Thelma Todd

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

SITTING PRETTY

The 1933 movie SITTING PRETTY featured Thelma Todd in a small part.

It also featured one of the Our Gang kids in a bigger role.

Jerry Tucker, center, between Jack Oakie and Ginger Rogers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jerry Tucker
Born	Jerome H. Schatz (1925-11-01) November 1, 1925 (age 86) Chicago, Illinois
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	1931-1939

Jerry Tucker (born November 1, 1925) is a former American child actor, most notable for appearing as the "rich kid" in the Our Gang short subjects series semi-regularly from 1931 to 1938. Tucker first appeared in the 1931 Our Gang short Shiver My Timbers. Then, he also appeared in many Our Gang episodes after that and left the series in the 1938 Our Gang short Three Men in a Tub.
In addition to his Our Gang appearances, Tucker appeared in the Marie Dressler film Prosperity, again as a spoiled rich kid. He also appeared as one of Mother Peep's children in the 1934 Laurel & Hardy feature film March of the Wooden Soldiers.

Later years

Tucker went on to serve in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He later married his wife Myra and had a long successful career with RCA before retiring.
Tucker is one of the few living Our Gangers from the original series. Other surviving members are Mildred Kornman, Marianne Edwards, Jean Darling, Mickey Gubitosi, Sidney Kibrick, and Jackie Lynn Taylor.

External links

Jerry Tucker at the Internet Movie Database
Jerry Tucker at AllRovi
University of Maryland
Prosperity (1932) Jerry played the part of Buster.

Marylin Bourne, Spanky McFarland, Jerry Tucker, Scotty Beckett, Stymie Beard

in MAMMA'S LITTLE PIRATE.

Here is a coming attractions slide for SITTING PRETTY, with Thelma Todd on the right.

Jack Oakie is at left, with Ginger Rogers next, and then Jack Haley.

Thelma Todd with Jack Oakie.

You see pictures like this occasionally with a spurious copyright notice.

Although Ginger Rogers posed for publicity photos that suggest that she was a fan dancer, she didn't actually do a fan dance in the movie. She did have a scene where she walked along holding a fan while being serenaded with the song "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking?"

The fan dance was in the news at the time, because Sally Rand did it at the Chicago World's fair in 1933. Here we see the genuine article with her fans. Compare it with the publicity photo of Ginger Rogers above.

Following Ginger Roger's scene, some other girls do a fan dance.

Helen Splane, Mae Madison and Peaches Jackson. Publicity had it that these three charmers were selected as the most beautiful chorus girls in Hollywood.

And here we have a publicity photo of Thelma Todd in the same costume. Which actually includes a pair of tights as well as the more obvious glittery parts. The things on the wrists help hide where they end at her wrists. You see that in movies in this period, the hula dancers in SONS OF THE DESERT wore tights, too.

I don't think Thelma Todd was actually among the fan dancers at the end of the movie. In SITTING PRETTY, she had about the same part she had in SPEAK EASILY, she was the vamp or other woman character who threatens the romance of the main girl in the story. It was actually the same part Thelma Todd had in a number of movies.

Another element that is related to Buster Keaton is the presence of Lew Cody in the cast.

Lew Cody was one of Buster Keaton's best friends. Here we see him, right, with Buster Keaton, his two sons, and Jimmy Durante with Keaton's "Land Yacht". This was a sort of mobile home that Buster Keaton was living in while he was working for MGM.

Lew Cody used to be married to Mabel Normand, who was famous for being in many comedies in the silent era.

Here's a publicity photo from the silent era of Thelma Todd doing a fan dance.

And here's a leftover picture I hadn't used anywhere else, so I'll just use it at the end. It sort of fits there anyway.

Watch SITTING PRETTY at youtube:

Jerry Tucker:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/LAB/COLLECTIONS/schatz.html

Ginger Rogers:
http://www.gingerrogers.com/

Jack Haley:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0355095/

Sally Rand:
http://www.yodaslair.com/dumboozle/sally/sallydex.html

Download SITTING PRETTY:
http://www.alluc.org/movies/watch-sitting-pretty-1933-online/367105.html

Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Ideal Screen Figure

About the same ideal measurements that had been given out for Thelma Todd in VAMPING VENUS in the 1920's were given out again in the 1930's, this time as set of composite measurements from a number of thirties beauties.

Here we see a photo of Anita Page together with a figure drawn according to the specifications taken from a number of different screen stars, the final result looking a great deal like Anita Page.

Let's take a look at the other glamour girls on the list. Some of them are better known than others now, but they were all famous in their day.

The height of 5'4" is given for Pola Negri, this same height was given for many others, including Thelma Todd, Clara Bow, and later Marilyn Monroe. Here we see Paula Negri, whose career began in the silent era.

Famous silent star Mary Pickford was still active in the talkies. She was actually smaller than many of the other girls on the list.

Norma Talmadge was the better-known sister of Buster Keaton's wife Natalie. Constance Talmadge was another sister.

Greta Garbo was more usually associated with big feet rather than a big bosom. With all the publicity she got for hers, I'm surprised they didn't say "Jean Harlow" instead.

Clara Bow at arms. In height and weight she was close to the ideal woman depicted in the drawing above, but the 120 pounds or so usually given for her weight was a low figure that she tended to pass up as an adult.

Bebe Daniels started out with Harold Lloyd in silent movies. In talkies, she was still a star.

Gloria Swanson started out in Mack Sennett comedies.

Gilda Gray danced the shimmy. She made some movies.

Aileen Pringle was still active in the talkies.

Norma Shearer was a top star at MGM.

Marion Davies has her detractors, and she has her fans.

Ann Pennington's small foot size was related to her her small size overall. Here we see her on the left with Billie Dove ( also on the list ) on the right.

Looking at the measurements on this list, today, we see a lack of emphasis on the bust that was carried over from the silent era, when there was a pretense that women were flat chested. Later on there would be more emphasis on the bosom, which would lead to the studios giving out exaggerated claims for the glamour girls in the Jayne Mansfield era.

The ideal of the "Perfect 36" goes way back. Mabel Normand made a movie called A PERFECT 36 in 1918.

Mabel Normand was also drawn by artist Charles Dana Gibson as the "Gibson girl" prior to her career in films and it could even be said that she more or less represented the standard of beauty they had at that time. But as the silent era progressed, a new standared of beauty emerged that was different from the old and leaned toward the androgenous. With the comng of sound, the movies became more realistic and girls themselves began to appear more like girls again, but the influence of the silent ideal would linger for some time and it is not surprising that about the same set of measurements were still being presented as the then current ideal.

Here is a picture of Dorothy Dell from the early thirties with a list of measurements they were attributing to her, which again were very similar.

Clara Bow:
http://www.clarabow.net/

Bebe Daniels:
http://www.silentsaregolden.com/articles/bebedanielsarticle.html

Dorothy Dell:
http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/16531/dorothy-dell/

Mabel Normand:
http://www.angelfire.com/mn/hp/

Ann Pennington
http://operator_99.blogspot.com/2007/12/ann-pennington.html

Norma Talmadge
http://www.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/NT/home.htm

A

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Harpo Speaks

Harpo, who never spoke as part of his act, nonetheless had something to say on the subject of Thelma Todd. And what did he tell us? He told us a great truth he learned about women.

"All blondes are Thelma Todds: all brunettes are Lila Lees."

Let's take a look at a few Thelma Todds and Lila Lees from the 1930's.

THE BLONDES ( THELMA TODDS ):