Thelma Todd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress. Appearing in about 120 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films such as Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily. She also had roles in Wheeler and Woolsey farces, several Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which (The Bohemian Girl) featured her in a part that was truncated by her suspicious death at the age of 29. During the silent film era, Todd appeared in numerous supporting roles that made full use of her beauty but gave her little chance to act. With the advent of the talkies, Todd was given opportunity to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with such comedy stars as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy. In 1931, Roach cast Todd in her own series of slapstick comedy shorts, running 17 to 27 minutes each. In an attempt to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy, Roach teamed Todd with ZaSu Pitts for 17 shorts, from "Let's do Things" (June 1931) through "One Track Minds" (May 1933). When Pitts left in 1933, she was replaced by Patsy Kelly, appearing with Todd in 21 shorts, from "Beauty and the Bus" (September 1933) through "An All American Toothache" (January 1936). These Roach shorts often cast Todd as a working girl having all sorts of problems, and trying her best to remain poised and charming despite the embarrassing antics of her sidekick. Todd also appeared successfully in such dramas as the original 1931 film version of The Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, in which she played Miles Archer's treacherous widow. During her career she appeared in 119 films although many of these were short films, and was sometimes publicized as "The Ice Cream Blonde." Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935, and was featured in the full-length Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bohemian Girl. This was her last film; she died after completing all of her scenes, but most of them were re-shot. Producer Roach deleted all of Todd's dialogue and limited her appearance to one musical number.
Monkey Business
as Lucille BriggsFour stowaways get mixed up with gangsters while running riot on an ocean liner.
Movie pageHorse Feathers
as Connie BaileyQuincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley U, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help...
Movie pageAnother Fine Mess
as Lady Plumtree (uncredited)Two homeless vagabonds hide out in a vacant mansion and pose as the residents when prospective...
Movie pageThe Devil's Brother
as Lady Pamela RocburgTwo wannabe bandits join the service of a dashing nobleman, who secretly masquerades as Fra...
Movie pageThe Maltese Falcon
as Iva ArcherA lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly...
Movie pageChickens Come Home
as Mrs. HardyOllie is running for mayor when an old flame tries to blackmail him with a old photo.
Movie pageCounsellor at Law
as Lillian La RueA successful lawyer struggles to deal with his wife's unfaithfulness and his own hidden past.
Movie pageSpeak Easily
as Eleanor EspereA professor gets mixed up with chorus girls in a Broadway musical.
Movie pageThe Bohemian Girl
as Gypsy Queen's DaughterStan and Ollie travel with a band of 18th-century Gypsies holding a nobleman's daughter.
Movie pageThis Is the Night
as Claire MathewsonWhen Stephen, the husband of Gerald’s mistress, Claire, discovers a pair of tickets for their...
Movie pageHer Man
as NellyA prostitute sees a friendly sailor as a way out of Havana's grimy underworld.
Movie pageUnaccustomed as We Are
as Mrs. KennedyLaurel and Hardy try to entertain a female neighbor, unbeknown to Hardy’s wife.
Movie pageScreen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
as Self (archive footage)The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of...
Movie pageOn the Loose
as ThelmaTwo young women, Zasu and Thelma, complain that all of their dates take them to Coney Island....
Movie pageCall Her Savage
as Sunny De LaneA high-spirited, short-tempered, young woman hates her father and loves to rebel against him....
Movie pageAloha
as Winifred BradfordIn the South Seas, a half-caste island girl refuses to follow tradition and marry a fellow...
Movie pageSon of a Sailor
as The BaronessA lovesick fool bumbles into espionage and finds a stolen plane.
Movie pageMary Stevens, M.D.
as Lois CavanaughA woman doctor decides to have a baby without benefit of marriage.
Movie pageBottoms Up
as Judith MarlowePromoter "Smoothie" King helps a pair of phonies con their way into a movie company. As Wanda...
Movie pageThe Big Timer
as Kay MitchellLoud-mouth hamburger flipper, Cooky, thinks he can box. His big chance comes when everyone else...
Movie pageDollar Dizzy
as Thelma ToddCharley and Thelma are millionaires, each trying to elude suitors who are trying to marry them...
Movie pageThe Gay Defender
as Ruth AinsworthReal-life outlaw Joaquin Murietta, who (according to this film, anyway) is a latter-day Robin...
Movie pageThe Noose
as PhyllisIn this suspenseful silent crime drama, a hijacker proves his loyalty to his mother by killing...
Movie pageFollow Thru
as Mrs. Van HornLora Moore, the club champion, loses a golf match to a woman from another golf club. Then Jerry...
Movie pageStrictly Unreliable
as Miss Thelma ToddZasu inadvertently turns Thelma's vaudeville act into a shambles.
Movie pageLightning Strikes Twice
as Judy NelsonAn actress goes up to a dude ranch for relaxation, when she falls in love with a ranch owner...
Movie pageTake the Stand
as Miss Sally OxfordA radio columnist is threatened by gangsters and later murdered during a broadcast. A detective...
Movie pageYesterday and Today
as (archive footage)A compilation of early-day silent films that serves as a glimpse back to the formative days of...
Movie pagePalooka
as TrixieJoe Palooka is a naive young man whose father Pete was a champion boxer, but his lifestyle...
Movie pageLooser Than Loose
as Thelma, Charley's FianceeCharley is about to get engaged to Thelma when his boss foists some clients upon him to entertain.
Movie pageSeven Footprints to Satan
as EveA young man of society wants to make an expedition to Africa, but his fiancée asks him for help...
Movie pageRed Noses
as Miss ToddThelma and Zasu go to a Turkish bath to try to get rid of a cold.
Movie pageAfter the Dance
as Mabel KaneThough he was protecting her when he accidentally killed a man, Mabel Kane (Thelma Todd) refuses...
Movie pageAlum and Eve
as ThelmaWhen Thelma is stopped by a cop for speeding, she tries to get out of it by telling him that she...
Movie pageHer Private Life
as Mrs. LeslieA English aristocrat causes a scandal when she divorces her husband and runs off with a young...
Movie pageThe Hot Heiress
as LolaClasses clash when a poor riveter and wealthy society woman fall in love with each other, much...
Movie pageThe Pajama Party
as ThelmaAfter running their car off the road, a society matron insists that the girls spend the evening...
Movie pageShow Business
as ThelmaThe girls and their pet monkey create havoc on board a train carrying a traveling Broadway troupe.
Movie pageCorsair
as Alison CorningA stock market broker plans to liven up his boring life by taking up piracy on the high seas.
Movie pageYou Made Me Love You
as Pamela BerneA rich American businessman in London makes believe he's lost all his money so that his daughter...
Movie pageSlightly Static
as ThelmaThelma and Patsy get jobs at a radio station.
Movie pageGod Gave Me Twenty Cents
as Dance-Hall Girl (uncredited)The story concerns the misadventures of sailor Steve Doren, who tries his best to support his...
Movie pageWar Mamas
as ThelmaDuring WW1, the girls become spies when they spend the evening with two German officers.
Movie pageBroadminded
as Gertie GardnerJack's father lowers the boom when his irresponsible rich-kid ends up in jail after a night of...
Movie pageThe Head Guy
as The StarHarry is made the temporary stationmaster in a small town.
Movie pageOne Track Minds
as uncreditedThelma wins a screen test with a Hollywood studio, but trouble ensues on the train trip out there.
Movie pageAsleep in the Feet
as ThelmaThe girls moonlight as taxi dancers in order to earn some extra money.
Movie pageThe Poor Rich
as Gwendolyn FetherstoneAlbert Stuyvesant Spottiswood and his cousin Harriet Winthrop Spottiswood arrive separately at...
Movie pageMaid in Hollywood
as ThelmaThelma, who came to Hollywood from Joplin to be a star, is ready to go home. She and her pal...
Movie pageKlondike
as KlondikeDr. Robert Cromwell performs a delicate operation, that has never been done before, and the...
Movie pageVamping Venus
as Madame Vanezlos the Dancer / VenusA present-day stereotypically-Irish American politician is vaulted into ancient Greece after...
Movie pageWhispering Whoopee
as Miss ToddCharlie hires three "party girls" to help him land a business deal.
Movie pageLet's Do Things
as Thelma ToddZasu & Thelma go out with two idiots to a nightclub.
Movie pageSealskins
as Thelma ToddIn their first comedy two-reeler of 1932, vivacious Thelma Todd and fluttery ZaSu Pitts learn...
Movie pageCommand Performance
as LydiaPrince Alexis of Kordovia refuses to do his duty under threat of war. Recently arrested actor...
Movie pageNevada
as Hettie IdeA once notorious gunfighter takes a respectable job on a ranch. "Nevada" is charged with...
Movie pageThe Old Bull
as ThelmaThelma and Zazu are on a leisurely excursion in a borrowed car. Thelma lets Zazu drive. When she...
Movie pageHips, Hips, Hooray!
as Miss Amelia FrisbyHips, Hips, Hooray! is a 1934 slapstick comedy film starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Ruth...
Movie pageThe Pip from Pittsburg
as ThelmaCharley agrees to go on a blind date to help out his roommate. But because his last such date...
Movie pageFireman, Save My Child
as (uncredited)Two firemen must put up with a variety of travails in their job, especially their chief's...
Movie pageCatch-As Catch-Can
as ThelmaZasu falls for a wrestler, drags Thelma to his next fight.
Movie pageThe Tin Man
as Thelma ToddThelma and Patsy find themselves in a spooky house inhabited by a nut who is a mechanical genius...
Movie pageCockeyed Cavaliers
as Lady GenevieveTwo yokels try to crash royal society by posing as the King's physicians.
Movie pageTrial Marriage
as Grace LoganConstance Bannister enters into a trial marriage contract with Dr. Thorvald Ware and finds...
Movie pageMaids a la Mode
as Miss ToddInstead of delivering some fancy dresses to a customer, the girls wear them to a party.
Movie pageThe Bachelor Girl
as GladysJoyce (Jacqueline Logan), a beautiful and efficient secretary, does her best to take in hand and...
Movie pageNo Limit
as Betty RoyceTheater usherette Bunny O'Day (Clara Bow) inadvertently becomes hostess of a private gambling...
Movie pageDeception
as Lola Del MontModest programmer denotes a young man's rise to fame in wrestling matches he doesn't realize...
Movie pageHouse of Horror
as ThelmaHouse of Horror is a 1929 American comedy-horror mystery film directed by Benjamin Christensen....
Movie pageThe King
as The QueenThe king is a juvenile dolt who tries the patience of the shrewish queen. While she's in the...
Movie pageHigh C's
as AntoinetteThe comic and musical adventures of Charley Chase as he fights in the great war.
Movie pageHeart to Heart
as Ruby BoydPrincess Delatorre, young and beautiful widow of an Italian scion of royalty, returns with her...
Movie pageTreasure Blues
as ThelmaThelma and Patsy follow a map looking for treasure.
Movie pageDone in Oil
as Thelma Todd aka Mlle. La ToddThelma tries to pass herself off as a famous French painter.
Movie pageThe Soilers
as ThelmaZasu and Thelma are working their way through college by selling magazine subscriptions. Finding...
Movie pageHurdy Gurdy
as BlondieA heat wave sends the residents of a New York City tenement to their fire escapes for whatever...
Movie pageSnappy Sneezer
as Mary WhiteCharley falls in love with Mary, but his attack of hay fever alienates her father.
Movie pageAir Fright
as ThelmaThe girls are stewardesses on an experimental flight.
Movie pageCheating Blondes
as Anne Merrick / Elaine MannersA reporter sets out to prove that his girlfriend was framed and sent to prison.
Movie pageBum Voyage
as ThelmaThe girls find a pair of steamship tickets, not knowing that the cabin the tickets are for is...
Movie pageThe Shield of Honor
as Rose aka Flora FisherCan Jack MacDowell, the first flying policeman on the force, save his dad from stop-at-nothing...
Movie pageTwo for Tonight
as LillyA songwriter has to come up with a full-length theatrical piece within a few days.
Movie pageCareers
as HortenseIn French Indochina, a magistrate is assigned to investigate the murder of his boss. Unknown to...
Movie pageAir Hostess
as Mrs. Sylvia C. CarletonA plucky stewardess risks her life marrying a daredevil pilot.
Movie pageTop Flat
as Thelma ToddWhen Patsy criticises her poetry, Thelma ups and leaves for a better standard of living.
Movie pageRough Seas
as AntoinetteOn his way home following World War I, Charley smuggles his French sweetheart aboard ship and...
Movie pageCrazy Feet
as DancerCharley intervenes in a fight between Eddie and Thelma inside her small car. Cop Kennedy...
Movie pageSitting Pretty
as Gloria DuvalJack Oakie and Jack Haley are songwriters are enroute from New York to Hollywood to make their...
Movie pageTwin Triplets
as ThelmaThelma and Patsy are reporters who investigate a hospital.
Movie pageHotter Than Hot
as uncreditedHarry is trapped with a blonde in a burning building.
Movie pageThe Haunted House
as The NurseFour heirs to a family fortune are summoned to appear at the family estate for the reading of...
Movie pageThe Real McCoy
as ThelmaCharley poses as a hillbilly in his pursuit of a country girl.
Movie pageLove Fever
as Thelma ToddAn actress is rehearsing a death scene in her apartment, but her neighbors all think it's the...
Movie pageFascinating Youth
as Lorraine LanePlayboy Teddy Ward wants to marry Jeannie King, an artist, but his father wants him to marry...
Movie pageStepping Out
as Charley's WifeCharley goes out for an evening on the town without his wife.
Movie pageSneak Easily
as Miss Thelma Todd - Attorney for the DefenseJuror Zasu accidentally swallows a piece of evidence which just happens to be a time bomb.
Movie pageThe Nickel Nurser
as Thelma ToddCharley is an efficiency expert trying to teach a millionaire's daughter the value of money.
Movie pageSing Sister Sing
as ThelmaAt a residence hotel, Patsy is moving in with Thelma. Thelma has prepared some rules, including...
Movie pageBabes in the Goods
as Thelma ToddThelma and Patsy get jobs demonstrating washing machines in a department store window. However,...
Movie pageSoup and Fish
as Miss Thelma ToddAt a ritzy beauty salon, while a mud pack is on her face, a wealthy socialite invites Thelma and...
Movie pageNaughty Baby
as Bonnie Le VonneA cloak room girl (Alice White) falls for a rich boy who may not actually be rich.
Movie pageThe Shrimp
as Jim's GirlfriendA timid man undergoes a personality change, and turns the tables on the people who've bullied him.
Movie pageThe Bargain of the Century
as ThelmaComedy short with ZaSuPitts and Thelma Todd. After accidentally getting a policeman friend...
Movie pageRubber Heels
as Princess AlineA European royal couple come to New York to sell some of the royal family's crown jewels. A gang...
Movie pageAll Teed Up
as ThelmaThelma invites Charley to play golf at her father's exclusive country club.
Movie pageThe Fighting Parson
as The Blonde Dance Hall GirlHarry is mistaken for "The Fighting Parson" in a tough western town.
Movie pageThree Chumps Ahead
as Thelma ToddThelma rushes into the apartment she shares with Patsy, excited because she's fallen in love...
Movie pageHal Roach Presents Harry Langdon
as The WomanHal Roach produced this short to introduce Harry Langdon to his comic line-up.
Movie pageBuzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime
as Self (archive footage)Hosts Ryan & Shane discuss mysteries surrounding notorious unsolved crimes.
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