Nobody's Baby (1937)
** (out of 4)
After the death of Thelma Todd producer Hal Roach had think fast to try and find someone to team up with Patsy Kelly. They selected Lyda Roberti and the new team would appear in two (AT SEA ASHORE, HILL-TILLIES) shorts that were beyond awful. Roach would eventually quit producing shorts so here came the duos first and only feature as Roberti would be dead in less than a year. The story has Kelly and Roberti playing out of work artists who go to nursing school where they eventually meet a young dancer (Rosina Lawrence) who has runaway from her husband who doesn't know she's about to have a baby. Soon the girls are taking care of the baby while the mother tries to inform the father. NOBODY'S BABY is a film I'd call fair at best but when you compare it to the two shorts the ladies made you might as well call it a ground breaking masterpiece. There's no question that this isn't a very good movie but there are enough interesting moments to make it worth viewing if you're a fan of the cast and one does have to wonder what could have been done had the comedy group had time to grow. The story is a pretty weak one as it never really feels complete as it's pretty much delivered as six one-reel shorts. At first there's a skit involving the girl's trying out for radio. We then get a gag of them trying to cook. We then go to nursing school. We then flash to them getting kicked off a bus. They then meet the men in their lives. They meet the dancer. Then they get mixed up with the baby. Each of these "skits" play out just like a short and if you think too much about them then you'd probably have plenty of room to be negative. Again, considering how poor the two shorts were I was surprised to see that Kelly and Roberti were much better here. Kelly was especially better as she wasn't nearly as over bearing or annoying as she didn't go so over-the-top, which is something she often did in her two-reelers. She is pretty fun here as she delivers some great one-liners. Roberti wasn't much of an actress but she was cute either way. The supporting cast isn't all that impressive and that includes Armstrong who pretty much sleepwalks through his role. The jokes fly out pretty quickly from scene to scene and there's no question that they're hit and miss. Fans of Roach will probably want to check it out as will fans of Kelly and I certainly recommend it over the shorts they made the previous year.
