The Tin Man

Patsy and Thelma have an escaped prisoner hiding in their car but don't know it. The arrive at the home of an insane man (Clarence Wilson) and he decides to scare them with his bizarro robot man. There really isn't a lot more to the plot than this.

This is a terrible little short film...just terrible. While I have never been much of a fan of the Patsy Kelly/Thelma Todd shorts, this one is without a doubt the dopiest one I've ever seen. It's shrill, nonsensical and a bit embarrassing to watch. It appears as if there wasn't much in the way of script and the film gives neither Kelly nor Todd much to do but stand around and watch stupid things happen all around them. The ONLY thing I liked in the film was seeing the skeletal Clarence Wilson overact--and that really didn't account for much.

Tin Man, The (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM short has Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly stopping at an old dark house where they run into a mad scientist and his robot. This is one of the better Todd and Kelly shorts I've seen but the real star here is the robot. Both the girls are in fine form but the screenplay really doesn't allow for them to do too much. You get a few of their typical falling down scenes but most of the jokes are written around the robot. The robot, clearly played by a man with a mask on, adds some really good laughs including the ending where the electrical equipment goes nuts and sends him into a rage. Another good joke involves the girls trying to open a window only to find several more.

Thelma and Patsy wind up in a spooky house, where Clarence Wilson has built a radio-controlled mechanical man who speaks with the voice of Billy Bletcher. Matthew Betz, a specialist in hoboes, tough guys and guys named 'Blackie' -- plays an escaped prisoner with a gun who winds up in the mix.

Although the Roach series had declined since Miss Kelly had taken the place of Zasu Pitts, Misses Todd and Kelly were excellent farceurs and physical comedians. You would expect a funnier short in a movie directed by James Parrott, one of the studios better directors. However, Parrott had become erratic and he would direct only a couple more shorts; he would be relegated to gag writer and die five years later, aged 41, of a drug addiction.

This is the first Thelma Todd-Patsy Kelly short I've seen, and it appears that they were victims of a scheme to cast them as a female Laurel and Hardy. Not a good decision, since Patsy isn't convincing as a Stan-like nitwit, and when Thelma beats her up for her mistakes she seems sadistic and much less likable than Ollie (or Moe for that matter). The plot is a shapeless hash about a mad scientist creating a robot (played by a guy covered in construction paper).

This short has one really beautiful scene. Wanting to distract the menacing robot or to somehow boggle its mind, Patsy has an idea: she'll perform an amazing trick with five spoons. First she lines them up end to end on a table, then indicates by elaborate gestures how she will tap the first spoon, and how it will strike the second spoon, and the second spoon will hit the third one and so on, ending with the last spoon flipping into a glass. Her pantomime & timing are superb, and it's a wonderfully unexpected tactic against a robot. Patsy executes the trick, with the result that the final spoon goes down the low-cut back of Thelma's dress. The whole sequence, which lasts maybe 12 seconds, is the one inspired sight gag in an otherwise ordinary film. I always enjoy seeing Clarence Wilson, but he isn't give much to do here. I'd be interested to see if there are perhaps better entries among the Thelma Todd-Patsy Kelly comedies.

Fun short starring Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd has the two girls wandering into a spooky house and meeting a goofy-looking robot created by a mad scientist. Oh and there's an escaped convict thrown in for good measure. I can't say I laughed much at the star duo's antics but I did laugh at the robot and the wacky scientist. I enjoyed the old dark house and classic old sci-fi elements; the mechanical gizmos and whatnots. I also liked all the stuff with the car because, well, I just like those little slices of history I guess. The overall production is nice for the period. This is my first Patsy & Thelma short, although I'm familiar with the both of them from their other work. I enjoyed it for what it is but I won't be rushing out to find some more of their shorts. Still, there are worse ways to spend fifteen minutes.