White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd

White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991)

** (out of 4)

Extremely sloppy story taken from the "non-fiction" book 'Hot Toddy' by Andy Edmonds. The film starts off on December 16, 1935 in the early morning hours when the body of Thelma Todd (Loni Anderson) was discovered slumped over in her car. The doctor calls it a suicide but an investigator for the D.A. sees that nothing is adding up so he conducts interviews with some of the people in her life including director Roland West, former husband Pat DiCicco and her mother. It turns out that all three of them are afraid of someone and that person turns out to be Todd's most recent boyfriend Lucky Luciano (Robert Davi). Having just finished reading the book that this film is based on it goes without saying that there are a lot of liberties done with the story. The book itself added bits and pieces that no one could possibly know and this film re-arranged facts so much that unless you know some of the history behind the case then it's likely you're going to be lost by the events shown. The story of Todd's death is one of the greatest mysteries of Hollywood yet this film doesn't cover many aspects of it. There's an entire suicide plot. There's West murdering her. There's DiCicco murdering her. Then you have the possibility of an accidental death. There are so many plot devices to this story that it's impossible to pack all of them into a 94-minute running time and the screenplay here is so poor and all over the place that I can't help but think most people are going to be confused. The book made the claim that Luciano had Todd killed after she refused to allow gambling in her restaurant. That's fine but this theory has a few weak points and none of them are covered here. Even worse is that the entire mystery about her death is pretty much overlooked and the events here are presented as the "truth" when many of the truths that come up here are highly unlikely and since Todd is dead and Luciano never talked they're also impossible to prove. The other problem is Anderson who was way too old to be playing Todd and not for a second did I believe her in the part. She couldn't play the happy-go-lucky nature of Todd and there's no question that Todd was terrified of this gangster yet Anderson can never get this across. Most of the supporting performances are either poor or just outrageously opposite of the people they're playing including Maryedith Burrell who plays Thelma Todd (ZaSu Pitts is overlooked in the film). Davi actually does a good job as Luciano. If you're interested in the death of Thelma Todd then it's best to know that the truth will never be known. The book is certainly more entertaining and gets to more of the story behind the events and in the end this film just seemed rushed as if it didn't even know the story it was trying to tell.

Though visually the sets and scenery give one a good color idea of what the Hollywood look of the mid 1930's was like, the character's, acting, storyline and believability turn this picture into a horribly fictionalized version of the book "Hot Toddy" which it is supposedly based on. Loni Anderson reprises her Jayne Mansfield look and at 45 years old is trying to pass off as a 29 year old. Her resemblance to Thelma Todd is zero.

The business of Thelma just wanted to be loved and kissed goodnight. Gag. Her affiliation with Lucky Luciano has always been in question and that scene of the drive by shooting ending with a passionate kiss is ridiculous. Her ex-husband Pat Di Cicco was rumored to have worked for Luciano but in what capacity is not clear. She was most likely murdered and it probably had to do with the 3rd floor of her restaurant that she was not going to allow to be turned into an illegal casino and that she made the threat of going to the D. A. and exposing the underworld infiltration that was going on to the wrong person. So much artistic license is taken that those responsible for this wreck should have their licenses taken away. The mystery of her death will never be solved (Though there is a so called author that claims he has solved it, yeah right). Roland West was a milquetoast, namby pamby puff that was only capable of murdering a movie. Pat Di Cicco probably knew more than he ever divulged and is a a good candidate for homicide given his reputation for physical abuse and violence. Accidental suicide? Thelma was too intelligent to run an engine in a closed garage. If she had walked the distance to the garage as suggested, her shoes would have been badly scuffed and the cold ocean breeze would have disheveled her hair and appearance. The scene in this movie where she is ambushed outside of her apartment entrance is plausible. I highly recommend that you read the book "Hot Toddy", take it with a grain of salt and form your own opinion. Also, watch some of Thelma Todd's movies so you have an idea of how she looked and what she was like. Wait, an epiphany!!! Loni Anderson murdered her, on the screen!

White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd is basically faithful to the Andy Edmonds biography on which it is based, but ads fictional details such as private eye investigating the case and an imprisoned gangster who tells him some of the details of the case. Roland West is portrayed as quite a bit youg than he really was, and Pat di Cicco is portrayed as quite a bit older than he really was. Somehow, Zasu Pitts is left out of the story altogether, Patsy Kelly is here portrayed as being Thelma's screen partner all along ( actually Thelma Todd was first teamed with Zasu Pitts ) but Loni Anderson did a good job of portraying Thelma Todd and altogether it made and entertaining mystery movie for television.