Top Flat

TOP FLAT was one of the last two-reelers produced by Hal Roach which starred the comedy team of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly. The team had been making shorts since 1933 but the series was terminated by Todd's sudden death. Had it not been for this tragedy, the team would've surely enjoyed a long and flourishing career. Thelma's glamorous sophistication contrasts nicely with Patsy's plebeian earthiness. They are spirited and engaging performers who can deliver laughs from even pedestrian material.

Fortunately, the comedy material in TOP FLAT is worthy of their talents. In this short, Thelma fancies herself a great poet, although Patsy loudly disagrees. It's a delight to watch Thelma with dreamy conviction of her literary genius recite her asinine verse and to watch Patsy observe her partner with disbelief and disdain and parody her poetry with some choice barbs.

This is only the beginning of the fun. Offended by Patsy's remarks, Thelma leaves in a huff, insisting she'll make a fortune from her poetry. When Kelly next sees Todd, she's emerging from a limousine in front of a posh apartment. In fact, Todd's only a maid for a wealthy couple. But Patsy doesn't know it and proceeds to invite herself and some boisterous friends to the penthouse. The results are a delightful mixture of farce and slapstick as Patsy and her friends run amok in the flat and Thelma struggles to maintain order. As with all Hal Roach shorts, TOP FLAT benefits from a strong supporting cast, particularly Fuzzy Knight and Garry Owen as Kelly's rowdy friends. The direction by both Jack Jevne and William H. Terhune deftly executes the comic potential in the situations and moves the short along at a brisk pace.

If you're already familiar with the team of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly, you'll find TOP FLAT a wonderful showcase for their talents. If you're not familiar with them, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find them as funny and appealing as Hal Roach's celebrated team Laurel and Hardy.

Well, well, well. If it ain't that mischievous ol' rascal, Cornbread Jones! How've ya been, you old so and so? Well, how about it, kid? Happy days are here again, ain't they?

Not altogether unhappy to be reviewing this short, if that's what you wanna know! And indeed, I AM reviewing this short, and is it one of my very favorites? Well, I wouldn't answer "UNCERTAINLY" now, would I? While I think that last one over, let me fill you in on what's probably the best damn short this side o' the Mississippi.

Speaking of bodies of water, is someone goin' swimming? I guess so! And guess who? *CATCALL* And she's as sweet as a mountain full o' honeydew under that adorable little bathing cap. Like a Nathan's red hot drizzled with mustard, with the Ferris wheel whirling nearby. *sigh* Yowza! Finally, a short picture what's right up my alley!

Get a load of the plush carpet and the art deco interiors! WOW! Get a load o' the size o' this bathtub! It could use a diving board on it after all.

Thelma tries her hand at writing poetry a la Gertrude Stein, but it doesn't sell, so she finds a job as a maid, while Patsy finds work as a shopgirl at Stacy's Department Store. One night Thelma lets her cuddly pal up with a couple o' kooky swingers energetically played incurable cornballs Fuzzy Knight and Gary Owen. And get a load o' THESE wolves in sheep's clothing! Fuzzy shows off with his "Cincinnati" number, then plays waterbomb with Gary, and pretty soon the whole street is soaked with deployed waterbombs. Watch out for Dave Sharpe as one of the victims. He's playing an unsuspecting passerby who looks up at the wrong moment. There he is, just sauntering along, and uncharacteristically holding a cane, but believe me, it's him!

The rich couple that hires Thelma comes back from their party, and by then a silly little bunny rabbit named Patsy creeps around in oversized pajamas. A good way to end a marathon of theirs, that is if you're inclined to participate in one. I know I am!

Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly were a great comedy team. In this entry, they are poor (as usual) young women sharing a one room apartment. Instead of looking for a job, Thelma spends the day writing really awful poetry. Patsy's looks and comments while Thelma is reciting her poetry is priceless. Thelma insists that her poetry will make her rich and famous. Patsy disagrees and Thelma leaves in a huff. Patsy, while on her delivery girl job sees Thelma in a fur coat getting out of a limousine. She asks the driver where Thelma lives and he tells her that she lives in the penthouse at the Warwick Hotel. Patsy is amazed at how well Thema has done and decides to make a surprise visit on Thelma. When Patsy and two friends, Fuzzy and Gary, call on Thelma, she is highly dismayed for she is a maid at the penthouse not its owner. Thelma tries to get rid of them but they're having too much fun - the boys throwing paper water bombs at passersby and Patsy taking a bath in the fancy tub of the luxurious bathroom. Patsy is so pleased at this simple and unexpected pleasure that she gleefully calls a friend to tell her all about it - it's a great scene. Also very good was Fuzzy's rendition of a novelty song. I don't remember ever seeing Fuzzy Knight in anything but Westerns and his appearance here was refreshing. Plenty of laughs throughout and worthy of repeated viewings.

Top Flat (1935)

** (out of 4)

Hal Roach comedy featuring the team of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly. This time, Todd moves out to make something out of her poetry and the next time Kelly sees her she is living in a big penthouse. There are a few laughs here scattered around but once again, I just can't laugh at Patsy Kelly. Todd on the other hand is her lovely self.

Air Fright (1933)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Hal Roach short has Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly playing stewardesses on an experimental flight, which quickly turns disastrous. Todd has proved to be a funny woman but Kelly is one of the most annoying comedians I've ever seen. There are a couple laughs here but not many.

TOP FLAT was the second-to-last comedy short in the successful series pairing Patsy Kelly and Thelma Todd. Todd had previously been paired with Zasu Pitts in a successful series of shorts, but Pitts demanded a raise in pay from Hal Roach, and since Roach had Pitts and Todd on staggered contracts (as he did with Laurel and Hardy), Pitts had little leverage since Todd was still under contract, so Roach simply replaced her with the much different Patsy Kelly. While the Pitts-Todd shorts are wonderful, I've always preferred the series with Patsy Kelly because their characters are so much different and because Kelly is such a comic dynamo. In this one, Kelly is a lady who is starving because no one wants to publish her Gertrude Stein-style avant-garde poetry (this is the second comedy short I've seen in the last few months to contain an explicit parody of Gertrude Stein's writings, the other was HAIL BROTHER). Patsy Kelly, also broke and unable to pay their rent, tells Todd to give up the writing and get a job, they argue, and Todd and Kelly separate, with Todd swearing she will be rich and life in an elegant penthouse. When the pair meet again, Todd's wish seems to have come true, but it didn't really, and the majority of the short takes that premise and runs with it. Todd's persona in these shorts is a lovely, somewhat idealistic yet scrappy young lady, while Patsy Kelly is an aggressive tomboy who is wild and manic. The chemistry works beautifully. This short has a lot of physical slapstick, involving virtually everyone in the cast, and also some musical sequences, featuring two of Kelly's friends who tag along when Kelly visits Todd's penthouse. One is Fuzzy Knight, whom I had never seen doing music before. Evidently he got his start in show business as a musician, and he plays a mean jazzy piano and delivers a novelty song very well. The entire short is well-paced and full of laughs. It's strange that these shorts are not really in circulation. They would play very well today and haven't dated much. It's a shame that Ms. Todd is better known for her tragic death than for her excellent body of work. While much of her work was in comedies for Hal Roach, she also did well in a number of b-movies in dramatic and serio-comic roles. Let's hope some legit company restores and releases both the Pitts-Todd and the Kelly-Todd shorts on DVD. I'm sure Leonard Maltin would be happy to provide some kind of introduction or commentary if asked. To me, this short is perfectly done and I give it a full 10 stars.