Film #10 - Let's Do Things (1931)

 

     

Starring ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd.

 

Featuring George Byron and Jerry Mandy.

 

Directed by Hal Roach.

 

Synopsis

"My feet haven't been so good lately"

 

    



"Let's Do Things" starts with ZaSu and Thelma working at the music counter in Waltham's, the world's largest store.

Thelma sings a song - "Them There Eyes" - which attracts plenty of male customers, but not many sales.

ZaSu doesn't do much better trying to sell sheet music, much to the disgruntlement of the manager.

ZaSu's boyfriend, Milton (George Byron), turns up with news that he's been put in touch with a big doctor from Boston who wants to take them out to a cabaret. Thelma agrees to go as the doctor's date for the evening.

The girls get ready for the big evening.

Milton arrives early so sets about eating most of the food that the girls have purchased. The doctor (Jerry Mandy) arrives at the girls' apartment. It turns out he is an osteopath (which doesn't go down well with Thelma).

She refuses to go, claiming that she has a bad headache. This doesn't put the doctor's back out at all; instead he rushes into the bedroom to cure Thelma of her headache.

After throwing her around for a bit, an irked Thelma tells him that she is cured, so they all set out for the club.

In the club, ZaSu's feet are killing her so she takes off her shoes.

A variety of entertainment takes place whilst the foursome sit awaiting dinner, during which Thelma accidentally kicks ZaSu's shoes out from under the table.

The doctor brags about a special strong alcoholic concoction that he has made. He says it will kill all pain, so ZaSu rubs some into her feet. Unknowingly, she also pours a large quantity into her drink.

More dancers appear to entertain the guests, but the lead girl falls over, hurting her back. The doctor goes out back to treat her. Thelma takes the opportunity to confide in ZaSu that she plans to get rid of the doctor by pretending to be drunk. She asks ZaSu to pretend to be drunk as well.

ZaSu drinks up, actually getting drunk. Meanwhile the dancing girls return after the doctor has worked on them - they can't walk properly, and it looks like his treatment has done more harm than good!

Thelma pretends to be drunk, and is shocked to discover that ZaSu's performance of drunkenness is a little too real! The doctor dances with Thelma to stop her making a nuisance of herself - so he tells the manager.

Milton and ZaSu's attempts to dance do not go well. Without her shoes, ZaSu slips on the floor and gets chewing gum stuck to her sock.

The doctor gets a bit too enthusiastic whilst dancing with Thelma, and ends up going through a table. He is removed forcibly from the establishment by a waiter (Charlie Hall).

Trying to find her shoes, ZaSu eventually ends up underneath a dining trolley. She is carted out of the club by Thelma, with Milton trailing them.

Back at their apartment, Thelma prepares some food as she is starving. Milton sits down and is about to have a serious conversation with ZaSu, so it would appear.

Instead, he just asks for a bit of pie, so Thelma throws it in his face!

 

Review

"Some girls say 'yes' - very popular!"

 

 

 

I thought we'd kick things off with the first ever review of a Pitts / Todd short on Magnolia's Musings by focussing on ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd's first film together in their series of shorts for Hal Roach, "Let's Do Things".

And there's a nice gag right at the very start of the film.

The girls work at Waltham's department store, New York, the same store in the classic Clara Bow film "IT" where Bow, as shop worker Betty Lou, woos the boss, Cyrus Waltham. I'd love to have seen a quick shot of a Bow lookalike working in the store in those opening moments! That would have been a nice touch! But still, whereas old Cyrus Waltham fell in love with Betty Lou, the store manager whom Todd and Pitts work for doesn't like them very much, and there's some nice comedy there.

So, what do I think of the film and the Pitts / Todd pairing?

Well, the film is actually a really nice showcase for the success of the Pitts / Todd pairing. In short, I think this is a really great short to kick off the series. It's solid, with some decent gags and a large supporting cast, and although I wouldn't consider it to be one of the best Pitts / Todd films, it's certainly not one of the worst.

I'm going to focus on the Pitts / Todd pairing throughout this review, but I have a few general thoughts to jot down here initially. The pair have an interesting dynamic that is, as would be expected, very different to the later Kelly / Todd shorts. Typically, Pitts makes most of the mistakes in the films, bumbling along innocently like Stan Laurel. Pitts is also reliant on Todd to get her out of certain scrapes and predicaments that the pair find themselves in. Pitts's catchphrase - if I can call it that - of "Ohhh, dear" becomes more and more charming the more you hear it mumbled as mishaps occur.

And Pitts is an incredible comic actress with a penchant for a deadpan expression during the high slapstick moments.

Todd's role is rather fluid in the shorts with ZaSu. Arguably, she does a greater amount of slapstick in them than she does in the Kelly shorts, but she is still the beautiful object of desire for (m)any men. It's interesting that her character is less grouchy in the Pitts shorts, and Todd seems to lose her temper more with Kelly than she does with poor defenceless Pitts. Generally Todd seems happy with ZaSu's company, but in the Kelly shorts, her character often feels lumbered (or cursed) with Kelly's company.

But all in all, her slapstick comedy is wonderful stuff, and it's interesting in this particular short that Todd plays the cautious, discerning dame, whereas Pitts is a bit love-struck with Milton (this is often flipped in the Kelly / Todd shorts where Todd is hopelessly in love with someone and Kelly acts as the brash and anti-romantic friend).

Sure, Todd is beautiful, but her acting talent is well utilised in this film: singing, crawling under tables, scowling, frowning, pulling hilarious facial expressions, and getting thrown around by an osteopath. Coupled to ZaSu's elegant slapstick - such as trying to get off a painful pair of shoes or dancing on tiptoe - and her meek, timid, but endearing voice, the partnership has a lot of strengths.

So what's so funny about this particular film?

Firstly, the girls are given some nice gags to work with that are a nice blend of physical slapstick, comical facial expressions, and hilarious one-liners. I'll draw attention to these moments as we go along, but I wanted to mention the second reason why this short is a good starter for the series: the leading men (George Byron as Milton and Jerry Mandy as the doctor) are highly comic and great, whimsical characters who have a plethora of humorous traits and one-liners between them.

In fact, it's usually one of my greatest irks in the whole of the Pitts / Kelly / Todd series that the leading men in some of the episodes are -incredibly- characterless; dull, insipid, flat, and tedious. Just watch "Catch As Catch Can", "The Pyjama Party" or "Three Chumps Ahead" for fine examples of how leading men playing 'boyfriends' in the shorts can ruin them totally.

But it's difficult isn't it? After all, these shorts are films starring Pitts / Todd and Kelly / Todd - so the boyfriends can't steal the limelight too much, can they? That's true to a certain extent, but "Let's Do Things" gives a rare opportunity for zany boyfriends to complement ZaSu and Thelma's comedy act, and in my opinion, elevate the women.

And besides, men with real character do make frequent successful appearances in these shorts (Billy Gilbert, Don Barclay, Arthur Housman), without stealing the limelight from the women, and again, those shorts are generally good thanks to the certain charm that those men have by playing memorable and quirky characters.

So I guess I'm basically saying that generally, any films where 'boyfriends' appear are typically a bit rubbish, thanks to the incredible dullness of the 'boyfriends.'

I've taken a long time to say it, but "Let's Do Things" really works because the boyfriends are interesting, original characters!

George Byron's Milton has a passion for all food and spends most of his screen time eating. He also appears wonderfully distant with regards to conversation, sporting a puzzled look on his face most of the time. He's even comically oblivious to the fact that Thelma really dislikes him, and all of this makes for good fun in the film. He also takes a pie to the face in the final moments of the film.

Jerry Mandy (whom eagle-eyed readers might have already identified as the sailor frightened by Stan Laurel in "Why Girls Love Sailors") is also a great actor, full of comical, exaggerated facial expressions (no doubt honed from his days in silent films).

He gets a decent amount of opportunity to engage in slapstick - notably jerking Thelma around on a bed trying to cure her headache, and diving through a table and getting a face full of spaghetti.

So it's a double-thumbs up from Magnolia for two funny men complementing the girls in this short.

Shame they didn't always get the 'boyfriends' right...

Anyway, the stars of the show, of course, have the best laugh-out-loud moments.

Some of my favourite ZaSu and Thelma moments include the following: ZaSu dancing along and joining in to Thelma's rendition of "Them There Eyes", and later on trying to sell sheet music in her inimitable way: "I'm Throwing Myself Away - only 25 cents".

Watching the girls do their make-up in front of the camera: It's clear that Thelma is well-used to applying make-up, but ZaSu looks outside of her comfort zone, comically covering her whole face in white powder! Poor ZaSu doesn't fare much better once they get to the club. Worried that the dress that she borrowed from Thelma shows too much flesh, she'd put a white shirt on underneath it, much to the merriment of the other patrons. Thelma comes to the rescue. It's a bit cruel to poor ZaSu (giving her the role of the 'unconventional' woman to be laughed at rather than adored like Thelma), but it does make for good comedy.

Seeing Thelma get thrown about on the bed as the doctor tries to cure her headache is also hilarious. She looks stunned by his treatment!

ZaSu also plays the drunk well, innocently making a fool of herself, and you can't help but feel sorry for her when she accidentally gets chewing gum on her foot. This comes after she has comically mimicked the dancing entertainment for the evening by moving her hands and feet in time to the music whilst sitting down watching the pros perform. Once again, it's her little mannerisms that can garner the greatest laughs from the viewer.

Seeing a drunk ZaSu carted away underneath the dining trolley by everybody's favourite cameo actor, Charlie Hall, is also a nice moment. He pops up everywhere, does Charlie Hall.

Other standout moments include the look on the doctor's face once he lands in the plate of spaghetti, which is brilliant, and you feel that Milton gets his just deserts when Thelma throws a pie in his face. He was asking for that!

What do you think of "Let's Do Things" and the Pitts / Todd pairing?
 

Watch it

"Ohhhh, dear!"

 

Sadly, "Let's Do Things" is currently unavailable on DVD. Ohhhhh, dear!

 

Film #8 - Next Door Neighbors (1931)

     

Starring Edgar Kennedy and Franklin Pangborn.

 

Featuring Mabel Forrest, Arthur Housman, and Pert Kelton.

 

Directed by Harry Sweet.

 

Synopsis

"Oh! I beg your pardon!"

 

   



"Next Door Neighbors" begins in the Green household, with Mr Green (Edgar Kennedy), a composer by profession, writing music on his piano.

His wife (Mabel Forrest) is busy whisking eggs and humming, and the noise disrupts Mr Green from his composition. After an angry tirade delivered to his wife, Mr Green carries on.

Meanwhile, next door, Mr Andrews (Arthur Housman) is trying to recover from a headache - I like to think it's caused by a hangover. He lies down on the sofa complete with towel for his forehead, whilst his wife (Pert Kelton) does housework.

Outside, the landlord (Franklin Pangborn) is building a fence as his son (George Billings) watches on.

The phone rings in the Andrews residence, much to Mr Andrews' annoyance. Mrs Andrews answers it. It's a call for Mrs Green. Mrs Andrews has a system where if she knocks on the wall three times and Mrs Green knocks back on the wall three times, it means that she is coming over to get the phone.

The knocking disturbs Mr Green, but his wife goes over to take the call.

As she goes outside, Mrs Green accidentally steps on the landlord's fence that he is building, and snaps one of the panels. The call is actually for Mr Green, so Mrs Green has to go back to her house to get her husband. She steps on another fence panel accidentally and breaks it, much to the landlord's annoyance.

 

An irate Mr Green goes next door to take the phone-call breaking more panels on his way there and back.

Mrs Andrews goes next door, breaking more fence panels on her way over and annoying her husband by letting the door slam.

More broken fence panels, more slamming of doors and more phone calls occur to the annoyance of the landlord, Mr Andrews, and Mr Green.

Eventually, a full-scale 'tit-for-tat' war escalates between Mr Andrews and Mr Green.

In the ensuing destruction, Mr Green rips off the Andrews' back door, Mr Andrews returns the favour, Mr Green upsets the Andrews' dinning table, and Mr and Mrs Andrews dance a waltz around the Green's living room, destroying most of their furniture in the process.

Mr Green grabs his shotgun but when he loads it, the gun goes off and he destroys his music manuscript.

The Greens go round to the Andrews' house and use the phone to call the police station. Before the call is completed, Mr Andrews rips the phone off the wall!

All four of them set off in a huff towards the Green residence, walking across and breaking the entire fence that the landlord has just finished making.

In the Green residence, Mr Andrews is on the floor in some kind of leg-lock administered by Mr Green. Mrs Andrews whacks Mr Green with an umbrella whilst Mrs Green hits Mr Andrews with a broom.

The landlord storms in and demands that they all get out and leave his properties, destroying Mr Green's piano in the process.

The film ends with the landlord finally in peace to finish his fence, only for his son to snap a panel right in front of him! The landlord finally snaps and moves angrily towards his son...
 

 

 

Review

"We love to be neighborly"

 

 

Here at Magnolia's Musings, I always take an interest in "lesser known" comedy shorts. Whilst in the coming weeks I'm finalising reviews of classic films by Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, I thought that it would be worthwhile to write a short review of a short film that I stumbled upon by chance after purchasing Volume I of Alpha Video's "Rediscovered Comedies of Edgar Kennedy".

Magnolia's Musings was set up to offer my own thoughts on the giants of black and white comedy, but it's also important, I feel, to use this space as a place where overlooked, ignored films can gain some attention.

You're probably thinking that there's a reason why some short films are never mentioned on popular review sites or available easily on widely distributed, lavishly restored sets: It's because they're really not that good, right?

But that argument doesn't wash with me. Take, for example, the fact that here in the UK, you can't purchase any official Charley Chase or Harry Langdon sets because they've never been given UK releases on DVD. By the argument above, because they're unavailable, should I treat those clowns as "minors" and "unworthy" of my attention? No!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this blog was set up in part to give coverage to those films that you might not necessarily have thought deserving of a review. Perhaps some of them you haven't seen before. Perhaps you might be encouraged to go and watch them. If so, great!

But of chief import is that here at Magnolia's Musings, I'm not drawn into the school of critics who will look to tell you that "Film X" is rubbish and unworthy of your attention. If you like comedy, there's always something of interest in watching obscure or unmerited films. Hopefully, they should make you laugh, even if they aren't "classics".

Finally, Magnolia's Musings is not a blog that takes itself too seriously. I like giving space to the unknown -and- the celebrated, but ultimately these posts are little more than my (lightly edited) streams of consciousness that I feel I have to jot down on paper after watching these films. It's not a scholarly blog, nor is it a critical blog where you will find production dates, actor biographies, or obscure details. Above all, I like writing about laughter, and films that make me laugh.

"Next Door Neighbors" is a film very much in that vein above that I've been writing about. A film that is obscure; not very well-known, probably not watched very often, and certainly it has never been painstakingly restored.

It's also not a classic, and I mean that in it a nice way.

It will make you laugh in places, but you won't be in a rush to watch it again. It is essentially, a product of its time; to be watched for light entertainment, enjoyed, and forgotten about.

However, if you're a fan of comedy from this period (and indeed the Hal Roach studios) it does feature some old friends that you'll be happy to see.

For the Roach fans, you'll be pleased to see that Edgar Kennedy is in good form, and it's also a chance to see every Roach fans' favourite drunk, Arthur Housman, as an un-inebriated Mr Andrews. There's also a minor role for onetime Hal Roach Studios actress, Pert Kelton.

One of my favourite moments in the short is when Arthur Housman and Pert Kelton dance a waltz round the Green's living room, destroying many of their possessions in the process. Both show their athleticism - kicking and prancing around fallen objects and tables.

Pert's easy on the ear - nice accent - and Housman's facial expressions are as charming as ever, although he's so typecast as a drunk in my mind that it's hard to see him performing any other role without being disappointed. I keep thinking: "He's going to do something really funny in a minute," but it never quite comes in this short, sadly.

Unsurprisingly, Edgar Kennedy is the star of the short. I really don't want to use the phrase: "Kennedy is the master of the 'slow-burn'" seeing as -everybody- seems to mention that phrase whenever they mention Kennedy, but, well, he does a great job here with an under-par script in making the 'slow-burn' work!

I could have said: "Kennedy will fix it" - the script, that is.

I should have said that, shouldn't I?

Good Kennedy moments in this film include ripping the Andrews' backdoor from off its hinges to gain access to their house and telephone, and accidentally firing his shotgun at his music manuscript, destroying it in the process. I actually feel sad for Kennedy, lying on the floor crying with his hard work destroyed!

  
Before watching this short, I hadn't heard of Franklin Pangborn, but apparently he was an extremely talented actor known for his comic prowess in films of the late 20s, 30s, and 40s. He gets top billing in the list of actors, above Edgar Kennedy. 

Part of the fun of watching Franklin Pangborn as the landlord is to see his reaction to every broken fence panel that Mr and Mrs Green and Mr and Mrs Andrews ruin. The joke of people "accidentally" stepping on a fence panel could get tiresome quickly, but the humour is maintained in this short rather than the gag becoming repetitive by the fact that you're constantly wondering whether that particular broken fence panel will be the last straw and see the landlord snap.

Even though the resolution to all of those broken fence panels is expected and a little too predictable - the landlord throwing out his violent tenants - the film will go down in history in my mind as featuring one of the creepiest endings to a short ever, with a snarling Pangborn advancing closer and closer towards the camera (the camera acting as a substitute for his own son's eyes). Check out the picture at the end of this post (if you dare!)!

Even though I'm not one to whinge at picture quality very often - I got through my poor quality copy of "Seven Footprints to Satan", after all, and still enjoyed the film - it is a bit of a shame that at several moments in this short you can't quite make out some of the actors facial expressions - especially long distance shots - but still, who am I to complain. Will this ever be cleaned up and loving restored? No! Of course not! 

Overall, the film is solid if unspectacular, with a few nice novelties. It's worth a watch, if you haven't seen it before, but you probably won't be in a rush to watch it again.

And the ending will creep you out...

What do you think of "Next Door Neighbors"?
 

Watch it

"If I find my shotgun, you'll see what I'm going to do!"

 

 

"Next Door Neighbors" is available on DVD as part of "The Rediscovered Comedies of Edgar Kennedy: Volume 1," released by Alpha Home Entertainment.

 

Here's the link: Edgar Kennedy Volume 1 DVD