interesting place in the configuration of characters, swinging from threat to our heroines to an almost ally, as he tries to get them settled in the train so he can be spared any more abuse from Garvin.

The only disappointing member of the main cast here is ZaSu Pitts, but I don't think it's her fault. For the most part, she was stuck doing unfunny prop comedy, and her fidgety character seemed out of place surrounded by all the loud, overly theatrical types that occupy the rest of the film. That said, she had a couple shining moments in the part of the film at the train station, as she is trying to convince a police officer (Otto Fries) why it's a bad idea for him to make Thelma take off her coat; and later after she and Thelma wake everybody up on a sleeping car while trying to get into their bunk themselves.

Despite its weak opening, and a couple minor hiccups along the way (there is a point where some time must pass between scenes, but there's no indication of it, so the film feels a bit disorganized for few moments) "Show Business" is a fun entry in the Todd/Pitts series of comedies that benefits both for a strong script and the fact that most of its cast is in parts that let them play to their strengths as performers. (Although it's a shame that we never get to hear the monkey sing.

"Show Business" is one of 17 shorts contained in a two DVD set that features all of the films Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together.

A fresh start for the Todd-starring comedies

Beauty and the Bus (1933)
Starring: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, Don Barclay, and Eddie Baker
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

The car that Thelma (Todd) wins in a drawing proves to be bad luck for any driver who shares the road with her on the way home.

After ZaSu Pitts' contract with the Hal Roach Studio expired, and she moved onto other things, Patty Kelly became Thelma Todd's teammate in Roach's attempt at creating the female equavilent of Laurel & Hardy's box office success. "Beauty and the Bus" was the first of nearly 20 shorts for the new pair, and it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Story-wise, this film is a fast-paced series of interconnected and ever-escalating gags that take the main characters from situations that are bad, to worse, to disastrous. On that front, this is a promising start for what I hope will make the second half of the Year of the Hot Toddy a lot of fun. (In case you just arrived in these parts, I set myself the goal of watching a film featuring Thelma Todd every week of 2019, because I noticed my "To Be Watched" stack had somehow come to contain an abundance of them.)

One of the strengths of this film is that, although the strong and plentiful supporting cast gets to be just as funny as Kelly and Todd (with Eddie Baker as a traffic cop being foremost among them), the main characters remain at the center of the action instead of being crowded out of the story as happened in some of the films with Pitts and Todd. On the other hand, though, as much fun as her energetic performance was to watch, I found Patsy Kelly's character supremely annoying: She's aggressively stupid to the point where you can't help but wonder why anyone--let alone Todd's character who comes across as slightly aloof--would want to be anywhere near her. Kelly is literally the catalyst for everything that goes wrong for Todd in this picture, including taking her into a ticket and escalating a minor fender-bender into a multi-car accident and full-fledged traffic jam.

Ultimately, though, this film is a lot of fun. The dynamic between Todd's character and Kelly's character is very different than that between Todd and Pitts--it seems to me there was almost always a touch of the genteel in them that is completely absent here. Of course, when you have a stereotypical, short-tempered Fighting Irish(wo)man rampaging through the film, there isn't any room to be ladylike. I look forward to seeing how this team develops. (Although I will probably watch a few of the 10 or so Todd/Pitts shorts I've yet to see before I get back to this line-up.)

 "Beauty and the Bus" is one of 21 short films included in the Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly DVD collection.

'Two-Gun Gussie' is fun, but not remarkable

Two-Gun Gussie (1918)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, William Blaisdell, Charles Stevenson, Harry Pollard, and Bebe Daniels
Director: Al Goulding
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A brutish trouble-maker (Blaisedell) swaps his photo in a police alert for that of a mild-mannered piano-player at the local saloon (Lloyd). When everyone starts treating the piano-man like a desperado, he becomes so convinced of his toughness that he eventually goes toe-to-toe with the man whose reputation was pinned on him.

"Two-Gun Gussie" is a fast-paced spoof of westerns that has very little plot to get in the way of the jokes... and what there is of a plot doesn't make a whole lot sense and feels forced. Since this film is only 10 minutes long that hardly matters though. This is one where you should just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The film is at its best during the kinda-sorta shoot-out between Harold and bartender 'Snub' Pollard, although Harold trying to intimidate the tough guy like he does the townspeople will also inspire a chuckle or two. The most disappointing aspect of the film is that Bebe Daniels is almost totally wasted in the role of a Salvation Army fund-raiser, with very little to do but be the object of a ridiculous insta-romance between herself and the main character. (One thing though--if there was ever any question that it's her playing Dorothy in the "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1910) , this film should put that to rest; the panicked genstures she makes here are exactly like those she made as a young child actress.)

I've made it easy for you to enjoy this fun little film; it's embedded in its entirety below, via YouTube. I hope you enjoy it!

'One Track Minds' is off the tracks

One Track Minds (1933)
Starring: ZaSu Pitts, Thelma Todd, Lucien Prival, George McFarland, Billy Gilbert, and Jack Rube
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Four of Ten Stars


While traveling by train to California for a screen test, Thelma (Todd) finds herself in the same train car as the pompous film director (Prival) who will decide her future movie career.

"One Track Minds" was the last film that Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts made together, and I wish I could say their team-up ended on a high note. It did not. Pitts' contract with the Hal Roach Studio was up, and she was ready to move onto other things... and I think that maybe this film was a casualty of a desire to get one last contribution from the Todd/Pitts team as ZaSu was on her way out the door.

I say this because this is not so much a film as a series of gags thrown together with train travel as a kinda-sorta uniting theme. Not a whole lot of effort appears to have been put into developing any sort of coherent storyline, nor even many of the jokes themselves.

The though-line of the film is mockery of Hollywood's celebrity culture, with ambitions, dream-filled starlets and arrogant, self-absorbed movie directors, but the film meanders through several rail-traveling "slice-of-life" scenes involving Pitt's child or little brother--it's never established what their relationship is--and Pitt and Todd's interaction with various other kooky people in the train. The end result is that this feels more like a collection of vaguely related sketches than a coherent movie, a feeling that's underscored by the fact the film doesn't have an ending; it just ends, with none of its plot threads resolved, or even developed, to any degree whatsoever.

It's a shame the film isn't more coherent and the jokes aren't better developed, because the cast are all doing their absolute best with what they have to work with. The greatest shame, though, might be that because the film is so unfocused, Pitts and Todd are almost crowded out of their own movie. Lucien Prival (as the stuck-on-himself, flamboyant film director), Billy Gilbert (as the conductor who has to deal with the nuts on his train) and Jack Rube (as a deaf beekeeper who is traveling in the passenger car with his bees) all have more interesting parts than the two stars. In fact, Todd has virtually nothing to do in the picture.

While this was the last film Todd and Pitts made together, it won't be the last of their pairings I'll be covering as the Year of the Hot Toddy continues. I jumped to the end of the cycle, because I've been somewhat disappointed in their quality. Thelma Todd made some excellent shorts with Charley Chase, but only one where she was teamed with Pitts was even close to as good. I hoped that by the end whatever wasn't clicking had clicked... but "One Track Minds" has bigger problems than any of the previous Todd/Pitts films (Although I also felt they were crowded out of their own picture in their first official teaming in "Catch-As-Catch-Can", so maybe this was a common thing?