Roamin' Vandals

Respectfully to correct a previous commentator, Thelma Todd would not die until late 1935. When "Roamin' Vandals" was made in 1934, Patsy Kelly was still starring with her in their own series of shorts. So why the decision was made to star Kelly in this separate one-off is a bit of a mystery. It really doesn't belong to the style of the Pitts-Todd / Todd-Kelly series, but is part of a strain of comedy part-musicals from Roach Studios, despite not containing much music. The two or three little numbers are pleasant but inconsequential -- a girl in a skimpy costume for sex appeal and the humor of Kelly reluctantly playing an Indian squaw.

The Indian here who decides to take Patsy as his wife is, of course, wildly stereotyped, so if that kind of thing bothers you, stay away. He's right out of stock stories about the wild west medicine show, which is where this short gets its concept. The idea is that Patsy is constantly getting Billy Gilert's traveling medicine wagon into trouble with her brash Irish temper, but beyond that's there's no plot unity to speak of. I think Kelly's comedy character worked better in more supposedly realistic surroundings. There is little room for gag sequences or plot complications to develop, and not really an character-based humor either. At best it's a throwaway fun watch that doesn't approach the brilliance of a lot of what else Hal Roach's studio was producing at this time. The best sequence, albeit shoehorned in, is a pretty funny scene in which, to Billy Gilbert's dismay, the blanks that are supposed to be firing at him in a faked sharpshooting display have been replaced by real bullets.

This isn't a great comedy short. I had the feeling that the production studio wanted to do something after the untimely death of Thelma Todd back then. So Thelma's partner Patsy Kelly was paired with another blond, Lillian Miles, who appeared as a singer in an Astaire/Rogers musical. Miles does a nice number as a Little Egypt type dancer in the traveling vaudeville show that Patsy heads, going from town to town in a ramshackle wagon with the law not far behind. I was reminded of a much better, much longer W.C. Fields movie which also featured a traveling road show just one step ahead of the authorities.

A lot of minor acts take place, including a segment involving Indians that is more embarrassing than funny.

Still, if you like to look at blonds who can shake their hips, even for a few seconds of screen time, here is a nice short. Just close your eyes to the non-PC segments involving Indians, and close your ears to the very loud Patsy Kelly. She really needed a contrasting personality, and Thelma Todd was perfect in all the shorts they did.

Roughing it in the wild with this band of carnies can be a lot more fun than you could possibly imagine. Gilbert heads this ragtag pack and has some very funny and silly moments, especially with a steering wheel that goes cockeyed and turns into glop from the heat. The local cops are onto this bunch and their frontier brand of banana oil. Or snake oil, in this case. Kelly disguises herself as a native, and has some delicious parts in it, too. As usual. And when she's dolled up as a squaw, I'm inclined to be banging on a bass drum and wielding a tommyhawk.

The director of this short doesn't sound familiar to me; it seems the director would have been more along the lines of a James Parrott or a Gus Meins, but there's loads o' fun to be had anyhow. Hard work it aint'! If I'm not mistaken, which I'm not, I believe the Ozark-style opening theme of the short (which was probably provided by the immensely talented Leroy Shield) happens to be called "Ezra." Just a tiny little fact I'm aware of. You usually hear it whenever a rube or two is seen in one of Roach's silver screen gems.

I don't wanna give anything else away for fear it might cause you to avoid it if you consider this review inferior. I urge you to look for this gem and enjoy it as much as I sure did!