An All American Toothache

I've seen a lot of Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly films in the last year and I just can't see why they were popular. Todd is pretty enough but has little chemistry and Kelly is probably one of the loudest and most obnoxious comediennes in history--with a loud and awful voice that would have been best gagged! Plus, in this Hal Roach short, they are paired up with another staple of the studio, Mickey Daniels--who MIGHT be even more obnoxious and disagreeable than Ms. Kelly--with a horrid trademark laugh that just wasn't funny. It was VERY obvious that Roach's energy and best writing was reserved for its more profitable teams, such as Laurel and Hardy and the Little Rascals.

In this film, the plot makes no sense at all, but has something to do with Mickey having to pull a wisdom tooth correctly or else he won't be allowed to play in the college's big football game. So, Todd decides to convince her insane friend that she needs a tooth pulled. When I say insane, it really seems that she is supposed to be a schizophrenic, as the film begins with her talking to imaginary people and carrying on conversations with them! This really has NOTHING to do with the rest of the film--it just was there and didn't fit in with the movie. The remainder of the film is really pretty dreary and uninspiring--and resembles more a 3 Stooges film than anything else. The bottom line is that there are VERY FEW LAUGHS--a problem when the film is purported to be a comedy! My advice is find another Hal Roach comedy--ANY other Hal Roach comedy (provided it has different stars, that is).

Calling all dentists! Calling all orthodontists! Calling all types of teeth pullers, extractors, and the ever-enlarging dental community at large and in general....

This unfortunate short is actually famous and distinctive two-fold: This was the last time Thelma Todd appeared in a Roach short; The Boy Friends series also comes to a sad and unsatisfying close here. Sometimes I wish Roach hadn't closed up the shorts department after the release of "All-American Toothache," which is a short that doesn't always get its due, and I'm inclined to favor it, just cuz that's the type o' guy I really am. And who am I to give this little cutie a bad review, anyhow?

Speaking as your friendly, intimate, neighborhood film reviewer, I find it a smidge better than the only other Girls-Boy Friends pairing, 1931's wooden "Let's Do Things" (unless you count 1932's "Love Pains," which I do not). Jerry Mandy, the osteopath in that short, is at times a pest, and though he treats the girls to a floor show at a nightclub, and realigns their spinal cords for free, you sorta wish his face landed in a plate of spaghetti, and there it stayed. Grady Sutton's "Alabam" sure is missing here, and sorely, for it could've been bolstered by his presence, and maybe even Dorothy Granger, Gertie Messinger, and Mary Kornman could've made a splash with an appearance by them in it, but alas, this is not so. Johnny Arthur gets most of the billing and hogs a lot of screen time. Charlie Hall shows up for a quick cameo. I admire it for getting technical about dentistry, and nobody fools around except for Daniels with the pair of pliers.

I just adore the scene involving Kelly talking to an invisible customer. Talk about Abie's Irish Rose. They want raisin bread, but they don't have any! Todd gets Kelly to think she's got a bad tooth that Mickey Daniels's Elmer Crump needs to pull to win the big game, but Dr. Johnny Arthur decides her tooth should be reserved for the purposes and betterment of science and can't possibly be handled by novice Daniels. Then there's a scrimmage right in the middle of the dentist's office! The hilarity is hardly ever more present in the girls' short subjects as it is here. Let it be one of the last of the girls' films you view, and you'll thank me. Rah rah rah! Sis boom bah!

When the comedy team of Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd changed so did billing and character development. Patsy Kelly was not to be a copy of Zasu and Thelma was given the opportunity to be a little more gullible. Unfortunately, Thelma Todd's life was no bed of roses. She had an emergency appendectomy due to an abusive husband, was hostessing her "Sidewalk Cafe", making these comedy shorts and trying to appease everyone. She was dead for sometime before this ever aired and her death was suspicious though there are some egotistical self acclaimed experts out there that have "SOLVED" the mystery and I hope they read this, but she gave it her all considering scripts, directors and cast that she had to deal with and Patsy Kelly was not the problem. Her personal life became a trainwreck upon her relationship with Roland West and then her marriage to Pat Di Cicco. This episode is almost morbid to watch as she seemed to be on her way up not out. Suicide? No. Accidental Death? No. Covered up? That's how it was done then. A sad ending to a kind generous young lady with a potentially brilliant career ahead of her. Also remember, this was filmed in 1935 on a cheap budget. What can you expect? High Definition?, Steven Spielberg? Give Thelma and Patsy a break.

All-American Toothache (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A strange little short from Hal Roach has Mickey Daniels playing a star football player who won't get to play in the big game unless he can pass his dental exam by pulling out a wisdom tooth. When he fails Thelma Todd gets the bright idea of making Patsy Kelly think she has a toothache so that Mickey will have another shot to play in the game. This short was released a few months after the death of Todd making this her final short. Knowing the history makes this a little strange to watch at times but while there aren't any big laughs the short is at least pleasant enough from start to finish. The story itself is pretty weak but we get a couple good scenes including one towards the end when the dentists line up to do battle with the football players. Another nice joke happens towards the start of the picture when Kelly is "talking" with a customer who isn't in the store she's working at. Kelly actually turns in a pretty good performance here as she thankfully doesn't go over-the-top and instead plays the part pretty straight but it does get a couple laughs. Daniels is pretty annoying in his part but then again the screenplay didn't do him any favors. Todd is also quite lively in the film and manages to do fine work even though the script pretty much keeps her in the background. With this being the final Todd-Kelly short there's no question that the overall quality of the series was hit and miss but there were enough nice ones to make the series worth viewing.

Not the best entry in the series but once again, Thelma Todd shines as a gifted comedienne. I couldn't disagree more if I tried, with the previous reviewer who claims Thelma had no chemistry. I think the Chemistry between Todd and Kelly lacks the warm feel of the Todd and Pitts shorts, but I disagree that Hal Roach reserved his energies for Laurel and Hardy. We are talking about a very popular run of shorts here, Hal Roach was in fact seriously committed to providing a female comedy Team as an alternative to Laurel and Hardy and the success of the Todd and Pitts shorts meant that following Pitts exit from the series, Roach sought a replacement to try and carry on that success. Thelma Todd had wonderful screen presence and chemistry and was viewed as a gifted comedienne by Laurel and Hardy, Hal Roach, The Marx Brothers and others who saw her talent and gift for comic timing and performance. Her shorts with Zasu Pitts are in fact very much in the Laurel and Hardy mode. Using the same production crews, soundtrack music and virtual ly all of the L&H regulars, such as Billy Gilbert, Charles Hall, Anita Garvin and others. I highly recommend watching Thelma on several recently released collections featuring her films with Zasu Pitts, Patsy Kelly,Charley Chase and of course, her appearances with the Marx Brothers and Wheeler and Woolsey .