Hal Roach shut down short subject production and went into features. He tried each of his units: Our Gang got GENERAL SPANKY, Charley Chase got NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, Laurel and Hardy were already in feature production, so what was left was Patsy Kelly and Lyda Roberti -- originally it had been Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts but Thelma was dead and Zasu long gone.
Although the two shorts that the two leads had made in 1936 were poor, a lot of that can be laid at the feet of their tiny budgets. Here, with a decent budget and a good supporting cast, the result is fairly good as the ladies meet while trying to break into show business, head off to study nursing and so forth, all structured as a series of one-reel encounters. There is a very good scene early on as the two undergo disaster after disaster in a kitchen, with the characters and gags well delineated -- a problem for the series for a couple of years. Roberti's character clearly doesn't understand the subtleties of English and this infuriates Kelly. More than good enough.
Unfortunately, there would be no time for the team to develop. Roberti would be dead within a year, and Roach's operations would move off into other directions. Kelly's career would lead out of movies and back onto the stage.
Although the two shorts that the two leads had made in 1936 were poor, a lot of that can be laid at the feet of their tiny budgets. Here, with a decent budget and a good supporting cast, the result is fairly good as the ladies meet while trying to break into show business, head off to study nursing and so forth, all structured as a series of one-reel encounters. There is a very good scene early on as the two undergo disaster after disaster in a kitchen, with the characters and gags well delineated -- a problem for the series for a couple of years. Roberti's character clearly doesn't understand the subtleties of English and this infuriates Kelly. More than good enough.
Unfortunately, there would be no time for the team to develop. Roberti would be dead within a year, and Roach's operations would move off into other directions. Kelly's career would lead out of movies and back onto the stage.