The Old Bull

The girls (Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts) take a drive to the country where they nearly hit every farm animal from bull to chicken to bees that crosses their path. Next thing you know they crash through a barn door, encounter the wrath of an angry farmer, and are soon making the long walk home in the dark wearing dresses and t-strap high heels (Zasu: "Oh, my poor feet!). But wait, news flash: a lion has just escaped from a nearby circus!

This short comedy is very funny and had me laughing out loud quite a bit, particularly in the second half after the lion is on the loose. I love the relationship between Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts, they appear to be real pals and as usual with their films, the two actresses really seem to be having a good old time filming this - Thelma Todd even appears to be holding back chuckles in one scene where they are struggling to climb over each other in their car seat. An entertaining short, lots of fun.

Old Bull, The (1932)

* (out of 4)

Extremely bad comedy from Hal Roach is without question one of the worst I've seen from his studio. Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd play friends who take a drive into the country where they get into trouble with a farmer after they drive through his barn door. He forces them to leave the car there and walk, which isn't good when a lion escapes from a circus. These Pitt-Todd shorts were usually hit and miss but I've yet to see one as bad as this thing here. I watch hundreds of shorts each year and rarely do I give them such a low rating but this one here was just bad in so many ways. I normally don't call out bad rear projection but I have to here because it's so poorly done and edited together that it really takes you out of the film. There's even one brief spot where the girls, with the projection, run over a bull yet of course it doesn't match up with what's actually happening on the screen. Another rather embarrassing moment happens when Pitts is bent over her car and the lion jumps on her back. This was 1932 so I'm sure it was an innocent thing but it look rather dirty when viewed today. Both Pitts and Tood have seen better days as neither of them are very funny here but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they knew this thing was a stinker.

I've seen quite a few Zasu Pitts/Thelma Todd films lately and frankly I haven't been overly impressed. Despite coming from Hal Roach, these shorts don't even come close to the quality of Laurel and Hardy or Our Gang/Little Rascals. In fact, they don't even surpass the Boy Friends series from Roach (which I used to think were the worst series films from Roach). The problem is that Zasu and Thelma have practically no chemistry together. They seem to be very unlikely friends and don't have much of a spark between them. It's obvious that this is a lower-tier series, as the usual Hal Roach quality just isn't so apparent.

As for this movie, it starts with probably the worst rear-projected driving scenes I have ever seen. It is so ridiculously unreal and faked that it is obvious Roach and company just didn't care. The similar scene from Laurel and Hardy's COUNTY HOSPITAL isn't a great rear-projected sequence either, but compared to this one, it's a masterpiece! The out of control stunt driver sequence culminates in the Zasu severely damaging a farm and the farmer decides to keep the car until they pay for damages. So, naturally what will happen next? Yep, a lion escapes from the circus and runs amok on the farm!! Contrived? You betcha. Funny? No.

Thelma Todd decides to let Zasu drive the car she borrowed. Zasu proceeds to crash into everything, eventually ending up in a barn. The farmers keep the car and send Zasu and Thelma packing. Meanwhile a lion escapes, Thelma and Zasu try to get the car back, and Zasu bumps into stuff.

Not a bad comedy, though Zasu is better served in this one than Thelma, as she gets more opportunities to display a knack for Olive Oyl type physical comedy. (Zasu's unique relationship with her arms and legs get ample display here.) Thelma's comic character here is Oliver Hardy like (right down to the exasperated stares into the camera), which is a perverse kind of miscasting. Todd is very funny in movies like Horsefeathers (Marx brothers) and Fra Diavolo (Laurel and Hardy) where her seductive good looks are part of the character. Here -- oddly -- they are ignored. Guess Hal Roach figured the guys on the farm were more interested in the Old Bull than the pretty girl.

Todd and Pitts are a good team whose characters nicely complement one another. As usual, it's Pitts that provides most of the laughs. In this one, Pitts' shoe catches on the gas pedal of their car and they careen across the country side finally crashing through a barn. The understandably angry farmer confiscates their car to help pay for the damages and the two are sent on their way. Instead of walking to the nearest town they inadvertently walk in a circle and end up back at the farm. They hear on the farmer's radio that a lion has escaped from the circus and become disparate to get their car back. Pitts tussles with some pigs and a duck and there's general wacky mayhem. And, of course, they get to meet the lion face to face. At the start of the short there is some pretty poor back screen projection but this can be forgiven because it is followed by a lot of laughs. Another funny short from Pitts and Todd.