Backs to Nature

Backs to Nature (1933)

** (out of 4)

Another not-so-good short from Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly. This time out they play city girls who can't wait for their vacation to start because they're going to the country for some peace and quiet. As you'd expect, once in the country Kelly gets into one mess after another. A fellow reviewer called Kelly one of the loudest comedians and this is certainly a true statement. Laurel, Abbott and various other comedians could play stupid so well because they made it seem natural, which isn't the case with Kelly. It seems like she tries way too hard and goes way over-the-top and it gets to the point where she's not funny but instead just annoying. I can't sit here and say I dislike all of her films because there are some I do like but I'm starting to notice that the ones that don't work are usually do to either a poor screenplay or Kelly trying too hard and becoming annoying. Here we get a mixture of Kelly not working but it's also a poor screenplay, which gives us typical jokes that you'd expect to see but does very little with them. Kelly goes to cut wood and ends up cutting a tree down on their tent. They try to cook corn but it starts to pop. They're told to put the food away and a bear ends up in their tent. This is certainly far from a bad short but there are much better out there.

I am NOT a fan of the shorts of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly--so please understand this and consider this as you read. I have never thought any of their films were anything better than mediocre, so the fact I didn't like this isn't a surprise to me. However, it IS better than many of their films--believe me, it can be a lot worse than BACKS TO NATURE. Also, it is interesting to see Ms. Todd using many of Oliver Hardy's mannerisms. Sure, they both made films for Roach Studios, but this was the first time I could see again and again little mannerisms lifted right from Oliver Hardy--including the fidgeting with the hat and the expressions. I really wonder if this was originally planned as a Laurel and Hardy short but it was passed on to the ladies--perhaps because it was an inferior script. As for Patsy Kelly (the loudest "comedienne" in history), she did a lot of the same moves Stan Laurel used to do as well--especially tripping over things or accidentally knocking things over. HOWEVER, the difference is that Stanley was dumb but sweet and well-meaning. Ms. Kelly, was more just a boorish and self-centered character that was a lot harder to like or connect with--making the film reminiscent of Stan and Ollie but without the charm.

In those depression years the short features were designed to entertain average folk on their own level in an immediate way that they could relate to. When the audience laughed it was not at the physical humor but because they recognized themselves in the less than perfect Patsy. Times were hard and there were few things available to distract from the realities outside the movie house.

It was practice then for folks to go once a week to a movie, usually the matinée on Saturday, where news of the world plus a couple of short features were shown for less than the night time price of admission. Popcorn was a nickel and at intermission we all held our tickets hoping our number would be called for a prize.

Ms.Kelly and many others provided entertainment when so many needed it. It is a mistake, I think, to compare her work to others more polished as she portrayed the everyperson through herself. Coarse, vulgar (common) and delightful all at once.

I miss her.

Ah! The great outdoors! After the girls wrapped the previous short, Patsy had an accident that almost killed her, and if she hadn't survived, I wouldn't be doing all this. She was almost killed when New York-based drag queen and powder puff Jean Malin accidentally drove them over a pier not realizing it was in reverse. Malin was a married female impersonator that had a brief role in "Arizona to Broadway" (a film that was reworked into Laurel and Hardy's 1943 bomb "Jitterbugs") and he was performing at the Venice Pier Café on 10th August 1933, with a sign in front that ominously read: JEAN MALIN'S LAST NIGHT.

This is what it ended up being. Kelly and passenger Jimmy Forlenza escaped by the skin of their teeth, but Malin did not and was killed. But she thankfully lived through the terrible ordeal, and because of it, we've been left with a handful of treasures, and I have a reason to type these up.

Sometimes I get nervous, and when I do, I reach for a bottle of this country tonic, where they refer to the great outdoors as "God's country."

It's such a lively and exterior affair, surrounded by pines, and the only firs around here are not ermine, sable, and mink but the trees themselves, with Patsy and Thelma pitching a tent, chopping wood, and being a pair of survivalists.

The girls are roughing it and by golly they could use a weekend in the wild after a hard-driving month at the department store, which included an encounter with impatient customers, a nymphomaniacal old woman, and an uncooperative monkey.

They don't visit the lake however because nobody decided to go look for fish. They left their fishing poles at home! What to do? Not to worry! Resourceful Thelma brought bacon, which the bears playfully try to snatch away from the girls when they have gotten wind of this.

A friendly forest ranger (Don Barclay) comes to warn them about cinnamon bars and one must pay heed, for they lurk around every corner in this uninhabited woodland at night. The girls attempt popping corn to no avail, roast weenies to no avail, and make coffee, all to no avail.

The humor is mostly tedious, and largely consists of the two principals barely tolerating each other. And both are fairly irritating characters, so it's understandable that they would wear on each other's nerves. What's not so understandable is why either of them undertake this adventure, as neither seem really prepared for it. There are indeed good bits/moments -- enough to get a laugh -- but the overall experience is one of constant aggravation and irritation. These people are not pleasant to listen to or be around.

Then I remember: the first name on the title card wasn't Patsy Kelly or Thelma Todd, but Hal Roach. And I realize it's basically a silent comedy from the Teens in terms of plot and pacing, just with talking audible. For all we know, this is what it actually sounded like to make silent comedies. I don't know if that's really the case, but it would certainly explain a lot.

Anyway: there is comedy here, put across by both ladies but especially Patsy Kelly. I appreciate that it isn't especially *girl* humor or *boy* humor; you could do the same scenes with actors of any gender, and it would still work the same -- dependent more on the talents of the particular players than on supporting or refuting social expectations. Which means this not only passes the Bechdel test, but arguably epitomizes the fact that such a test is valid.