Series: Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly Director: James Parrott Producer: Hal Roach Dialogue: Photography: Walter Lundin Editor: William H. Terhune Sound: James Greene Stars: Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly, Esther Howard, Herman Bing, Rafael Storm, Henry Roquemore Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Released: 20 April 1935 Length: 2 reels Production No.: A-31 Filming dates: Rating: 4/10

The Misses Stooge

Available on DVD:

Thelma and Patsy are performers at Pinsky's Burlesque and are reprimanded by the show's owner for a poor performance as soon as they come off the stage. Patsy demonstrates her tap-dance routine in front of Mr. Pinsky, with Thelma briefly joining in. When Pinsky leaves the room, the girls try to fake their routine by banging their shoes on a table knowing their boss is listening from outside. When Pinsky re-enters the room the gig is up and the girls are told to leave. Thelma tells Patsy they should go their separate ways, so Patsy jumps into a limousine/taxi when she pretends to recognise the posh-looking passenger. Thelma arrives back at her hotel to find a note from Patsy. Mr. Sarazac, a guest at the hotel tells the clerk he is looking for an assistant to work with him at a function later that evening. Thelma overhears and offers her services. Later, Thelma turns up wearing her best evening dress and gets into the limousine to take her to the venue and finds a veil-wearing Patsy already in the back seat. The two girls have a conversation and it turns out they are both heading for the same destination. Thelma arrives and is greeted by the hostess. She tells her she is here as the stooge to help the magician with his act. Thelma is then introduced to the Duke, whom she is there to entertain. Patsy has also arrived and is busying herself in a room where she (or rather BETTY DANKO, but we're not meant to know that) falls into a trunk after watering a prop flower and has to be rescued by the magician.

Now it's time for the show and Sarazac brings Patsy on to the stage for his first trick: to make a lady float through the air. Patsy moves the chairs into position before grabbing a huge machete. The magician calls for a female to assist him with the trick, which is Thelma's cue to step up but she is being molested by one of the guests before she finally shoves him off. Sarazac hypnotises Thelma before laying her face-up between two chairs, which he then removes. As he attempts to show the audience that Thelma is not being suspended by any wires (yeah right!) he accidentally severs a chord which brings down a weight onto his head and knocks himself out. As the guests attend to the magician, Thelma suddenly begins to float through the air and out of the window. Patsy goes after her, across a lawn and climbs the ladder of a diving board overhanging a swimming pool as Thelma levitates. A dog breaks free from its chains and follows Patsy to the diving board. She freaks out, does a sit-down backflip and ends up in the water (probably Betty Danko again but it's hard to see). A rather suspiciously dry-looking Patsy then drags Thelma back into the house using a rope she is attached to. For the nex act the magician locks Thelma in a cage and gets Patsy to shoot an arrow into the cage. Thelma plays her part but the desperately horny guest from earlier pesters Thelma again and ends up taking the arrow in the back instead. The final trick has Sarazac load a cannon with powder but as he gets into position for the finale Thelma falls onto it and the entire places explodes!

Favourite bit When Patsy climbs up to the diving board over the swimming pool to get to a levitating Thelma. It was a good visual, especially the stunt "she" does when the dog startles her.

Trivia • Copyrighted March 21, 1935. • The 16th film in the series. • After Patsy gets into the limousine and pulls down the blind you can see the reflection of several film crew in the back window of the car. • In the scene where the two girls are in the back of the limousine, just after Patsy sneezes and loses her veil Thelma subtly pushes her breasts together to reveal a cleavage (see RISQUE section below). • Look as Patsy pours the watering can onto the flower and you can see a wire that pulls it up into the air. • There are 14 people watching the magician's show in the latter half of the film. • It seems to me that the magician's role could quite easily have been intended for Billy Gilbert to play? Just a hunch. My opinion • There's really nothing that special about this one at all!

	Thelma Todd Thelma
	Patsy Kelly Patsy
	Esther Howard Hostess
	Herman Bing Sarazac, the magician
	Rafael Storm The Duke of Gigolette
	Henry Roquemore Pinsky
	Harry Bowen Mr. Schmidt, hotel desk clerk
	Carl M. Leviness Party guest
	Loretta Russell Party guest
	Cy Slocum Limousine driver
	William H. O'Brien Butler
	Dennis O'Keefe Party guest
	Sam Harris Party guest
	Betty Danko Patsy's stand-in
	UNIDENTIFIED Laughing lady #1
	UNIDENTIFIED Laughing lady #2

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)

SHOT ON THE BACK LOT (click any image to enlarge)

RISQUE (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Jesse Brisson (identification of Carl M. Leviness, Betty Danko, Loretta Russell, Sam Harris) Lord Heath (identification of Cy Slocum) This page was last updated on: 20 April 2026