Powell and Todd also shared the silver screen in the 1927 silent movie "Nevada". Click here to read my review of it, and to even watch the movie.
Showing posts with label Thelma Todd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thelma Todd. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Happy Birthdays!
William Powell and Thelma Todd, two of the favorites here at Shades of Gray, share the birthday of July 29. Powell was born on this day in 1892, and Todd in 1906.
Powell and Todd also shared the silver screen in the 1927 silent movie "Nevada". Click here to read my review of it, and to even watch the movie.
Powell and Todd also shared the silver screen in the 1927 silent movie "Nevada". Click here to read my review of it, and to even watch the movie.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
'An All-American Toothache' is agreeable nonsense
An All American Toothache (1936)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Mickey Daniels, Johnny Arthur, and Duke York
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Thelma (Todd) tricks her co-worker Patsy (Kelly) into having her wisdom tooth pulled by an incompetent dental student (Daniels) who also happens to be the star player of the local college football team--but who will be barred from the big game if he doesn't show himself proficient in his field of study.
"An All-American Toothache" is one of the better films that Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together. It's not the funniest, it's not the sweetest, nor is it the cleverest... but it is perhaps the best-structured and tone-consistent of them all. It delivers a complete story--with a beginning, a middle, and end--and while that story is complete nonsense, it is steeped in the nonsense from beginning to end, embraces the nonsense, and the characters even say "yeah, this makes no sense, but let's go with it!"
The main cast all have their moment in the spotlight, and they all play well with and off each other. Thelma Todd is once again relegated mostly to the role of "straight man" while Patsy Kelly gets to play the fool, but there isn't the sense of underlying contempt from Todd toward Kelly's character that tainted other films. This picture also benefits from the fact that instead of featuring several ill-conceived, badly rehearsed slapstick routines--something that plagued the Todd-headlined films even when she was teamed with ZaSu Pitts in the early stages of the series. Instead, it contains one single all-out brawl between dental students and the football team, with Thelma, Patsy, and a professor caught up in the melee.
"An All-American Toothache" would be the last film Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly would make together. Todd's life was tragically cut short in December of 1935, and it wasn't released until after her demise. It's also the very last film Todd can be considered appearing in. She had a large role in the Laurel & Hardy feature film "The Bohemian Girl", but producer Roach had her scenes cut and reshot because of her death. (If he had been able to foresee the morbid obsession with Todd's mysterious passing that continues to the very day, he might have left the film as it was.)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Mickey Daniels, Johnny Arthur, and Duke York
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Thelma (Todd) tricks her co-worker Patsy (Kelly) into having her wisdom tooth pulled by an incompetent dental student (Daniels) who also happens to be the star player of the local college football team--but who will be barred from the big game if he doesn't show himself proficient in his field of study.
"An All-American Toothache" is one of the better films that Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly made together. It's not the funniest, it's not the sweetest, nor is it the cleverest... but it is perhaps the best-structured and tone-consistent of them all. It delivers a complete story--with a beginning, a middle, and end--and while that story is complete nonsense, it is steeped in the nonsense from beginning to end, embraces the nonsense, and the characters even say "yeah, this makes no sense, but let's go with it!"
The main cast all have their moment in the spotlight, and they all play well with and off each other. Thelma Todd is once again relegated mostly to the role of "straight man" while Patsy Kelly gets to play the fool, but there isn't the sense of underlying contempt from Todd toward Kelly's character that tainted other films. This picture also benefits from the fact that instead of featuring several ill-conceived, badly rehearsed slapstick routines--something that plagued the Todd-headlined films even when she was teamed with ZaSu Pitts in the early stages of the series. Instead, it contains one single all-out brawl between dental students and the football team, with Thelma, Patsy, and a professor caught up in the melee.
"An All-American Toothache" would be the last film Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly would make together. Todd's life was tragically cut short in December of 1935, and it wasn't released until after her demise. It's also the very last film Todd can be considered appearing in. She had a large role in the Laurel & Hardy feature film "The Bohemian Girl", but producer Roach had her scenes cut and reshot because of her death. (If he had been able to foresee the morbid obsession with Todd's mysterious passing that continues to the very day, he might have left the film as it was.)
Sunday, December 22, 2019
'After the Dance' feels incomplete
After the Dance (1935)
Starring: George Murphy, Nancy Carroll, Thelma Todd, and Wyrley Birch
Director: Leo Bulgakov
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
An innocent song-and-dance man (Murphy) is sent to prison for manslaughter after his shady partner (Todd) refuses to clear his name. A series of events prompts his escape from prison, and he finds an opportunity to rebuild his life and show business career with a new partner (Carroll). All is going well until the woman who sent him to prison re-enters his life.
"After the Dance" is a strangely constructed movie that feels like it is missing large chunks. It starts in medias res with our hero already having accidentally killed a man while defending his dance parter. We get no introduction to any of the involved characters, and the way he gets jammed up for the murder comes out of left field and is never explained. It's like five or ten minutes of opening scenes and establishing who the characters are is missing.
Similarly, as the movie is reaching its climax, the hero's past catches up with him, and the evil vixen from the movie's beginning once again ruins his life, we once again have the feeling that we've missed parts of the film. Not only does the movie not such much end but stop, it does so without ever explaining fully why Thelma Todd's character is such an evil bitch, because the film's instigating event is never explained in any detail.
It's a sad fact of Thelma Todd's career that most of her main dramatic roles of the talkie era took place in films that either had weak scripts (such as "Corsair"), have come down to us in modern times in a state butchered by censors or damaged by the passage of time (such as "Cheating Blondes"), or which is mysteriously flawed like "After the Dance". Given when it was released--at a time when Hollywood's move toward self-censorship had gained full steam and the censors were hacking and slashing, left and right and center--and the pristine condition of the print used to make the DVD I watched, I'm guessing that the incomplete nature of the story here is the fault of censorship. So... yet again, we are left with Todd giving a fine performance in a flawed vehicle. Once again, we can only imagine what she might have become as an actress if her life hadn't been tragically cut short in December of 1935. We will never know what she might have brought us if she had played more dramatic roles as she grew as an actress. ("After the Dance" was one of the last films she made.)
Todd isn't the only actor in this film who gives a performance better than it seems to have deserved. Everyone shines in their parts, and this could have been an excellent film if it had only been complete. George Murphy isn't the most charismatic actor, nor the lightest-of-foot dancer, but he's good enough... and what he lacks, Nancy Carroll more than makes up for with her energy and grace. They make the song and dance numbers that anchor the film very enjoyable.
Starring: George Murphy, Nancy Carroll, Thelma Todd, and Wyrley Birch
Director: Leo Bulgakov
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
An innocent song-and-dance man (Murphy) is sent to prison for manslaughter after his shady partner (Todd) refuses to clear his name. A series of events prompts his escape from prison, and he finds an opportunity to rebuild his life and show business career with a new partner (Carroll). All is going well until the woman who sent him to prison re-enters his life.
"After the Dance" is a strangely constructed movie that feels like it is missing large chunks. It starts in medias res with our hero already having accidentally killed a man while defending his dance parter. We get no introduction to any of the involved characters, and the way he gets jammed up for the murder comes out of left field and is never explained. It's like five or ten minutes of opening scenes and establishing who the characters are is missing.
Similarly, as the movie is reaching its climax, the hero's past catches up with him, and the evil vixen from the movie's beginning once again ruins his life, we once again have the feeling that we've missed parts of the film. Not only does the movie not such much end but stop, it does so without ever explaining fully why Thelma Todd's character is such an evil bitch, because the film's instigating event is never explained in any detail.
It's a sad fact of Thelma Todd's career that most of her main dramatic roles of the talkie era took place in films that either had weak scripts (such as "Corsair"), have come down to us in modern times in a state butchered by censors or damaged by the passage of time (such as "Cheating Blondes"), or which is mysteriously flawed like "After the Dance". Given when it was released--at a time when Hollywood's move toward self-censorship had gained full steam and the censors were hacking and slashing, left and right and center--and the pristine condition of the print used to make the DVD I watched, I'm guessing that the incomplete nature of the story here is the fault of censorship. So... yet again, we are left with Todd giving a fine performance in a flawed vehicle. Once again, we can only imagine what she might have become as an actress if her life hadn't been tragically cut short in December of 1935. We will never know what she might have brought us if she had played more dramatic roles as she grew as an actress. ("After the Dance" was one of the last films she made.)
Todd isn't the only actor in this film who gives a performance better than it seems to have deserved. Everyone shines in their parts, and this could have been an excellent film if it had only been complete. George Murphy isn't the most charismatic actor, nor the lightest-of-foot dancer, but he's good enough... and what he lacks, Nancy Carroll more than makes up for with her energy and grace. They make the song and dance numbers that anchor the film very enjoyable.
Monday, December 16, 2019
In memory of Thelma Todd
For all of 2019, I've been reviewing at least one film featuring actress Thelma Todd each week, and posting quarterly photo galleries from Todd's modeling sessions, having declared it The Year of the Hot Toddy. During this time, I have focused entirely on the legacy of entertainment this talented actress left behind, which, sadly, seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
Today is December 16, and on this day in 1935, Todd passed away. She died of carbon monoxide poisoning, in a car that was idling in a closed garage. Whether her death was accidental or homicide, we'll never know, but it has eclipsed everything else that she brought to the world. Aside from this single paragraph, we here at Shades of Gray will always remember Thelma Todd for her performances instead of her death. We will always remember her lighting up the screen with some of Hollywood's stars, such as....
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| William Powell and Gary Cooper |
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| Chester Morris |
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| Cary Grant |
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| Buster Keaton |
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| Bela Lugosi, Marjorie White, William Collier Jr, Ona Munson & Joe E Brown |
Saturday, December 14, 2019
'Counsellor at Law' is undeservedly obscure
Counsellor at Law (1933)
Starring: John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Onslow Stevens, Isabel Jewell, Melvyn Douglas, Doris Kenyon, Thelma Todd, John Hammond Dailey and Vincent Sherman
Director: William Wyler
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
George Simon (Barrymore) is a workaholic and a highly successful attorney who clawed his way up from the gutter to an office high atop New York City in the Empire State Building. Over the space of a few days, he finds his professional and personal life crumbling to ruins.
"Councellor at Law" is a swift moving drama whose origins as a stage play are clearly evident throughout its run-time. While that's usually a negative in these reviews, this film is the exception that proves the rule. All the film's action takes place within the high-cielinged, art-deco rooms that make up the Law Office of Simon & Tedesco, so the limited locations and characters moving about as if they're following blocking on a stage and arriving stage left and existing stage right isn't a distraction. It also helps that the entire cast is made up of actors who are film veterans--some of whom got their start as child actors during the silent film days, like Bebe Daniels--and therefore are all giving cinematic-oriented performances rather than being stagey and projecting and emoting so the audience in the back rows can pick up on what's going on.
John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels, the film's stars, give particularly impressive performances. They both give perfect examples of what "show, don't tell" means. Daniels' character never expresses the deep love and respect she has for her boss, Simon, nor how much it pains her to see how blind he is to the disrespect and disregard he gets from the blue-blood wife (Doris Kenyon) he loves above everything else. Bebe had, literally, grown up on movie stages and at this point had more than 20 years of film acting behind her--and it shows. Similarly, Barrymore's best moments in the film come in near-wordless scenes, and the moments in the picture when he lost all hope and is contemplating suicide are some of the most impactful bits of filmmaking I've come across. (Barrymore's acting is top-notch, but he is ably supported by a director and technical crew who understood how to take full advantage of the black and media they were working in.)
While Barrymore and Daniels shine the brightest here, the supporting cast is also spectacular. Among the most remarkable performances are Thelma Todd in a small, but important role, as one of George Simon's shady clients with a case against an even shadier person who as wronged them; Doris Kenyon as Simon's snobbish wife whose actions demonstrates that he only has value to her so long as she can exploit his love for her and desire for acceptance in her social circles, with Melvyn Douglas taking a turn as a blue-blood leech with with lecherous designs on the wife underscoring this point; and Onslow Stevens and Isabel Jewell, as Simon's law partner and the office receptionist/switchboard operator respectively, providing office and period flavor for the story.
All in all, this film is an example of all the good things works from this period has to offer. It's got cool art-deco sets (since it's set during the 1920s, probably right around the time the stock market is getting ready to crash); a flawed hero who is obviously the embodiment of the film's major social and political messages but who is the creation of writers who have enough respect for the audiences intelligence that he isn't also a funnel-shaped mouthpiece for those messages; and snappy dialogue that moves scenes from lighthearted to dramatic with blinding speed.
I only have one real complaint about this film, and it relates to an otherwise excellent sub-thread about office romances/sexual harassment that runs through the film. While one of the clerks is constantly and crudely hitting on the receptionist, a young lawyer in the firm is just as constantly and politely asking Bebe Daniels' character on dates. She constantly rebuffs him with escalating hostility, because she is increasingly distraught over how everything is falling apart for George Simon, as well as Simon's obliviousness to how he is being badly used by people he thinks are on his side. Ultimately, the young lawyer has had enough of her coldness, stops pursuing her, but he hands her a letter of some sort during their last exchange. We never find out what's in that letter, and I really wanted to know what that was because that subplot (out of the many in the film) remains unresolved at the end.
"Councellor at Law" is an undeservedly obscure film. If you appreciate early talkies, or have been impressed with John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels in other roles, you need to see it.
Starring: John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Onslow Stevens, Isabel Jewell, Melvyn Douglas, Doris Kenyon, Thelma Todd, John Hammond Dailey and Vincent Sherman
Director: William Wyler
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
George Simon (Barrymore) is a workaholic and a highly successful attorney who clawed his way up from the gutter to an office high atop New York City in the Empire State Building. Over the space of a few days, he finds his professional and personal life crumbling to ruins.
"Councellor at Law" is a swift moving drama whose origins as a stage play are clearly evident throughout its run-time. While that's usually a negative in these reviews, this film is the exception that proves the rule. All the film's action takes place within the high-cielinged, art-deco rooms that make up the Law Office of Simon & Tedesco, so the limited locations and characters moving about as if they're following blocking on a stage and arriving stage left and existing stage right isn't a distraction. It also helps that the entire cast is made up of actors who are film veterans--some of whom got their start as child actors during the silent film days, like Bebe Daniels--and therefore are all giving cinematic-oriented performances rather than being stagey and projecting and emoting so the audience in the back rows can pick up on what's going on.
John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels, the film's stars, give particularly impressive performances. They both give perfect examples of what "show, don't tell" means. Daniels' character never expresses the deep love and respect she has for her boss, Simon, nor how much it pains her to see how blind he is to the disrespect and disregard he gets from the blue-blood wife (Doris Kenyon) he loves above everything else. Bebe had, literally, grown up on movie stages and at this point had more than 20 years of film acting behind her--and it shows. Similarly, Barrymore's best moments in the film come in near-wordless scenes, and the moments in the picture when he lost all hope and is contemplating suicide are some of the most impactful bits of filmmaking I've come across. (Barrymore's acting is top-notch, but he is ably supported by a director and technical crew who understood how to take full advantage of the black and media they were working in.)
While Barrymore and Daniels shine the brightest here, the supporting cast is also spectacular. Among the most remarkable performances are Thelma Todd in a small, but important role, as one of George Simon's shady clients with a case against an even shadier person who as wronged them; Doris Kenyon as Simon's snobbish wife whose actions demonstrates that he only has value to her so long as she can exploit his love for her and desire for acceptance in her social circles, with Melvyn Douglas taking a turn as a blue-blood leech with with lecherous designs on the wife underscoring this point; and Onslow Stevens and Isabel Jewell, as Simon's law partner and the office receptionist/switchboard operator respectively, providing office and period flavor for the story.
All in all, this film is an example of all the good things works from this period has to offer. It's got cool art-deco sets (since it's set during the 1920s, probably right around the time the stock market is getting ready to crash); a flawed hero who is obviously the embodiment of the film's major social and political messages but who is the creation of writers who have enough respect for the audiences intelligence that he isn't also a funnel-shaped mouthpiece for those messages; and snappy dialogue that moves scenes from lighthearted to dramatic with blinding speed.
I only have one real complaint about this film, and it relates to an otherwise excellent sub-thread about office romances/sexual harassment that runs through the film. While one of the clerks is constantly and crudely hitting on the receptionist, a young lawyer in the firm is just as constantly and politely asking Bebe Daniels' character on dates. She constantly rebuffs him with escalating hostility, because she is increasingly distraught over how everything is falling apart for George Simon, as well as Simon's obliviousness to how he is being badly used by people he thinks are on his side. Ultimately, the young lawyer has had enough of her coldness, stops pursuing her, but he hands her a letter of some sort during their last exchange. We never find out what's in that letter, and I really wanted to know what that was because that subplot (out of the many in the film) remains unresolved at the end.
"Councellor at Law" is an undeservedly obscure film. If you appreciate early talkies, or have been impressed with John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels in other roles, you need to see it.
Friday, December 6, 2019
The Last Pairing of Chase & Todd
The Nickel Nurser (1932)
Starring: Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, Geraldine Dvorak, Estelle Etterre, Hazel Howell, and Billy Gilbert
Director: Warren Doane
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A socially awkward efficiency expert (Chase) is hired to teach a millionaire's daughters (Todd, Etterre and Howell) the importance of being frugal with money. The young women endeavor to make his time with the a living Hell, partly by one of them switching places with their Swedish maid to he thinks he has an ally among the servants.
While Thelma Todd and Charley Chase were absolute comedy gold on-screen, "The Nickel Nurser" was the last film in which they would appear together. Todd had already been assigned to headlining her own own comedy series at the Hal Roach Studio, and she was also being "lent out" by boss Roach to other studios for parts in feature films. But, thankfully, she was also "lent" to Chase's production unit, so we got to enjoy Todd and Chase together one last time.
While "The Nickel Nurser" isn't the best film in which they appeared together--or even close to it--the scenes they share once again clearly display how they brought out the best in each other when performing together, and they are among the funniest and most focused in this otherwise chaotic picture.
The scenes where Chase and Todd play off each other--both of which revolve around the "trading places" game that the spoiled rich girls are playing--earned a full star by themselves, bringing this picture from a Low Six to a Low Seven rating. The problem here is mostly that the characters and their actions feel mostly unmotivated by anything we learn about them, and that the gags are mostly disconnected from any logic or thought-processes that a human being might have.
For example, why does Charley assume that he going to the household to teach small children about financial matters--and, more importantly why didn't the girls' father tell him he was going to be dealing with young women? And why is the butler so rude to Charley when he first arrives? There are funny bits related to these, but they are badly motivated. And the film opens with a truly mindless and pointless bit that has Charley crash though a door because he sat on a mouse trap. This sloppiness in story-telling and illogic is not typical of the Charley Chase-helmed comedies I've seen so far.
Fortunately, things get better in the second half of the film, which also contains the scenes where Todd and Chase treat the audience to their fabulous on-screen chemistry. Charley gets locked out of his room, but needs to talk to Todd. She refuses to see him, because he is wearing only a night shirt... so of course he puts on a suit of armor that's on display in the hall. This is the sort of "logic" that is working in many of Chase's comedies--it makes sense as a solution to a problem, even if it's not the most practical one. The suit of armor is also one-half of the fuel for the film's insane climax--the other being a shotgun-wielding butler--and the way the action and gags build on each other in a tightly planned way is more like other Chase films than the first half of this picture, and it brings "The Nickel Nurser" to a close on a high note. (The climactic minutes of "The Nickel Nurser" feel like complete, unbridled chaos to the viewer, but that's only because the sequences are so carefully constructed and choreographed. In fact, given that Chase had co-writing credit on this film, and he would soon also be directing himself in his Roach pictures, I wonder if he stepped in and took control of this film to save it?)
While "The Nickel Nurser" isn't the best of Chase's films, nor the best he made with Thelma Todd, it's always good to see them together, and it makes this a highlight among the 15 films included in the two-disc DVD set Charley Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Two, 1932-1933.
Starring: Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, Geraldine Dvorak, Estelle Etterre, Hazel Howell, and Billy Gilbert
Director: Warren Doane
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A socially awkward efficiency expert (Chase) is hired to teach a millionaire's daughters (Todd, Etterre and Howell) the importance of being frugal with money. The young women endeavor to make his time with the a living Hell, partly by one of them switching places with their Swedish maid to he thinks he has an ally among the servants.
While Thelma Todd and Charley Chase were absolute comedy gold on-screen, "The Nickel Nurser" was the last film in which they would appear together. Todd had already been assigned to headlining her own own comedy series at the Hal Roach Studio, and she was also being "lent out" by boss Roach to other studios for parts in feature films. But, thankfully, she was also "lent" to Chase's production unit, so we got to enjoy Todd and Chase together one last time.
While "The Nickel Nurser" isn't the best film in which they appeared together--or even close to it--the scenes they share once again clearly display how they brought out the best in each other when performing together, and they are among the funniest and most focused in this otherwise chaotic picture.
The scenes where Chase and Todd play off each other--both of which revolve around the "trading places" game that the spoiled rich girls are playing--earned a full star by themselves, bringing this picture from a Low Six to a Low Seven rating. The problem here is mostly that the characters and their actions feel mostly unmotivated by anything we learn about them, and that the gags are mostly disconnected from any logic or thought-processes that a human being might have.
For example, why does Charley assume that he going to the household to teach small children about financial matters--and, more importantly why didn't the girls' father tell him he was going to be dealing with young women? And why is the butler so rude to Charley when he first arrives? There are funny bits related to these, but they are badly motivated. And the film opens with a truly mindless and pointless bit that has Charley crash though a door because he sat on a mouse trap. This sloppiness in story-telling and illogic is not typical of the Charley Chase-helmed comedies I've seen so far.
Fortunately, things get better in the second half of the film, which also contains the scenes where Todd and Chase treat the audience to their fabulous on-screen chemistry. Charley gets locked out of his room, but needs to talk to Todd. She refuses to see him, because he is wearing only a night shirt... so of course he puts on a suit of armor that's on display in the hall. This is the sort of "logic" that is working in many of Chase's comedies--it makes sense as a solution to a problem, even if it's not the most practical one. The suit of armor is also one-half of the fuel for the film's insane climax--the other being a shotgun-wielding butler--and the way the action and gags build on each other in a tightly planned way is more like other Chase films than the first half of this picture, and it brings "The Nickel Nurser" to a close on a high note. (The climactic minutes of "The Nickel Nurser" feel like complete, unbridled chaos to the viewer, but that's only because the sequences are so carefully constructed and choreographed. In fact, given that Chase had co-writing credit on this film, and he would soon also be directing himself in his Roach pictures, I wonder if he stepped in and took control of this film to save it?)
While "The Nickel Nurser" isn't the best of Chase's films, nor the best he made with Thelma Todd, it's always good to see them together, and it makes this a highlight among the 15 films included in the two-disc DVD set Charley Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Two, 1932-1933.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
'Palooka' is barely ring-worthy
Palooka (1934) (aka "Joe Palooka")
Starring: Jimmy Durante, Stuart Erwin, Lupe Velez, Marjorie Rambeau, William Cagney, Tom Dugan, Mary Carlisle, Robert Armstrong. and Thelma Todd
Director: Benjamin Stoloff
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Joe Palooka (Erwin), the goodhearted and terminally naive son of a legendary, retired boxer (Armstrong) is catapulted to the top of the boxing world through happenstance and the shenanigans of his shady manager and promoter, Knobby Walsh (Durante). When a sexy vamp (Velez) tempts him to party instead of train, and the true champion he defeated more through luck than skill (Cagney) engineers a rematch, things start to look pretty grim for Joe...
During the 1930s and 1940s, the "Joe Palooka" newspaper strip grew to become the most popular in the U.S. Debuting in April of 1930, it ran for almost 55 years with the final installment seeing print in November of 1984. There were several film adaptations made of the strip, of which this was the first, so it's fitting that it's an "origin tale".
Sadly, Joe Palooka (affably played by Stuart Erwin) is almost crowded out of his own movie by his manager Knobby Walsh (obnoxiously played by Jimmy Durante). All in all, this film is more a vehicle for Durante than anything else, even to the point where he even gets to ruin the film's ending with one last, incredibly lame gag.
I confess that it's a mystery to me that Durante had a long career headlining anything. He's funny in small doses, but when he gets as much screentime as he does here, he gets very, very tiresome. His dominance of this picture turns it from what could have been a pleasant little sports picture into a grating festival of pain where I found myself rooting for the "villains" (prime among them being William Cagney's Al McSwatt, and Lupe Velez's slutty, gold-digging boxing groupie) just so I could enjoy some illusion of justice being served for Durante's crimes against humanity in this picture.
As for the rest of the cast, they're all pleasant and fun to watch. The aforementioned Stuart Erwin is likable as the title character, while William Cagney is one of the more charming bad guys you're ever likely to come across in a film. One the feminine front, Marjorie Rambeau is great as Joe Palooka's tough-as-nails retired showgirl mother, while Lupe Velez is fun, as well as getting some great lines, as the career-wrecking temptress. (Guys in the audience will also appreciate a couple of gowns Velez wears that would be falling off her if not for double-sided tape. Velez obviously didn't appreciate, or perhaps trust, one of the dresses, since she was constantly figiting with it.)
Robert Armstrong and Thelma Todd have small, but crucial, roles in the film (as Joe Palooka's father and the hussy who broke up his parents' marriage), and they deliver their usual strong performances. In fact, I liked Todd so much in her small role that I wish she and Velez could have swapped parts and characters. (This is probably just a reflection of my affection for Todd as a performer, as well as my unfamiliarity with the "Palooka" comic strip.)
"Palooka" is not a film I think you should go out of your way for, unless you're a Jimmy Durante fan. It may be entertaining if you have fond memories of the comic strip, or if perhaps you simply can't get enough of sports-themed movies, but the overwhelming presence of Durante taints those aspects of the film... and there are better movies about the smalltown-boy-does-good-in-sports that are more worthy of your time.
Starring: Jimmy Durante, Stuart Erwin, Lupe Velez, Marjorie Rambeau, William Cagney, Tom Dugan, Mary Carlisle, Robert Armstrong. and Thelma Todd
Director: Benjamin Stoloff
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Joe Palooka (Erwin), the goodhearted and terminally naive son of a legendary, retired boxer (Armstrong) is catapulted to the top of the boxing world through happenstance and the shenanigans of his shady manager and promoter, Knobby Walsh (Durante). When a sexy vamp (Velez) tempts him to party instead of train, and the true champion he defeated more through luck than skill (Cagney) engineers a rematch, things start to look pretty grim for Joe...
During the 1930s and 1940s, the "Joe Palooka" newspaper strip grew to become the most popular in the U.S. Debuting in April of 1930, it ran for almost 55 years with the final installment seeing print in November of 1984. There were several film adaptations made of the strip, of which this was the first, so it's fitting that it's an "origin tale".
Sadly, Joe Palooka (affably played by Stuart Erwin) is almost crowded out of his own movie by his manager Knobby Walsh (obnoxiously played by Jimmy Durante). All in all, this film is more a vehicle for Durante than anything else, even to the point where he even gets to ruin the film's ending with one last, incredibly lame gag.
I confess that it's a mystery to me that Durante had a long career headlining anything. He's funny in small doses, but when he gets as much screentime as he does here, he gets very, very tiresome. His dominance of this picture turns it from what could have been a pleasant little sports picture into a grating festival of pain where I found myself rooting for the "villains" (prime among them being William Cagney's Al McSwatt, and Lupe Velez's slutty, gold-digging boxing groupie) just so I could enjoy some illusion of justice being served for Durante's crimes against humanity in this picture.
As for the rest of the cast, they're all pleasant and fun to watch. The aforementioned Stuart Erwin is likable as the title character, while William Cagney is one of the more charming bad guys you're ever likely to come across in a film. One the feminine front, Marjorie Rambeau is great as Joe Palooka's tough-as-nails retired showgirl mother, while Lupe Velez is fun, as well as getting some great lines, as the career-wrecking temptress. (Guys in the audience will also appreciate a couple of gowns Velez wears that would be falling off her if not for double-sided tape. Velez obviously didn't appreciate, or perhaps trust, one of the dresses, since she was constantly figiting with it.)
Robert Armstrong and Thelma Todd have small, but crucial, roles in the film (as Joe Palooka's father and the hussy who broke up his parents' marriage), and they deliver their usual strong performances. In fact, I liked Todd so much in her small role that I wish she and Velez could have swapped parts and characters. (This is probably just a reflection of my affection for Todd as a performer, as well as my unfamiliarity with the "Palooka" comic strip.)
"Palooka" is not a film I think you should go out of your way for, unless you're a Jimmy Durante fan. It may be entertaining if you have fond memories of the comic strip, or if perhaps you simply can't get enough of sports-themed movies, but the overwhelming presence of Durante taints those aspects of the film... and there are better movies about the smalltown-boy-does-good-in-sports that are more worthy of your time.
Saturday, November 23, 2019
'Done in Oil' is a pretty good picture
Done in Oil (1934)
Starring: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, and Arthur Housman
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A struggling artist (Todd) is both helped and hindered by her friends (Kelly and Housman) when the three concoct a scheme to manufacture an image for her as a famous French painter who's come to the U.S.
"Done in Oil" is one of the better films teaming Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd. Instead of trying to make Kelly being loud and obnoxious funny just because she's loud and obnoxious while also subjecting viewers to clumsily executed, overlong slapstick routines, this film goes with situational comedy. In other words, this film avoids the things that drag down many of the entries in this series of films and instead takes the approach that elevated the winners. This is a movie where the comedy grows out of character interaction and satirical commentary that holds up to this day.
This is Patsy Kelly's film. Her character both creates and solves most of the film's conflicts as she bumbles through the story in a hilarious fashion. She and Housman share one of the film's most amusing scenes--where she creates a "work of art" and he critiques it as she goes. Kelly is also very funny in a bit that pokes fun at the "blackface" performances. At this point in the evolution of cinematic entertainment, the once-common practice of white actors dressing up like black people was increasingly viewed as distasteful, and Kelly doing it here is an amusing send-up of those performances. Over all, this film might contain the best performance I've seen from Kelly in this series yet.
Meanwhile, Thelma Todd serves as this picture's "straight man". She has very little to do but to be the launching pad for the antics and ridiculousness of the rest of the characters, but given how ridiculous they get, the island of stability and normality that she provides gives an important contrast. I think this is yet another testament to what a talented actress she was; she commanded the scene when she was called upon to do so, but she was equally adept at staying in the background while others took center stage. Not all actors are capable of that. (All that said, Todd did also get to show her funny side in this picture--at the very beginning as she and Kelly are ending a session where Kelly had been posing as Juliet for Todd as she painted; and toward the middle when she discovers that the ruse of her being a French painter visiting the States has attracted three actual French art critics.)
The only complaint I can mount about "Done in Oil" is that it's another entry in the series where I wish a little more care at been put into the script writing. The action in the kitchen (where Kelly and Housman are trying to stage Todd's fete with the art critics) and that in the living room (where Todd is trying to entertain and ultimately get the three Frenchmen to look at and buy her paintings) feel too disconnected. There should have been more inter-cutting between the two locations and sets of characters.
"Done in Oil" is included in the three DVD collection, together with all the other films in which Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd shared the screen.
Starring: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, and Arthur Housman
Director: Gus Meins
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A struggling artist (Todd) is both helped and hindered by her friends (Kelly and Housman) when the three concoct a scheme to manufacture an image for her as a famous French painter who's come to the U.S.
"Done in Oil" is one of the better films teaming Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd. Instead of trying to make Kelly being loud and obnoxious funny just because she's loud and obnoxious while also subjecting viewers to clumsily executed, overlong slapstick routines, this film goes with situational comedy. In other words, this film avoids the things that drag down many of the entries in this series of films and instead takes the approach that elevated the winners. This is a movie where the comedy grows out of character interaction and satirical commentary that holds up to this day.
This is Patsy Kelly's film. Her character both creates and solves most of the film's conflicts as she bumbles through the story in a hilarious fashion. She and Housman share one of the film's most amusing scenes--where she creates a "work of art" and he critiques it as she goes. Kelly is also very funny in a bit that pokes fun at the "blackface" performances. At this point in the evolution of cinematic entertainment, the once-common practice of white actors dressing up like black people was increasingly viewed as distasteful, and Kelly doing it here is an amusing send-up of those performances. Over all, this film might contain the best performance I've seen from Kelly in this series yet.
Meanwhile, Thelma Todd serves as this picture's "straight man". She has very little to do but to be the launching pad for the antics and ridiculousness of the rest of the characters, but given how ridiculous they get, the island of stability and normality that she provides gives an important contrast. I think this is yet another testament to what a talented actress she was; she commanded the scene when she was called upon to do so, but she was equally adept at staying in the background while others took center stage. Not all actors are capable of that. (All that said, Todd did also get to show her funny side in this picture--at the very beginning as she and Kelly are ending a session where Kelly had been posing as Juliet for Todd as she painted; and toward the middle when she discovers that the ruse of her being a French painter visiting the States has attracted three actual French art critics.)
The only complaint I can mount about "Done in Oil" is that it's another entry in the series where I wish a little more care at been put into the script writing. The action in the kitchen (where Kelly and Housman are trying to stage Todd's fete with the art critics) and that in the living room (where Todd is trying to entertain and ultimately get the three Frenchmen to look at and buy her paintings) feel too disconnected. There should have been more inter-cutting between the two locations and sets of characters.
"Done in Oil" is included in the three DVD collection, together with all the other films in which Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd shared the screen.
Friday, November 15, 2019
'On the Loose' is worth catching
On the Loose (1931)
Starring: Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, John Loder, Claude Allister, Billy Gilbert, Otto Fries, Dorothy Layton, Oliver Hardy, and Stan Laurel
Director: Hal Roach
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
A chance encounter with a rich Englishman (Loder) gives a pair of young women (Pitts and Todd) hope that they'll finally have dates that doesn't take place at the Coney Island amusement park. They hope in vain, because, to a pair of wealthy Brits, there's nothing as exciting and exotic as a trip to an American amusement park.
"On the Loose" is what more of these Thelma Todd-starring short films should have been like--more situational comedy and less slapstick. More of them should also have quiet scenes like the one featured here where we just have the lead characters chatting with one another. Little moments like that makes the characters more appealing. If more films had followed the pattern of this one--presenting a complete story with a beginning , a middle, and end, and focused on characters and situational human instead of lamely executed slapstick routines and incompletely written scripts--this could have been a great series of films instead of a mediocre one with flashes of greatness every now and then. (Patsy Kelly, who replaced ZaSu Pitts after the first batch of films, might have seemed less obnoxious if she'd had material to work with.)
As for the cast, Hal Roach (doing double-duty as both studio boss and director on this one) gets excellent performances out of everyone. Thelma Todd in particular shines in this picture, giving a nuanced performance that adds a tremendous amount of fun to every scene she's in. ZaSu Pitts delivers one of her typical, competent and amusing performances; she's also doesn't have to do any awkwardly staged, badly executed physical bits.
Meanwhile, British actors John Loder and Claude Allister provide some great moments as the gentlemen who sincerely believe they are showing their dates the greatest and most unusual time they have ever experienced. (Allister repeatedly ending up between couple Otto Fries and Dorothy Layton is a very funny running gag, and it's literal punchline is one of the film's high points.)
One thing I found fascinating about this film is the amusement park setting. I remember some of the things portrayed as being present in "fun houses" when I was a kid, as well as the shooting galleries. With some of the others, I was amazed that such rides/activities could even exist in the 1930s they appeared to be so prone to getting participants injured. I haven't been to an amusement park or traveling carnival in 25-30 years, so I found myself wondering if any of those sorts of games and activities even exist anymore. Maybe I need to get out more!
"On the Loose" is one of the films included on the two-DVD collection of all the films Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts co-starred in
Starring: Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, John Loder, Claude Allister, Billy Gilbert, Otto Fries, Dorothy Layton, Oliver Hardy, and Stan Laurel
Director: Hal Roach
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
A chance encounter with a rich Englishman (Loder) gives a pair of young women (Pitts and Todd) hope that they'll finally have dates that doesn't take place at the Coney Island amusement park. They hope in vain, because, to a pair of wealthy Brits, there's nothing as exciting and exotic as a trip to an American amusement park.
"On the Loose" is what more of these Thelma Todd-starring short films should have been like--more situational comedy and less slapstick. More of them should also have quiet scenes like the one featured here where we just have the lead characters chatting with one another. Little moments like that makes the characters more appealing. If more films had followed the pattern of this one--presenting a complete story with a beginning , a middle, and end, and focused on characters and situational human instead of lamely executed slapstick routines and incompletely written scripts--this could have been a great series of films instead of a mediocre one with flashes of greatness every now and then. (Patsy Kelly, who replaced ZaSu Pitts after the first batch of films, might have seemed less obnoxious if she'd had material to work with.)
As for the cast, Hal Roach (doing double-duty as both studio boss and director on this one) gets excellent performances out of everyone. Thelma Todd in particular shines in this picture, giving a nuanced performance that adds a tremendous amount of fun to every scene she's in. ZaSu Pitts delivers one of her typical, competent and amusing performances; she's also doesn't have to do any awkwardly staged, badly executed physical bits.
Meanwhile, British actors John Loder and Claude Allister provide some great moments as the gentlemen who sincerely believe they are showing their dates the greatest and most unusual time they have ever experienced. (Allister repeatedly ending up between couple Otto Fries and Dorothy Layton is a very funny running gag, and it's literal punchline is one of the film's high points.)
One thing I found fascinating about this film is the amusement park setting. I remember some of the things portrayed as being present in "fun houses" when I was a kid, as well as the shooting galleries. With some of the others, I was amazed that such rides/activities could even exist in the 1930s they appeared to be so prone to getting participants injured. I haven't been to an amusement park or traveling carnival in 25-30 years, so I found myself wondering if any of those sorts of games and activities even exist anymore. Maybe I need to get out more!
"On the Loose" is one of the films included on the two-DVD collection of all the films Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts co-starred in
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Doughboy Double Feature!
High Cs (1930)
Starring: Charley Chase, Carlton Griffin, Thelma Todd, Otto Fries, Harry Schultz, Lucien Prival, and the Ranch Boys band
Director: James W. Horne
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A WWI doughboy (Chase), who'd rather sing than fight, tricks the Germans into thinking the war is over so he can recruit one of their soldiers (Fries) into his musical quartet.
"High C's" is different than most other Charley Chase films I've watched so far. First, it's more loosely structured than any of the others. Rather than the film being structured around a tightly plotted sequence of jokes and gags that build upon each other until the film's finale this one breaks into three distinct sections that are only loosely connected. It's still a well-enough crafted story, though.
There's also more music in this film than any of the previous ones I've seen from Chase, which actually explains the different structure of the film. It's not so much a comedy short as a mini-musical, as such it's built around the musical numbers rather than gags.
Despite being different than what I had expected, I enjoyed "High Cs" immensely. Charley Chase was on the top of his game, and the supporting cast were all equally excellent. Thelma Todd, who portrays Chase's love interest, was a joy to watch as always when she's paired with Chase; and Carlton Griffin and Lucien Prival were great fun as the villainous, self-important officers on the Allied and German sides of the trenches respectively.
This isn't the strongest of Charley Chase's films, but it's still got good music and some really funny moments. The sequence where they fake the end of World War 1 just to capture and recruit a German soldier into the band, as well as the closing song, are must-sees for fans of old-time musical comedy.
Rough Seas (1931)
Starring: Charley Chase, Carlton Griffin, Thelma Todd, Frank Brownlee, and the Ranch Boys band
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
The war is over and Charley (Chase) is being shipped back to the States and civilian life. But he needs to find a way to get his French girlfriend (Todd) and his pet monkey safely onboard the transport ship without his commanding officer (Griffin) knowing.
"Rough Seas" is a sequel to "High Cs", and it, too, is a mini-musical comedy. It picks up all the story threads from "High Cs", and brings along all the supporting characters from the first film, while adding a couple new complications. I was particularly impressed at the attention to detail shown in continuing to develop a somewhat morbid gag from the first film around the tenor whose voice was ruined because he got shot in the Adam's apple. It was another example of how the Charley Chase films should be remembered among the best Roach productions, because they were crafted with a level of care that became increasingly hard to find as the 1930s wore on.
Overall, this is a simple film where the ship-board antics of Chase's character as he tries to keep himself, his monkey, and his stowaway girlfriend out of the cross-hairs of his superiors are mostly a vehicle to get us from musical number to musical number. What plot we do have is a sweet little love story between Charley and Thelma (who, although she has less to do in this film than the monkey, the chemistry she shared with Chase once again leaps off the screen), which also exposes the truly vile nature of Carlton Griffin's officer character; it's satisfying to see him finally get put in his place.
This was the second-to-last Charley Chase film that Thelma Todd would appear in. She was quickly becoming a popular comedienne, and producer Hal Roach didn't want to "waste" her in supporting roles. Even as this film was being made, the stage was being set for her to co-star with ZaSu Pitts in her own series. The films she headlined 40 films, but few were of the quality of the ones she made with Chase.
Starring: Charley Chase, Carlton Griffin, Thelma Todd, Otto Fries, Harry Schultz, Lucien Prival, and the Ranch Boys band
Director: James W. Horne
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A WWI doughboy (Chase), who'd rather sing than fight, tricks the Germans into thinking the war is over so he can recruit one of their soldiers (Fries) into his musical quartet.
"High C's" is different than most other Charley Chase films I've watched so far. First, it's more loosely structured than any of the others. Rather than the film being structured around a tightly plotted sequence of jokes and gags that build upon each other until the film's finale this one breaks into three distinct sections that are only loosely connected. It's still a well-enough crafted story, though.
There's also more music in this film than any of the previous ones I've seen from Chase, which actually explains the different structure of the film. It's not so much a comedy short as a mini-musical, as such it's built around the musical numbers rather than gags.
Despite being different than what I had expected, I enjoyed "High Cs" immensely. Charley Chase was on the top of his game, and the supporting cast were all equally excellent. Thelma Todd, who portrays Chase's love interest, was a joy to watch as always when she's paired with Chase; and Carlton Griffin and Lucien Prival were great fun as the villainous, self-important officers on the Allied and German sides of the trenches respectively.
This isn't the strongest of Charley Chase's films, but it's still got good music and some really funny moments. The sequence where they fake the end of World War 1 just to capture and recruit a German soldier into the band, as well as the closing song, are must-sees for fans of old-time musical comedy.
Rough Seas (1931)
Starring: Charley Chase, Carlton Griffin, Thelma Todd, Frank Brownlee, and the Ranch Boys band
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
The war is over and Charley (Chase) is being shipped back to the States and civilian life. But he needs to find a way to get his French girlfriend (Todd) and his pet monkey safely onboard the transport ship without his commanding officer (Griffin) knowing.
"Rough Seas" is a sequel to "High Cs", and it, too, is a mini-musical comedy. It picks up all the story threads from "High Cs", and brings along all the supporting characters from the first film, while adding a couple new complications. I was particularly impressed at the attention to detail shown in continuing to develop a somewhat morbid gag from the first film around the tenor whose voice was ruined because he got shot in the Adam's apple. It was another example of how the Charley Chase films should be remembered among the best Roach productions, because they were crafted with a level of care that became increasingly hard to find as the 1930s wore on.
Overall, this is a simple film where the ship-board antics of Chase's character as he tries to keep himself, his monkey, and his stowaway girlfriend out of the cross-hairs of his superiors are mostly a vehicle to get us from musical number to musical number. What plot we do have is a sweet little love story between Charley and Thelma (who, although she has less to do in this film than the monkey, the chemistry she shared with Chase once again leaps off the screen), which also exposes the truly vile nature of Carlton Griffin's officer character; it's satisfying to see him finally get put in his place.
This was the second-to-last Charley Chase film that Thelma Todd would appear in. She was quickly becoming a popular comedienne, and producer Hal Roach didn't want to "waste" her in supporting roles. Even as this film was being made, the stage was being set for her to co-star with ZaSu Pitts in her own series. The films she headlined 40 films, but few were of the quality of the ones she made with Chase.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
The Thelma Todd Quarterly
We don't have anything cute or pithy to say here. We just hope you enjoy these unusual portraits of a beautiful and talented actress who was taken from this world entirely too soon.
(For more images from this same photo-shoot, click here. They were in the first Thelma Todd Quarterly post of The Year of the Hot Toddy, so it seems fitting that we begin to wrap things up with pictures from the same series.)
(For more images from this same photo-shoot, click here. They were in the first Thelma Todd Quarterly post of The Year of the Hot Toddy, so it seems fitting that we begin to wrap things up with pictures from the same series.)
Saturday, November 2, 2019
A spa with the cure for the common cold?
Red Noses (1932)
Starring: ZaSu Pitts, Thelma Todd, Blanche Payson, Germaine De Noel, and Wilfred Lucas
Director: James Horne
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Thelma and ZaSu (Todd and Pitts) are suffering at home with colds, but their boss (Lucas) needs them at the office, because he can't close a business deal without their help. He arranges for them to go for a treatment at a health spa that is guaranteed to cure them and get them quickly back in the office.
"Red Noses" is another entry in the Thelma Todd-starring comedies that feels like a good idea that lost its way. Sending our heroines off to a health spa is a great concept and the end result here is mostly amusing, but it's another example of where not enough attention was paid to the story, nor even the gags. It's a shame, because the cast--led by Pitts who takes most of the abuse at the hands of the physical therapists at the spa--all do an excellent job; they're all playing the sorts of characters they're old hands at, and they're all in top form.
One of the biggest flaws with the script on the story front is that this is another film that just sort of stops without really ending. So much emphasis was put on how important it was that the Thelma and ZaSu be present at the business meeting that the film feels incomplete without some sort of callback to that. It seems that even the filmakers felt there was something missing at the end of the film, because, while our heroines make a perfectly acceptable getaway from the health spa (after their requests to leave have been repeatedly denied because the spa's policy is that you're either cured of your ailment or you're due a refund), it's followed up with Thelma and ZaSu walking in front of the worst worst back projection I've ever seen.
The treatment regiment the girls are subjected to at the spa also seems a bit strange, given that they are there with the express purpose of being cured of a cold. As funny as some of the physical gags are, shouldn't they be sitting in steam rooms or soaking in hot baths augmented with various herbs and spices? The resulting film would have required more thought on the part of the writers, but most of the better gags would still have fit into the film, including the Turkish massages the girls are subjected to.
And speaking of the gags, they run the gamut from under-developed, to just right, to dragging on, something which I, again, contribute to a lack of effort being put into the script. There's a bit of mud-throwing that doesn't really go anywhere (except serving for long-walk set-up for a cross-dressing scene and ensuing brawl.. which did add up to something funny). The bits involving Turkish massages are pretty flawless, while those involving exercise equipment drag on and on (except for one strange device that is basically Thelma Todd strapped to a bouncing chair).
In general, though, the film moves fast enough, and is funny enough, that the misfired and overly milked bits of physical comedy can be excused. In the end, this is an uneven but entertaining comedy and a nice way to waste 20 minutes.
There is one aspect to this film that I can't quite get a bead on, though, and I can't tell whether it's a subtext that's there or if it's because I live in a day and age where EVERYTHING is sexualized. Are Thelma and ZaSu more than just friends in this film? Are they a couple? There are two jokes that seem to say outright that they are (never mind the fact that they're sharing the same bed as the film opens). As the editor and publisher who green-lit turning the Science Sleuths gay, it's an odd position for me to be in....
One of the biggest flaws with the script on the story front is that this is another film that just sort of stops without really ending. So much emphasis was put on how important it was that the Thelma and ZaSu be present at the business meeting that the film feels incomplete without some sort of callback to that. It seems that even the filmakers felt there was something missing at the end of the film, because, while our heroines make a perfectly acceptable getaway from the health spa (after their requests to leave have been repeatedly denied because the spa's policy is that you're either cured of your ailment or you're due a refund), it's followed up with Thelma and ZaSu walking in front of the worst worst back projection I've ever seen.
The treatment regiment the girls are subjected to at the spa also seems a bit strange, given that they are there with the express purpose of being cured of a cold. As funny as some of the physical gags are, shouldn't they be sitting in steam rooms or soaking in hot baths augmented with various herbs and spices? The resulting film would have required more thought on the part of the writers, but most of the better gags would still have fit into the film, including the Turkish massages the girls are subjected to.
And speaking of the gags, they run the gamut from under-developed, to just right, to dragging on, something which I, again, contribute to a lack of effort being put into the script. There's a bit of mud-throwing that doesn't really go anywhere (except serving for long-walk set-up for a cross-dressing scene and ensuing brawl.. which did add up to something funny). The bits involving Turkish massages are pretty flawless, while those involving exercise equipment drag on and on (except for one strange device that is basically Thelma Todd strapped to a bouncing chair).
In general, though, the film moves fast enough, and is funny enough, that the misfired and overly milked bits of physical comedy can be excused. In the end, this is an uneven but entertaining comedy and a nice way to waste 20 minutes.
There is one aspect to this film that I can't quite get a bead on, though, and I can't tell whether it's a subtext that's there or if it's because I live in a day and age where EVERYTHING is sexualized. Are Thelma and ZaSu more than just friends in this film? Are they a couple? There are two jokes that seem to say outright that they are (never mind the fact that they're sharing the same bed as the film opens). As the editor and publisher who green-lit turning the Science Sleuths gay, it's an odd position for me to be in....
Saturday, October 26, 2019
'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.
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.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
'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.
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.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Halloween Costume Ideas!
Everyone's looking for good costume ideas this time of year, so we're sharing what some people will be wearing to the Shades of Gray Halloween Party this year. Maybe you'll be inspired!
Dusty Anderson says the classics are always "in", so she's dressing up like a black cat.
Meanwhile, Myrna Loy's going as Perry Mason.
This year's party is sponsored in part by the Associated Shades of Hades.
Dusty Anderson says the classics are always "in", so she's dressing up like a black cat.
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are going as a loving Puritan couple.
Meanwhile, Myrna Loy's going as Perry Mason.
Helen Bennett says she's going as a mobile hot-spot.
Finally, Thelma Todd will be the Pearl in the Oyster. If we weren't having the shindig at her place, this costume wouldn't be practical.
This year's party is sponsored in part by the Associated Shades of Hades.
Friday, October 11, 2019
'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.
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.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
'The Tin Man' is a so-so comedy that ends strong
The Tin Man (1935)
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Clarence Wilson, and Matthew Betz
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
After getting lost on their to a party, Thelma and Patsy (Todd and Kelly) stop to ask for direction at a creepy old mansion. Unfortunately for them, it's home to a woman-hating mad scientist (Wilson) who decides to sic his robot on them. To complicate matters, a killer who escaped police custody (Betz) also sneaks into the house.
If "The Tin Man" shows us anything, it's that the who notion of making fun of "InCels" has existed for many, many years... even if some cute term hadn't been invented for it. Eighty-five years ago, they were poking fun at bitter, socially maladjusted men who lived alone and blamed women for their inability to get dates rather than their own failings, so this is a comedy that has stood the passage of time. It might even be one that both your Social Justice Warrior types and Right Wing whackadoodles can both find entertaining and amusing.
But that's about all they'll be--amused and entertained. While the script is a workmanlike send-up of the Old Dark House and Mad Scientist subgenres of horror films, there aren't a whole lot of jokes and gags will have viewers laughing out loud. For me, the film is at its funniest when the escaped killer (Matthew Betz) is repeatedly subjected to unintentional abuse because he is caught in the crossfire between the girls and the robot sent to menace them. It's not that any of the jokes weren't amusing... they just weren't spectacular. (The funniest bits come toward the end, after the robot goes bezerk due to rash actions by Patsy, meaning the film closes at its best. It's worth your while to stick with it.)
I think this film succeeds primarily on the tightly written story and the strong performances of its cast members. Despite the weak jokes, all four actors are in top form. Additionally, there isn't the sense that Thelma Todd's character looks down upon or otherwise views Patsy Kelly's character with contempt, as it has seemed in some of their other pairings. In "The Tin Man", while Todd is visibly frustrated with Kelly's dimwittedness at times, it seems perfectly believable that they're friends who would want to go to a party together.
"The Tin Man" 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.
Starring: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Clarence Wilson, and Matthew Betz
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
After getting lost on their to a party, Thelma and Patsy (Todd and Kelly) stop to ask for direction at a creepy old mansion. Unfortunately for them, it's home to a woman-hating mad scientist (Wilson) who decides to sic his robot on them. To complicate matters, a killer who escaped police custody (Betz) also sneaks into the house.
If "The Tin Man" shows us anything, it's that the who notion of making fun of "InCels" has existed for many, many years... even if some cute term hadn't been invented for it. Eighty-five years ago, they were poking fun at bitter, socially maladjusted men who lived alone and blamed women for their inability to get dates rather than their own failings, so this is a comedy that has stood the passage of time. It might even be one that both your Social Justice Warrior types and Right Wing whackadoodles can both find entertaining and amusing.
But that's about all they'll be--amused and entertained. While the script is a workmanlike send-up of the Old Dark House and Mad Scientist subgenres of horror films, there aren't a whole lot of jokes and gags will have viewers laughing out loud. For me, the film is at its funniest when the escaped killer (Matthew Betz) is repeatedly subjected to unintentional abuse because he is caught in the crossfire between the girls and the robot sent to menace them. It's not that any of the jokes weren't amusing... they just weren't spectacular. (The funniest bits come toward the end, after the robot goes bezerk due to rash actions by Patsy, meaning the film closes at its best. It's worth your while to stick with it.)
I think this film succeeds primarily on the tightly written story and the strong performances of its cast members. Despite the weak jokes, all four actors are in top form. Additionally, there isn't the sense that Thelma Todd's character looks down upon or otherwise views Patsy Kelly's character with contempt, as it has seemed in some of their other pairings. In "The Tin Man", while Todd is visibly frustrated with Kelly's dimwittedness at times, it seems perfectly believable that they're friends who would want to go to a party together.
"The Tin Man" 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.
Friday, September 27, 2019
'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.
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.
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.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
'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.
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.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
'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.
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
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