Patsy Kelly shows herself to be a very good dancer, and very funny when she goes into a a sort of hi de ho routine which Todd cuts short. It's actually a fun look at the world of radio in the early thirties at L O C O which is supposed to be located in New York. When the actors of the broadcast refuse to play animal characters in an insipid play Todd and Kelly take over. Todd is "spring" and Kelly is "groundhog" among other characters. Kelly gives a very wacky reading making the most of the dopy dialog. Todd plays "spring" straight to no effect. The audience takes this play as an uproarious farce. It's comical. I like the Kelly and Todd pairing. Kelly is a good comedian who is nearly forgotten and that's too bad. She sang...she danced. The Randall Sisters sing a ditty in an odd western or southern twang which is a curiosity in this short. The Sons of the Pioneers have little to do. If Roy Rogers is among them, I missed him. I'll have to watch again.
4 Reviews
This just isn't funny
planktonrules30 May 2007
This film's formula isn't that different from most of the Thelma Todd/Patsy Kelly shorts. Thelma is pretty but has little personality and Patsy is loud, brash and overbearing. The only major difference is that this time they get jobs at a radio station putting on a sappy radio program and this setting is even more dull than what you usually find in their films. The jokes, such as they are, aren't funny and just fall flat again and again. To make things worse, one of the singing groups (a trio) is among the most horrible I have ever seen and heard...and at least that helps the viewer to be distracted from how boorish Kelly is when she breaks into an intense tap dance routine (which she did three or four times during the film). Not the least bit entertaining despite being made by Hal Roach studios. This turkey is only for devoted fans of the comedy team.
Slightly Static Comediennes
Eventuallyequalsalways18 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This wacky short was produced by the great Hal Roach Studios and stars Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly as two actresses who approach Radio Station LOCO looking for a job. Unbeknownst to them, one of the radio station sponsors has a son who fancies himself as a scriptwriter. He has developed a skit which he feels is memorable because it celebrates Spring, simplicity and the animals of the forest. He gives a brief preview of the material to the station manager and to the radio station personnel who regularly provide voices for spoken material in those days (the 1930s). The skit material is awful and is immediately rejected by the radio station manager. However, the father of the scriptwriter is there and he threatens to cancel his advertising program at the radio station if his son's script is not broadcast that day. The radio station manager reluctantly agrees to put the program on the air, but this triggers a walkout by all of the professional voice people. The lovely Thelma Todd and her companion Patsy Kelly are sitting in the lobby when they overhear the station manager's predicament, and they rise and persuade him they can do the jobs. He gives them a break and they go on the air without benefit of a rehearsal. The performance is in front of a live studio audience and the pratfalls and goofs are hilarious. Patsy Kelly reveals some fancy dancing footwork reminiscent of the best vaudeville tap dancers of the era. This short is a great one, highly recommended.
Lesser Short from the Girls
Michael_Elliott24 February 2011
Slightly Static (1935)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
One of the least enjoyable of the Thelma Todd/Patsy Kelly series from Hal Roach. This time out the girls play "actresses" trying to land a job on the radio but no one is interested in seeing them until there's a walk-out due to the station owner's son getting a shot to do his horrible story. The kid ends up hiring Thelma and Patsy and of course things don't go too well. I'm sure the majority of the people know that Thelma Todd would soon be dead and I'm sure most people know that 1935 was a very troubled year for the star. There were several times were the studio had to give her a break from her duties and I'm curious if this was such a time because it's strange that there are so many "other acts" being shown here. You get a musical act from The Randall Sisters as well as another from Sons of the Pioneers. Neither act is what I'd call good but what they deliver is certainly better than the second half of the film, which has Todd and Kelly putting on this play. As you'd expect, Kelly goes way over-the-top and isn't funny but instead becomes quite annoying. She's doing way too much mugging and pushing to be funny. Todd, on the other hand, delivers a cute smile but very little else. The main interest this film might have for people is that Roy Rogers made his debut as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
One of the least enjoyable of the Thelma Todd/Patsy Kelly series from Hal Roach. This time out the girls play "actresses" trying to land a job on the radio but no one is interested in seeing them until there's a walk-out due to the station owner's son getting a shot to do his horrible story. The kid ends up hiring Thelma and Patsy and of course things don't go too well. I'm sure the majority of the people know that Thelma Todd would soon be dead and I'm sure most people know that 1935 was a very troubled year for the star. There were several times were the studio had to give her a break from her duties and I'm curious if this was such a time because it's strange that there are so many "other acts" being shown here. You get a musical act from The Randall Sisters as well as another from Sons of the Pioneers. Neither act is what I'd call good but what they deliver is certainly better than the second half of the film, which has Todd and Kelly putting on this play. As you'd expect, Kelly goes way over-the-top and isn't funny but instead becomes quite annoying. She's doing way too much mugging and pushing to be funny. Todd, on the other hand, delivers a cute smile but very little else. The main interest this film might have for people is that Roy Rogers made his debut as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers.
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