The Misses Stooge

Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly are probably the only female comedy act in the history of film and of course it would be Hal Roach who was never shy about experimentation who would put them together. They were pretty magical and both like Hope and Crosby and successful careers as single performers. When Thelma died later in 1935, Patsy was teamed with Zasu Pitts, but it wasn't the same.

But when we talk about magic, we're not talking prestidigitation when these two take jobs as magician's assistants. That's because they have a similar lack of coordination as vaudeville hoofers, so what's left to do.

The magician here is Herman Bing who could show exasperation to rival Billy Gilbert. His reaction shots to the various foulups these two do in a performance are even funnier than Kelly and Todd. The Missing Stooge is worth seeing for him alone as well as Thelma and Patsy.

Misses Stooge, The (1935)

** (out of 4)

Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly get fired from their dance hall so the two decide to go opposite ways thinking it will be easier to get a new job. They both end up working for a magician with Kelly being the assistant and Thelma hired to be the stooge at a society problem but it goes without saying that the evening turns into a disaster. When you go through these Todd-Kelly shorts you're going to find some pretty good ones, some pretty bad ones and others that are just downright flat as if very little effort or time went into them. This one here is clearly one of the lazier ones because the screenplay really doesn't offer us any fresh or funny moments as the majority of the laughs come from silly situations that are more annoying than anything else. The highlight of the film is when Todd is put "under" the magician's spell and he levitates her. While Todd is up in the air the magician gets knocked out and Todd goes flying around the house. The rest of the magician's act pretty much centers on the girls causing one problem after another with a big explosion at the end but sadly none of this stuff is very funny. Kelly is pretty under control here considering how wild she could get at times. Todd seems to sleepwalk through the role as she doesn't seem to have very much energy.