Starring Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd.
Featuring Grace Goodall, Fuzzy Knight, Ferdinand Munier, and Gary Owen.
Directed by William Terhune and Jack Jevne.
Synopsis
"You'd better go on the wagon!"
Patsy and Thelma are at home. Patsy's ironing, and Thelma is writing "poetry"...
Patsy doesn't appreciate Thelma's literary endeavours, pointing out to her pal that the grocery bill and rent are unpaid.
Thelma takes exception to her poetry being insulted, and she declares that they should split up...
We next see Thelma working as a French maid in a "top flat" at The Warwick. Thelma's going under the alias of 'Marie', and works for a Mr and Mrs Lamont (played by Ferdinand Munier and Grace Goodall respectively).
Thelma takes Mrs Lamont's fur coat down to "Andre's" for storage for the summer. In getting out of the chauffeur driven car she bumps into Patsy.
Patsy's chuffed for her pal, believing that Thelma has "made it" by selling her poetry for a fortune. A distant Thelma invites Patsy to visit her at her penthouse one day.
Patsy gets the address from the chauffeur (Buddy Roosevelt), who has been listening in to Thelma's lies the whole time.
Mr and Mrs Lamont go out for dinner one evening, and Patsy rocks up to visit her old pal with a couple of loud and goofy boyfriends (played by Fuzzy Knight and Gary Owen).
Thelma is not happy to see the rowdy and raucous uninvited guests (who enter pushing Patsy in a wheelbarrow sporting a "Men at Work" sign).
The trio get busy makingmusic a noise with the piano... Thelma gets anxious and tries to tell Patsy the real situation, but you know Kelly - it's hard to get a word in edgeways!
In an attempt to keep the peace, Thelma ushers the boys outside onto the balcony. Patsy takes the opportunity to mix herself a drink, but doesn't like what she swallowed!
The boys amuse themselves by making water bombs which they dutifully drop on unsuspecting passers-by.
In the meantime, Kelly decides to take a bath, much to Thelma's chagrin.
Thelma finally manages to tell Patsy that she doesn't own the penthouse. Patsy just laughs!
Just at that moment, Mr and Mrs Lamont return to the apartment. Thelma tries to get Patsy out of the tub and out of the flat as quickly as possible.
This involves several trying moments, firstly, as Mr Lamont enters the bathroom, Thelma must hold Patsy's head under the water until he leaves.
Kelly later has to hide in Mrs Lamont's bed and then in the closet to avoid detection. Mrs Lamont gets into her bed and goes under the covers, only for Mr Lamont to suspect that 'Marie' is under there! He arranges a rendezvous for both of them, which, of course, his wife doesn't like too much...
Patsy takes the opportunity to escape the bedroom and makes for the exit with Thelma. A cop is at the door, having been struck by one of the water bombs thrown from the balcony.
Just at that moment, Mrs Lamont enters the sitting room, chasing her husband. He crashes into the wheelbarrow and is chastised by the policeman for being 'drunk and disorderly'.
Patsy, Thelma, and the boys make a quick exit...
Patsy doesn't appreciate Thelma's literary endeavours, pointing out to her pal that the grocery bill and rent are unpaid.
Thelma takes exception to her poetry being insulted, and she declares that they should split up...
We next see Thelma working as a French maid in a "top flat" at The Warwick. Thelma's going under the alias of 'Marie', and works for a Mr and Mrs Lamont (played by Ferdinand Munier and Grace Goodall respectively).
Thelma takes Mrs Lamont's fur coat down to "Andre's" for storage for the summer. In getting out of the chauffeur driven car she bumps into Patsy.
Patsy's chuffed for her pal, believing that Thelma has "made it" by selling her poetry for a fortune. A distant Thelma invites Patsy to visit her at her penthouse one day.
Patsy gets the address from the chauffeur (Buddy Roosevelt), who has been listening in to Thelma's lies the whole time.
Mr and Mrs Lamont go out for dinner one evening, and Patsy rocks up to visit her old pal with a couple of loud and goofy boyfriends (played by Fuzzy Knight and Gary Owen).
Thelma is not happy to see the rowdy and raucous uninvited guests (who enter pushing Patsy in a wheelbarrow sporting a "Men at Work" sign).
The trio get busy making
In an attempt to keep the peace, Thelma ushers the boys outside onto the balcony. Patsy takes the opportunity to mix herself a drink, but doesn't like what she swallowed!
The boys amuse themselves by making water bombs which they dutifully drop on unsuspecting passers-by.
In the meantime, Kelly decides to take a bath, much to Thelma's chagrin.
Thelma finally manages to tell Patsy that she doesn't own the penthouse. Patsy just laughs!
Just at that moment, Mr and Mrs Lamont return to the apartment. Thelma tries to get Patsy out of the tub and out of the flat as quickly as possible.
This involves several trying moments, firstly, as Mr Lamont enters the bathroom, Thelma must hold Patsy's head under the water until he leaves.
Kelly later has to hide in Mrs Lamont's bed and then in the closet to avoid detection. Mrs Lamont gets into her bed and goes under the covers, only for Mr Lamont to suspect that 'Marie' is under there! He arranges a rendezvous for both of them, which, of course, his wife doesn't like too much...
Patsy takes the opportunity to escape the bedroom and makes for the exit with Thelma. A cop is at the door, having been struck by one of the water bombs thrown from the balcony.
Just at that moment, Mrs Lamont enters the sitting room, chasing her husband. He crashes into the wheelbarrow and is chastised by the policeman for being 'drunk and disorderly'.
Patsy, Thelma, and the boys make a quick exit...
Review
"Upon the wall a picture, a picture upon the wall. Upon the wall a picture, and some wallpaper"
It would have premiered in cinemas less than one week after Thelma Todd's tragic death. I wonder what the mood would have been like in cinemas at the time? It must have been difficult for some cinemagoers to watch this short, knowing that Thelma Todd had passed away just a few days previously, even if they did want to laugh at the comedy and appreciate the late comedienne.
Watching the film eighty years later, without the shock and sorrow attached which might have been prevalent in 1935, I still believe that "Top Flat" is a strange film in the Kelly/Todd series.
For reasons that I will explain below, it's my opinion that this is not one of the better Todd/Kelly films. It's not the worst, but it would be nowhere near featuring on my "Top 10" list of films that the girls made together.
And here's the reason why, I feel.
It's simply not that funny.
There aren't that many laughs in it. "Babes in the Goods", "Beauty and the Bus", and possibly my favourite Kelly/Todd short, "Soup and Fish", all have great moments of laugh-out-loud comedy. "Top Flat" by comparison, veers towards the type of comedy you'd expect from a Kelly/Todd short, but never actually takes you past the stage of a wry smile of appreciation.
I wonder why? Here are a few of my thoughts why this is:
It's not because the series had run its course: "An All American Toothache", the final Todd/Kelly film maintains the nice mixture of originality and bonkers humour that, in my opinion, the series showcases. Even "Pan Handlers" and the two short films with Kelly and Lyda Roberti tick that box - original, slightly bonkers, laugh-fests. So it's not that.
Perhaps this is why:
I always used to groan - inaudibly, of course, such is my love of silent cinema - whenever I saw a Pitts/Todd or Kelly/Todd film that featured boyfriends - generally I think that the films with boyfriends in are not as funny as when Pitts/Todd or Kelly/Todd are left alone together to their own devices.
"Top Flat" confirms my suspicions with that respect. Fuzzy Knight and Gary Owen get their irritating characters down to a 'T' with their performances, but I just don't warm to them that much. I know I'm supposed to find them irritating, but they just grate me most of the time. Especially the god-awful singing, which requires Todd to dance awkwardly and for Kelly to sit awkwardly on the piano - both very much taking a backseat. It's just not that funny.
It's hard to explain, but I often feel that in films where Laurel and Hardy's wives are present, they heighten the comedy. In this particular Kelly/Todd short, the boyfriends just seem to get in the way. They don't heighten the comedy with Patsy and Thelma, and it's probably not surprising that in this film, after a while, the women are paired off together and the men are paired together with little interaction between them until the end. Patsy clowns around in the bath to the annoyance of Thelma, whereas the two men are stuck with each other throwing water bombs. That kind of reinforces my point that pitting boyfriends as comedic foils alongside Kelly and Todd does not work.
Perhaps I'm being overly harsh on the men; it might just be that the script for this particular film is not that strong. After all, for how many minutes can you drag out the scenario that Thelma is hurriedly trying to tell Patsy that she has lied and the penthouse isn't hers? Just about long enough to make a short film in the Kelly/Todd series, could be the answer.
It sounds like I don't think much of "Top Flat". That's not necessarily true. I don't dislike "Top Flat", but it is quite weak in terms of originality and, well, laughs. I just don't find it that funny compared to many of the other Kelly/Todd films. It has some nice moments, but they are more "wry smile" moments rather than uncontrollable smirks and snorts of laughter, as I've already mentioned above.
However...
The girls seem a little out of character, as well, which is strange. Patsy's still brash and loud in places, but gone are many of her particular quirks - such as clumsiness and hostility - and pet names for Thelma which feature in other films. But, don't get me wrong, Kelly is not that different compared to her character in the series. It's Todd's which strikes me the most in this instance. Thelma's character requires her to be anxious and nervy for the majority of the film, which is quite markedly different from the type of figure she usually cuts in the other Pitts/Todd and Kelly/Todd films. I often think that Gus Meins was the best director for the Pitts/Todd and Kelly/Todd films, and he often brings out the best chemistry between the girls. And, of course, he doesn't direct "Top Flat". Instead we have two directors, which seems a tad strange for an eighteen minute film. Does anybody else feel that things feel a little flat - apologies for the pun - in this film?
In fact, some of the best bits in this film are at the start when Thelma is reciting her poetry and the ending, with Patsy trying to escape from the flat with Thelma's assistance as Mr Lamont bungles around. The bits in the middle are merely "meh" rather than making "whoopee!" - as Mr Lamont would have it.
So, what do I like about this film?
I genuinely think that the opening footage of the film is the best. It's funny to see Thelma's character strongly believe that her "poetry" is brilliant, and chuck in Kelly's humorous asides and blatant facial expressions revealing disgust towards the poet laureate, it's good! Patsy's line that Thelma "had better go on the wagon" is well-timed after Thelma mentions a horse, as in Patsy's mind her pal has been drinking too much. Patsy's snarky quips and Thelma's staunch defiance give some of the best laughs in this film, but it's a shame that after Kelly retorts to the poetess "Wouldn't you be surprised if [the poems] sold for $10,000", the comedy goes downhill in the film...
It's slightly funny, I guess, to laugh at Patsy when she's looking gawky in her uniform in the street carrying a package, when she meets a glamorous Thelma. Both Kelly and Todd milk this exchange for all it's worth, in what is effectively a necessary exchange to set up the possibility of getting Kelly into the "top flat" with Thelma. It is mere scene setting rather than an opportunity to provide humour, although when Patsy walks away muttering to herself in the style of Thelma's poetry, that was a nice touch.
Then we get the part of the film with the boyfriends....(see my comments above)...
As Thelma's character requires her to become increasingly anxious - with a distinct lack of comedy and humour in the part - it's down to Patsy to provide comic relief. Kelly's dislike of the alcohol she consumes is OK. It's not vintage Kelly, and, if anything, seems to be a excuse to get the girls into the bathroom and out of sight of the boyfriends on the balcony. Once again the plot feels a bit forced and unnatural...
...and it's made worse by the fact that Kelly decides to take a bath! I ask myself: Really? During a date with boyfriends at Thelma's swish apartment, Kelly just decides to get in the bath? I've often suspended my disbelief at many a theatre production and comedy short over the years, but even I find this a bit forced. The plot requires Kelly to get in a bit of a scrap by losing her clothes, so a bath seems to be a nice option, but it just makes the whole film once again seem a bit forced and unnatural. There are plenty of Kelly/Todd films where the situation lends itself to great, believable comedy out of the circumstances presented to Kelly and Todd - usually with Kelly's bungling; see "Backs to Nature", for example - but, I don't know, again, it feels weird here.
It's funny seeing Kelly in the bath, but not that funny. I like it when Thelma holds her under the water for quite a while when Mr Lamont enters, though.
Ferdinand Munier and Grace Goodall as Mr and Mrs Lamont give some good life to the final parts of the film, especially Ferdinand Munier as the bumbling old fool who has the hots for his French maid.
It's right at the end of the film where things do pick up, with Thelma anxiously trying to get Patsy out of the flat. It's funny to see Kelly in Mr Lamont's oversized pyjamas, but again, the final laughs are garnered by Munier and Goodall as Mr Lamont is chased through the apartment before he ends up in the wheelbarrow clutching the "Men at Work " sign.
The segments with the boys throwing water bombs are actually pretty good, if a little overdone. Especially when their water bombs hit an old English gentleman: "Oh, I say, old chap, is that cricket?" - probably the best line in the whole film. And I wonder whether that is Pert Kelton being hit by one of the water bombs? It looks like her. It's very hard to tell, but Kelton may have just started working for Roach at the time that "Top Flat" was filmed. It's worth noting that Pert had dark hair in most of her films prior to working with Kelly in "Pan Handlers" where her hair is "ice cream blonde" coloured, but that's a whole different story for when I get to the "Pan Handlers" review...
What do you think of "Top Flat"? Does it feature in your list of favourite Kelly / Todd shorts? Have I been too harsh on the film?
Watch it
"Just like old times, huh, Thelma?"
"Top Flat" is available on DVD, beautifully restored by the German Filmmuseum as part of their "Female Comedy Teams" set.
Here's the link: Female Comedy Teams DVD
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