Top Flat

When Patsy Kelly runs into her old pal Thelma Todd, she's impressed when Miss Todd informs her she now lives in a penthouse on Park Avenue. So Patsy and some pals drop in and make a lot of noise which annoys Miss Todd, because she's not exactly the lady of the lady.

With the departure of Zasu Pitts from Hal Roach's THE GIRLFRIEND series, a dynamic was lost; now Miss Kelly was the brash one, so that left Thelma to be stuffy, which did not suit this sparkling comedienne. Nonetheless, the situations and gags are funny.

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 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.

This is one of the better pairings of Todd and Kelly, although the script has them both straining to be funny under some barely believable comedy material. This time THELMA TODD lets PATSY KELLY think she's achieved wealth through her poetry, when all the time she's really the maid for a wealthy couple who are out for the evening.

When Kelly invites two of her obnoxious friends over to celebrate her friend's success, Todd goes along reluctantly with the ruse until it's almost time for the real owners of the swanky penthouse suite to return. The rest of the story has them running in and out of doors to hide from the wealthy couple who have no idea what's been going on.

It works up a few good laughs, particularly the "water bombs" thrown from the terrace onto unsuspecting passersby--but it's all very silly and a bit overdone. I'm not a fan of Patsy Kelly's comedy approach at playing a brass tomboy, but Todd handles her material with skill and good comic timing.

Very dated stuff, but occasionally good for a laugh.

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!