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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Sealskins remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have twenty minutes to spare and love watching two women scream at things in a dusty old house, Sealskins is absolutely worth your time today. Fans of classic slapstick will eat this up, but if you can't stand 1930s high-pitched screeching, you should probably steer clear. 🦭
The plot is incredibly silly. Zasu Pitts plays a secretary who wants to be a reporter, and she gets a tip about the stolen "Royal Seal of Siberia."
Of course, she thinks its an actual, living seal animal. This misunderstanding is what drives the whole thing, which is just beautifully dumb.
The boarding house they end up in is filled with the weirdest assortment of characters. Like, why is Harry Earles there? He just pops up and it is never really explained.
And Billy Gilbert shows up too, doing his usual frantic thing. He has this way of looking like he is about to explode from high blood pressure at any second.
I love Zasu Pitts' hands. They just flutter around constantly like two worried little birds. 🐦
Thelma Todd is great too, mostly because she has to play the "normal" one while everything collapses around her. She has this look of pure exhaustion that feels very real.
There is this one shot where a guy is trying to hide under a bed and his feet are just sticking out so obviously. But the characters just walk right past him. It made me laugh out loud.
It reminds me a bit of the chaotic energy in Boys Will Be Joys, just pure unadulterated nonsense from start to finish.
The pacing is incredibly fast, almost too fast. Some jokes don't even get room to breathe before the next person is falling over a chair.
But that is part of the charm, I guess. They don't make them like this anymore, probably because modern audiences need things like "logic" and "plots that make sense."
Oh, and the music! It has that classic tinny sound that makes you feel like you are eating stale popcorn in an old theater. 🍿
It’s not some grand masterpiece, but it doesn't try to be. It just wants to make you laugh at a literal seal in a bathtub, and honestly, it succeeded with me.