Now we’re into the world of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly. Previously, SHOW BUSINESS with Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts was reviewed on this site. Pitts was slower and the more nervous type while Kelly was more a keg of dynamite that could explode at any minute. I enjoy them both working with Thelma. Being 1935, this is a later Roach two reeler and I was struck by the length 14:50. Short for a two reeler and shorter than any Three Stooges short, for example.
But being the month of October, I’m doing this one for the horror and sci-fi elements. After a great Laurel and Hardy like exchange the girls do a fine job of about Patsy failing to get the address on a piece of paper, a radio announcement comes on indicating a killer is on the loose - and he happens to be in the back seat of the car. In a clever bit of milking a gag, several circumstances make it so Patsy and Thelma don’t even see the killer until the very end, even if he’s always in the same area as them! So yes, we have a killer. We have an old dark house the ladies stop at on a rainy night for shelter. In said old dark house, there’s a mad scientist and killer robot. Windows have shutters that shut when the ladies try to escape! Yes folks, all the comfort foods of poverty row thirties horror are served on a plate in this one.
About that mad scientist. He’s played comically over the top by Clarence Wilson. Makes Bela Lugosi at his most high strung seem like Buster Keaton. Lots of laughing and cackling and a great messed up hair do - for what hair is left. He wants revenge on females in general for rejecting him and is quite happy when Thelma and Patsy walk in. He has invented this robotic Karloff as the monster type looking thing to seek his revenge. Makes sense, I guess. The robot is comically cheesy the way the mad scientist is, meant to be taken in good fun. The weakest part of the short is when the ladies are at the dinner table with the robot. It basically boils down to chair pranks and spoon tricks. The murderer, unbeknownst to the ladies, is under the table the whole time.
Things pick up big time once the water comes into play. Gotta give Patsy Kelly credit, she takes one heck of a water dumping from the robot on the head. Great long close up of this. After that glorious shot, Patsy explodes and dumps water on the robot. The circuits in the robot go haywire and he gets in a great fight with the murderer. The robot then chases Thelma around and Patsy catches the mad scientist and berates him. When the ladies finally escape, the great milked gag of the short with the murderer is settled as they finally see him, and I won’t give away what he says for the resolution. The end.
A fun short for the most part. There are better entries in the series for sure, but this one fits the Halloween mood nicely. If you can find it online, great, if not, it’s available on DVD, linked below.
https://www.classicflix.com/products/the-complete-hal-roach-thelma-todd-and-patsy-kelly-comedy-collection-classicflix-silver-series
