Alum and Eve

Alum and Eve (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd are on their way to a party when Zasu demands that Thelma speeds up and of course a cop pulls them over. Todd tells Zasu to play along so they tell the cop she was going to the hospital and, of course, the cop decides to take them there his self. Once at the hospital Zasu accidentally drinks alum and water, which makes you mouth act funny to where the doctors think she has been bitten by a rabid dog. This certainly isn't the greatest Zasu/Todd short but at the same time it's no where near their worst. I think the film starts off pretty well but the second half really doesn't work for a number of reasons. When the "dog attack" happens the doctors rush Zasu in for her medical attention but then the joke gets carried onto Thelma, the cop and then it just keeps going as more and more people drink the alum and water. The problem is that it's not funny when it happens to Zasu so it certainly didn't get any funnier once it started happening to everyone. The first portion of the film manages to get a few laughs because the scenario was actually pretty good and we get a couple nice gags out of it. One scene has Zasu ducking into the labor room and then nurses start carrying out seven or eight babies, which confuses the cop as he thinks they all belong to Zasu. Zasu certainly gets the better role here but Todd's appearance is actually bigger than the previous shorts. There's a sequence where her dress gets ripped off, which allows Roach to show off her body in a sexy nightgown, which I'm sure the men will love.

I saw this short for the first time on TCM and have watched it many times since. Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts are hilarious as a team of goofy gals trying to get away from speeding by pretending Zasu is ill and needs to go to the hospital. The entanglement of bodies at the hospital scenes are a hoot if not a bit erotic for the time. Note stunts such as the blanket over the crouches acting as a rolling bed was duplicated by the Three Stooges. Hal Roach at his best...a must see for fans of early 1930's shorts. I read Thelma Todd's bio here on IMDb and was saddened to hear of her early and intimely death. I look for ward to seeing her in more shorts and features. I understand she played in a lot of the Marx Brother's films.