History
Roach had previously paired Anita Garvin and Marion Byron in 1928 and 1929, but only three films resulted. [2] Pitts and Todd had both previously worked with Roach in various short films and feature films before filming 17 shorts for Roach from 1931 to 1933.
The 1930 Leroy Shield song "Beautiful Lady" was used as the theme song for the Pitts and Todd films. [3] Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made a guest appearance in the 1931 short On the Loose. The 1932 short Show Business was directed by Jules White and was later reworked as the 1936 Three Stooges Columbia short A Pain in the Pullman . [4] [5] These popular pre-code shorts feature frequent female physical comedy, human limb twister piles, and mugging from Pitts and Todd, with the latter often "accidentally" losing her clothing. [6]
In mid-1933, Pitts left the Hal Roach studios and Patsy Kelly was hired as Todd's new partner. This team filmed 21 short films until Todd's death at the end of 1935. Kelly was next paired with Pert Kelton for one short, and then with Lyda Roberti for two shorts and one feature film, Nobody's Baby. Roberti died in 1938 at age 31.
In 1941, Pitts and Kelly made their only appearance together in the feature film Broadway Limited . The women echo Laurel and Hardy in one sequence when sharing a bed with a baby and a leaking hot-water bottle. [7]