Kelly the Second

This was my first Patsy Kelly film. I am almost fifty and I've heard her name for years from my parents. But I've never seen her in anything before unless you want to count "Rosemary's Baby" which I didn't even care for.

So I watch the film and at first you're not sure what to make of her. But as someone else posted here, yes, she begins to grow on you.

As the movie progressed I could not help but keep watching. She made some funny facial expressions that can't hold a candle to Lucille Ball, yet I couldn't help but giggle at them.

I like old films from the 1930s. So this helped to keep my interest going. At the times the film/storyline was a bit lame, yet before I knew it I found myself chuckling out loud and I didn't know why. Like when Kelly, Guinn and the Charley Chase's car stopping right in the middle of the train tracks. How many times have we seen this train tracks gag before? Yet they managed to pull it off with Kelly's pant leg getting caught on the gear shifts and the car pulling out just in time, in front of film screen of a train whizzing by! I had a good laugh on that one.

This was also my first Big Boy Guinn film and he reminds a lot of Nat Pendleton, a favorite of mine. So I'll be keeping an eye out for more films of his on TCM.

I walked away from this film a Patsy Kelly fan and I am now on the hunt to see more of her. I may even rent "Rosemary's Baby" to appreciate her in that role.

A friend who saw this with me didn't laugh much except when I laughed. So a film like this might not appeal to all. But I am glad I watched it and hopefully this will get released on DVD sometime in the future.

My next goal is to check out Judy Canova and see what the big deal was about her. Stay tuned.

Patsy Kelly is in a comedy league all of her own. She has quick silver timing and excels at physical comedy which is pretty rare for a woman. I had never seen her in the lead before this film...usually being relegated to sidekick, and I think she carries the show wonderfully. She is paired nicely with Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams who plays Cecil Callahan a truck driver who accidentally gets his truck attached to Molly Kelly's car and drags her around New York making her late for her job at the lunch counter of pharmacist Dr. J. Willoughby Klum (silent star Charley Chase). Before Callahan can get Molly to her job a big brawl ensues, such that by the time they get to the pharmacy the cops are hot on their heels and arrest Klum, Callahan and Molly. They make bail by putting up the pharmacy, but the judge proclaims Callahan can't get into any more fights. Worried that the big Irish brawler is going to get them all in trouble, Molly comes up with the idea to make him a prize fighter...where he can fight for money and not get into trouble.

In the boxing business they encounter a mobster, including his dame and entourage. After Callahan's initial loss due to their naïveté, Molly and Klum set to training him properly...which involves more automotive shenanigans and puts them on a farm for Molly to ride and get chased by all sorts of animals.

I love Patsy Kelly. I really think she is delightful. I was amazed at how physically taxing this film must have been for her. I thought her and Williams made a nice romantic couple. I really enjoyed the use of the song "The Irish Washerwoman" throughout the film...as it stilled up Callahan's blood. The biggest revelation for me was Charley Chase. I couldn't believe how light on his feet he was for his and Kelly's big dance number, but also his comedic timing and acting. He was wonderful. I can't believe he didn't go on to be a bigger star after his silents. I will be seeking out more of his films to watch based on this performance.

This is a very odd film in that I mildly enjoyed it but found almost no laughs whatsoever in this Hal Roach comedy! Despite having Patsy Kelly and Charlie Chase, the movie looked like a light drama--and putting the laughs in the script was just forgotten. It is a pleasant enough film--just not funny. And, I doubt if Roach would have been happy with me saying this if he were alive today because it WAS intended as a comedy.

Part of the reason I was not terribly impressed by the film is that I am really not a huge fan of Patsy Kelly, as she always seems to be screaming her lines--subtle she sure ain't. Interestingly enough, and this is NOT meant at all to be a criticism, but Rosie O'Donnell is almost the spitting image of her.

I was also disappointed because I LOVE Charlie Chase's silent films, but found at least in the case of this film, he doesn't make a good transition to sound--as the entire chemistry that made him famous is gone. He does play a fine supporting character--but he's nothing like the character he was in silent days, that's all.

As for the plot and the other actors, they were fine though not outstanding. It almost seemed like in every way, Roach was using his B or C-string unit to make this film--saving his better stuff and energy for Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang. Speaking of Our Gang, look carefully for a very young and cute scene with Alfalfa--in his pre-Our Gang days.

NOTE: Patsy Kelly's car at the beginning of the film appears to be the same one used for a comedy bit in the Laurel and Hardy short, OUR WIFE.

In 'Kelly the Second', Patsy Kelly meets an Irish lorry-driver who rejoices in the name Cecil Callahan, and she trains him to become a prizefighter. This is a Hal Roach feature, so its production budget is at the bottom of the barrel. You might expect all parties concerned to set their sights on appropriately modest goals. Hell, no! Patsy trains Cecil to be the heavyweight champion of the *world*, and before the end of the film he gets a crack at the championship. But we know in advance that we're not going to see a realistic depiction of a heavyweight title bout on screen, because this movie's budget won't stretch that far.

Cecil is played by Guinn Williams, a fine character actor whose immense size typecast him as hulking thugs of less intellect than the hero. I'll admit that my interest in Guinn (real name Gwynn) Williams isn't entirely objective: my own name, Gwynplaine, is occasionally mistaken (usually by Americans) for a female name: I wish that Guinn Williams - a huge, macho actor - were better known, so that the gender of my own name would be a bit less cryptic to some people. Personal motives aside, Guinn Williams was a talented and versatile actor (within his physical range) who never got the lead roles he deserved. Williams spent most of his career playing the roles turned down by Nat Pendleton.

There are funny performances in 'Kelly the Second' by Edward Brophy and Billy Gilbert. Pert Kelton is vulgar (as usual), but brunette Rosina Lawrence is winsome and pleasant. Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom (whose acting talents were underrated) is effective and funny as a rival pugilist. Charley Chase was already well into his dipso decline at this point; Hal Roach seems to have stuck him into this film simply because Chase was available and under contract. I'll rate 'Kelly the Second' 3 points out of 10.

I have watched this film twice and liked it better the second time. I love Charley Chase, even when he wasn't at his best (or healthiest). His actual gray hair helps make him a more natural character. His (too) short solo scenes made me chuckle, especially when he is alone in his drug store after Cecil's disastrous first fight. He is also funny when Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer needs to "get back" his swollen coins. But alas, he wasn't the best choice for the role. His comedy wasn't loud and overly frantic, and Patsy Kelly was way too loud to be mated with Chase. We DO, though, get to see him dance!

Guinn Williams was mediocre. Patsy Kelly did a fine job IF you like her style of comedy. Edward Brophy and his "thugs" are good. There are way too many back-projection scenes and use of doubles that give the movie a low-budget feeling, THOUGHT they did use a lot of real people in the fight audiences. OH, and a lot of farm animals...

Patsy's last CAR, on the other hand, I absolutely LOVED: A Duesenberg.

So while not the best film of 1936, it is decent and you need to watch it if you are a Chase fan, even if he simply wasn't in enough feature films.