Sneak Easily

Sneak Easily (1932)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Hal Roach short has a scientist on trial for creating a pill that he fed to his wife, which eventually blew up and killed her. The prosecuting attorney (Thelma Todd) keeps having trouble with her case due to a dumb juror (Zasu Pitts) who accidentally swallows the evidence and soon will blow up herself. This short runs seventeen-minutes and sadly it doesn't get funny until the last minute when everyone goes back to the home of the scientist so that he can try to create another formula to take away the explosion, which is now in Pitts stomach. The comedy in the film is pretty dry and it never really works. Pitts has a chance to do some physical humor but none of this works either because we've seen it countless times before and we've certainly seen it better done. We get the typical stuff of her messing with the judge and another scene with her bothering the other jurors. Todd keeps the film moving with her good charm.

This was director Gus Meins' first attempt to correct the mistakes George Marshall had made in the previous Pitts-Todd comedies. Marshall attempted to give ZaSu and Thelma a slapstick emphasis. Seeing women perform these antics was just not funny. In "Sneak Easily", Meins gives most of the physical stuff to supporting players Billy Gilbert, James C. Morton and Bobby Burns. As always, they are welcome players in a Roach comedy and chew up the scenery as usual. The real problem with the film is its flimsy premise. Burns, a mad doctor, is on trial for blowing up his wife with an explosive pill. Thelma is the inept defense attorney. ZaSu is a juror. Thelma should have never been cast as the attorney. The film would have worked better had both Thelma and ZaSu been selected as jurors. Establishing the relationship that Thelma and ZaSu are room mates weakens the film. How could ZaSu have ever been selected as a juror with that connection to the attorney. The second reel is a slapstick dash to the doctor's house, since ZaSu has swallowed one of his exploding pills. Some of the sight gags are clever, but as a whole, the film is a misfire.

Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts exhibit little of their usual chemistry in this outing of their 'Girl Friends' series for Hal Roach. I attribute some of the weakness to Gus Meins' directing, but mostly to an unsuitable script in which Thelma Todd plays a defense attorney and Zasu her housemate who has somehow snuck onto the jury and takes delight in lines like 'I knew her when.' Most of the pleasure in this short is due to James Morton's slow burns as the judge and to Billy Gilbert's over-the-top performance as the prosecuting attorney. Art Lloyd's photography is, as usual, spot on for a slapstick comedy and Billy Bletcher can be heard briefly as a police dispatcher.