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The Tin Man (1935) - Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly

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Offline metaldams

      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

- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Dr. Mabuse

Nice review. "The Tin Man" is wild fun with Todd and Kelly in splendid form. Robots were just coming into vogue when this short was released (they pop up in a few pre-Code cartoons and science-fantasy serials such as "The Phantom Empire" and "Undersea Kingdom"). In terms of length, sometimes brevity can be a blessing.

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/we-robots-part-2-the-30s-of-title-bouts-and-technocrats/


Offline HomokHarcos

When comparing the ZaSu shorts to the ones with Patsy, I preferred the Patsy series. The ones with ZaSu were too close to Laurel and Hardy, and Thelma seemed unsuited for that angry, frustrated role. On the other hand, Patsy and Thelma seemed much more like best friends, and I preferred their dynamic.

I like how there are three threats here: the man on the loose, the evil scientist, and the robot. The man on the loose doesn't have much to do with the plot, as the other characters are unaware of him. The running gag of him being knocked out is funny, though, especially when the clock keeps hitting him. The mad scientist and the robot are very funny. The robot sitting down in the air when he's supposed to be on a chair is hilarious. The way he moves around generally is funny, but intentionally so! There's not much of a plot here, aside from the general and more of a gag comedy about spooky robots and scary men. Fun watch.



Offline Umbrella Sam

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Yeah,  I’m with HomokHarcos as far as preferring Todd and Kelly to Todd and Pitts. Don’t get me wrong, I still think Todd and Pitts worked too, but they could feel a bit too close to Laurel and Hardy at times, Zasu in particular, whereas Todd and Kelly feel more unique and suited to each other. It also helps that I just prefer Patsy Kelly in general; she had a very funny, neurotic personality. In my opinion, she was very ahead of her time; I still really want to see that one movie she made with Charley Chase, KELLY THE SECOND.

Of course, there are still some elements of Laurel and Hardy in here, particularly Thelma’s “why don’t you be careful?” at the beginning. But Kelly really keeps things moving; great reaction to the robot dumping water on her, they way she just sits there seething is way different from anything Laurel or even Hardy would do. Thelma kind of feels like she takes a bit more of a backseat to Kelly in this one, but she still has a few good moments, particularly when she unintentionally kicks the man under the table. The ridiculous design of the robot gave me a good laugh, and Billy Bletcher is of course perfect as the robot’s voice.

A fun enough short, not really a whole lot to say because of the length, but a chance to see Patsy Kelly in just about anything is worth it.
“I’ll take a milkshake...with sour milk!” -Shemp (Punchy Cowpunchers, 1950)

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