A Comedy Without the Laughs
One Track Minds (1933)
** (out of 4)
Thelma Todd wins a contest that sends her out to Hollywood where she'll be given a screen test by the Roaring Lion Studios. Zasu Pitts comes along on the train ride and sure enough chaos follows and especially after a crazed director named Von Sternheim gets on board. This short tries to be a spoof of Hollywood but the majority of the jokes are rather lame and with the exception of a redneck nothing here is overly funny. The majority of the running time has the girls arguing with various people including the director as well as the train conductor who just happens to be played by Billy Gilbert. The early stuff dealing with Zasu starting trouble isn't very funny and the "apperance" of George 'Spanky' McFarland just doesn't add any laughs. There are a couple shots at so-called actresses coming to Hollywood but none of them are that funny and even the crazed director throws a few shots at Todd but again, they're simply not funny. The second portion of the film has a redneck played by Jack Clifford getting on board. The guy brings his trained bees and he also has a major hearing problem and I must admit that his entire act made me laugh. Clifford clearly steals the show as he's the only one who gets any laughs. It should go without saying but at the very end the bees get loose and cause trouble and the special effects used here are more embarrassing than the "dots" that would be used decades later for THE SWARM.
** (out of 4)
Thelma Todd wins a contest that sends her out to Hollywood where she'll be given a screen test by the Roaring Lion Studios. Zasu Pitts comes along on the train ride and sure enough chaos follows and especially after a crazed director named Von Sternheim gets on board. This short tries to be a spoof of Hollywood but the majority of the jokes are rather lame and with the exception of a redneck nothing here is overly funny. The majority of the running time has the girls arguing with various people including the director as well as the train conductor who just happens to be played by Billy Gilbert. The early stuff dealing with Zasu starting trouble isn't very funny and the "apperance" of George 'Spanky' McFarland just doesn't add any laughs. There are a couple shots at so-called actresses coming to Hollywood but none of them are that funny and even the crazed director throws a few shots at Todd but again, they're simply not funny. The second portion of the film has a redneck played by Jack Clifford getting on board. The guy brings his trained bees and he also has a major hearing problem and I must admit that his entire act made me laugh. Clifford clearly steals the show as he's the only one who gets any laughs. It should go without saying but at the very end the bees get loose and cause trouble and the special effects used here are more embarrassing than the "dots" that would be used decades later for THE SWARM.
- Michael_Elliott
- 21 feb 2011