zasupittsfan Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 A great comedic talent and silent film star...and over two hundred films to her credit, including the short subjects she made with Thelma Todd in the early '30's. However, in the meantime...James Cagney isn't a bad choice at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainingviolets21 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I regard Zasu Pitts a comic genius--and vastly underated --I posted a thread on the movie Mexican Spitfire at Sea because of Miss Pitts great comic performance--in the movie the cast thinks her character is hard-of hearing so they shout their lines to her at full volume and she shows her perfect comic sense by not reacting at all--which makes the scene even funnier- I also remember her on the old Gale Storm series Oh! Sussanah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zasupittsfan Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 She was quite funny in that film, and I liked it when she briefly faked an English accent. I am convinced that she is a great actress in general, but with a special gift for comedic roles. My favorite comedy of hers of which she was the star was a 1934 film called "Sing and Like It". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo_Chuck Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 The MEXICAN SPITFIRE films didn't win me over too much, other than they were an interesting series. But it was Zasu's appearance and performance in AT SEA that made me appreciate that movie more than others. I am now hoping these SPITFIREs will return to TCM one day so I can re-watch them and maybe catch something I didn't on first viewing. Zasu is terrifically under-represented on the DVD shelves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelluloidKid Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I would like to see the short films that ZaSu Pitts did W./ Thelma Todd! (I have heard her name was commonly mispronounced as "Zazz-oo" but it is clearly pronounced on-screen (by Todd) as "ZAY-sue;" her name was also consistently pronounced "ZAY-sue" during her recurrent guest appearances on Fibber McGee and Molly's show in 1939. Interesting bit of Trivia about Zasu Pitts: Was an excellent cook and a collector of candy recipes, which culminated into a cookbook entitled "Candy Hits" by ZaSu Pitts which was published posthumously in 1963. I have been hunting for this foir years! No luck on Ebay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movieman1957 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Many of those short films were shown over the last year or so. TCM appears they may start a cycle of Laurel and Hardy so I'm not sure when Pitts/ Todd adn Todd/Kelley shorts would run again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainingviolets21 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 And if you look at her very early photos, she was quite beautiful---with a beauty that rivaled Lamarr.~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 You must mean Barbara LaMarr, but if you mean Hedy...mind backing that up with pix of young Zasu??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainingviolets21 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I meant BARBARA --of course--NO ONE can compare with Hedy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 "I see," said the blind man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieTSB Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 "No one can compare to Hedy..." Maybe, maybe not. It's always great fun trying. Gene Tierney. Grace Kelly. Probably only another 100 or so to go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChelseaRialtoStudios Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I have a print of the original 1930 trailer to ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and Zasu is seen as Lew Ayres' mother. One of my favorites is THEIR BIG MOMENT where she, Slim Summerville and William Gaxton do a phony mind reading act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zasupittsfan Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 I must admit that I really like her quite a lot in "Miss Polly" as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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