A Blog For Thelma Todd
Thelma Todd was a star of silent movies and later the talkies. She is remembered as much today for her mysterious death as she is for her films. In this blog, we take a look at Thelma Todd, her movies, and various commentaries.
Posted by John Muyres in the Thelma Todd Fan Group on facebook:
Films that Thelma sings at least part of a song: Bohemian Girl (Heart of a Gypsy) 1936* Sing Sister Sing (Short) (I Wake Up with a Song - uncredited) 1935 Cockeyed Cavaliers (Dilly Dally - uncredited) 1934 Hips, Hips, Hooray! (Keep On Doin' What You're Doin' - uncredited) 1934
Sitting Pretty (You're Such a Comfort to Me) 1933
Horse Feathers ( sings a scale for Chico ) 1932
Speak Easily (Rock-a-Bye Baby - uncredited) 1932 Let's Do Things (Them There Eyes) 1931 Hurdy Gurdy 1929
*Thelma Todd's singing in this movie was dubbed.
* * *
Recordings that Thelma Todd made that were never released. They recorded for an hour and 15 minutes for 3 songs.
Wheeler and Woolsey and friends in HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY . Marion Byron is on the right, next to Robert Woolsey. Bert Wheeler autographed his side of the picture.
Thelma Todd ( seated ) with Robert Woolsey, Bert Wheeler and June Brewster in HIPS, HIPS HOORAY.
A gorgeous original vintage 8x10 photo of six starlets wearing very risque outfits that show them nearly topless, as Wheeler and Woolsey stand in the middle. Thelma Todd, in black wig is seated in the c hair and the sweet pretty girl standing next to Wheeler with her hand up to her breast is June Brewester.
Here we have an ad for the movie HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY with Wheeler and Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Thelma Todd, and Ruth Etting, who was also mentioned in the ad for RKO short subjects.
Ruth Etting is shown in the small picture at lower right, but neither Thelma Todd or Dorothy Lee appear in this ad, although they are listed among the cast.
Merian C. Cooper is again mentioned as executive producer.
HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY was a Wheeler and Woolsey movie. Bert Wheeler can be seen in the middle and Robert Woolsey on the right, kissing Marion Byron to test the lipstick they're selling. Thelma Todd, left, seems to disapprove of the proceedings.
June Brewster ( "Blondes and the Redheads" series ) is one of the girls in this movie and is probably in this picture, but I don't know which one is her.
HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY was a Wheeler and Woolsey movie. Also in the cast were Dorothy Lee and Thelma Todd as their love interests. Here is a flyer for this film.
I can't read the writing on the back ( it must be in Arabic ), but we know from English language flyers that the name of the theater and date that the movie will be shown are printed in this space.
Wheeler and Woolsey were famous as movie comedians. They also appeared in SUPERMAN comic books as a couple of bumbling magicians named "Hocus" and "Pocus".
The characters as drawn in the comics are similar to Wheeler and Woolsey and even appear to be wearing similar costumes. Their rabbit can be seen as similar to Bugs Bunny, who was in animated cartoons and had already done a Superman parody in 1943.
Description from the "Supermanica" site:
Hocus and Pocus
The professional names employed by a pair of likeable, ingenuous, gullible fellows, their real names are Doc and Flannelhead, who start out as street corner salesmen of magic books, only to have their lives transformed when a series of bizarre coincidences convinces them that they have somehow become gifted with magical powers (Act No. 83, Apr 1945: "Hocus and Pocus... Magicians by Accident!").
Doc, better known as Hocus, is the brains of the outfit; he is a wiry little fellow with a moustache, eyeglasses, and an ever-present derby hat "who speaks like a college professor but has the trusting simplicity of a child!" His companion, Flannelhead, better known as Pocus, a brawny, dim-witted fellow who murders the King's English whenever he speaks, "has the strength of an ox...and about the same I.Q.!" Together with their "mascot," a white rabbit named Moiton (Act No. 88, Sep 1945: "The Adventure of the Stingy Men!"), the pair inhabit a furnished room in Mrs. Flaherty's Boarding House, somewhere in Metropolis (Act No. 83, Apr 1945: "Hocus & Pocus... Magicians by Accident!"). Superman No. 45/1 refers to them as "that hilarious pair of cuckoo conjurers" (Mar/Apr 1947: "Lois Lane, Superwoman!"), and, because their magical feats work only through either coincidence or the surreptitious intervention of Superman, they are frequently described as "magicians by accident" (Act No. 97, Jun 1946: "The Magician'™s Convention!"; and others).
Action Comics #83 - first appearence of Hocus and Pocus.
Action Comics #97 - Superman makes it appear as if they can work magic.
"Lois Lane, Superwoman" was reprinted in the book SUPERMAN: FROM THE THIRTIES TO THE SEVENTIES. Here are a couple of pages that I scanned.
Wheeler and Woolsey frequently worked with Dorothy Lee.
They also worked with Thelma Todd,
Barbara Pepper,
And Lupe Velez.
Watch Wheeler and Woolsey with Dorothy Lee and Thelma Todd in a scene from HIPS, HIPS, HURRAY!
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