I saw this short for the first time on TCM and have watched it many times since. Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts are hilarious as a team of goofy gals trying to get away from speeding by pretending Zasu is ill and needs to go to the hospital. The entanglement of bodies at the hospital scenes are a hoot if not a bit erotic for the time. Note stunts such as the blanket over the crouches acting as a rolling bed was duplicated by the Three Stooges. Hal Roach at his best...a must see for fans of early 1930's shorts. I read Thelma Todd's bio here on IMDb and was saddened to hear of her early and intimely death. I look for ward to seeing her in more shorts and features. I understand she played in a lot of the Marx Brother's films.
4 Reviews
The First Half is at Least Funny
Michael_Elliott22 February 2011
Alum and Eve (1932)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd are on their way to a party when Zasu demands that Thelma speeds up and of course a cop pulls them over. Todd tells Zasu to play along so they tell the cop she was going to the hospital and, of course, the cop decides to take them there his self. Once at the hospital Zasu accidentally drinks alum and water, which makes you mouth act funny to where the doctors think she has been bitten by a rabid dog. This certainly isn't the greatest Zasu/Todd short but at the same time it's no where near their worst. I think the film starts off pretty well but the second half really doesn't work for a number of reasons. When the "dog attack" happens the doctors rush Zasu in for her medical attention but then the joke gets carried onto Thelma, the cop and then it just keeps going as more and more people drink the alum and water. The problem is that it's not funny when it happens to Zasu so it certainly didn't get any funnier once it started happening to everyone. The first portion of the film manages to get a few laughs because the scenario was actually pretty good and we get a couple nice gags out of it. One scene has Zasu ducking into the labor room and then nurses start carrying out seven or eight babies, which confuses the cop as he thinks they all belong to Zasu. Zasu certainly gets the better role here but Todd's appearance is actually bigger than the previous shorts. There's a sequence where her dress gets ripped off, which allows Roach to show off her body in a sexy nightgown, which I'm sure the men will love.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd are on their way to a party when Zasu demands that Thelma speeds up and of course a cop pulls them over. Todd tells Zasu to play along so they tell the cop she was going to the hospital and, of course, the cop decides to take them there his self. Once at the hospital Zasu accidentally drinks alum and water, which makes you mouth act funny to where the doctors think she has been bitten by a rabid dog. This certainly isn't the greatest Zasu/Todd short but at the same time it's no where near their worst. I think the film starts off pretty well but the second half really doesn't work for a number of reasons. When the "dog attack" happens the doctors rush Zasu in for her medical attention but then the joke gets carried onto Thelma, the cop and then it just keeps going as more and more people drink the alum and water. The problem is that it's not funny when it happens to Zasu so it certainly didn't get any funnier once it started happening to everyone. The first portion of the film manages to get a few laughs because the scenario was actually pretty good and we get a couple nice gags out of it. One scene has Zasu ducking into the labor room and then nurses start carrying out seven or eight babies, which confuses the cop as he thinks they all belong to Zasu. Zasu certainly gets the better role here but Todd's appearance is actually bigger than the previous shorts. There's a sequence where her dress gets ripped off, which allows Roach to show off her body in a sexy nightgown, which I'm sure the men will love.
Not horrible
planktonrules25 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
It's pretty obvious that I am not a fan of the Zasu Pitts/Thelma Todd films from Hal Roach when you read my summary. I have seen a decent number of their films and just feel like they were a series that Roach and company put very little effort into since they also made the Our Gang/Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy shorts. So, with so much riding on these other two series, it always seemed to me that Pitts and Todd got the worst scripts and had the lowest expectations on the lot. I don't know if these films were well-received at the time, but today they date terribly and just aren't particularly funny.
ALUM AND EVE isn't a big exception to my sentiments. While it has perhaps a few more laughs than their average film, this isn't a glowing endorsement. The film's title refers to a segment of the film that isn't super-funny--when Zasu, Thelma and many others accidentally drink some alum and water and then can't talk properly. Wow, now that I type this, it sounds even less funny.
This is really a shame, as the short started off pretty well. The girls are caught for speeding but Thelma pretends that they have a medical emergency and the cop escorts them to the hospital. This could have been very funny, as they try to convince him that Zasu is sick and at the same time try to escape from the hospital. But, the cop assumes that skinny Zasu is in labor (huh--doesn't he know that babies come from fat ladies?), and from there it's all down hill.
ALUM AND EVE isn't a big exception to my sentiments. While it has perhaps a few more laughs than their average film, this isn't a glowing endorsement. The film's title refers to a segment of the film that isn't super-funny--when Zasu, Thelma and many others accidentally drink some alum and water and then can't talk properly. Wow, now that I type this, it sounds even less funny.
This is really a shame, as the short started off pretty well. The girls are caught for speeding but Thelma pretends that they have a medical emergency and the cop escorts them to the hospital. This could have been very funny, as they try to convince him that Zasu is sick and at the same time try to escape from the hospital. But, the cop assumes that skinny Zasu is in labor (huh--doesn't he know that babies come from fat ladies?), and from there it's all down hill.
Some people will do anything to get out of a ticket.
mark.waltz27 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
And boy do Thelma and Louise...oops, I mean Thelma and Zasu. Stopped for speeding, they claim that they have to get Zasu to the hospital. But for what? She ends up being placed in the maternity ward (obviously not pregnant) and the accompanying cop is shocked by the presence of seven babies. She then claims that she was bitten by a dog and even begins to foam at the mouth after taking a solution of aluminum and water. It's a truly bizarre entry in the Pitts and Todd shorts, completely preposterous to the point to where the short needed a warning indicating that this was not meant to be reflective of real hospital treatment.
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