Traveling Saleslady: Toothpaste Wars and Whiplash Dialogue

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for pre-Code era snappy banter, Traveling Saleslady is a decent way to kill an hour. It’s got that specific kind of frantic energy where everyone talks like they’ve just downed three espressos. However, if you hate movies where the plot is basically just people yelling business ideas at each other in fancy hats, you might want to skip it.

Joan Blondell is the only reason this thing stays upright. She’s got this way of looking at a camera that says, "I know this script is nonsense, but I’m going to make you believe it anyway."

The Toothpaste Business

There is an absurd amount of time spent talking about toothpaste in this movie. It’s almost impressive how they turned something so boring into a plot point. It reminded me a bit of the frantic pacing in Naughty But Nice, though with fewer musical numbers and more competitive marketing.

Hattie McDaniel shows up, too. She’s only in it for a blink, but she brings more life to the screen in thirty seconds than some of the leads do in an hour. It’s a shame they didn’t give her more to do besides just being there.

Observations from the couch

• The scene in the drugstore goes on for way too long. The silence between lines feels less like a dramatic choice and more like someone forgot their cue.
• I’m pretty sure they reused the same street set from Easy Pickings, or at least it looks suspiciously familiar.
• The way people in the 1930s held telephones is a specific kind of art form I’ll never master.
• There is a moment where the dialogue gets so fast I had to rewind twice just to make sure I didn't miss a joke. (I did, and it wasn't even a good one.)

It’s not exactly Operator 13, is it? It lacks that polish, that feeling that the filmmakers actually knew where they were going with the story. It just sort of drifts along until it stops.

Sometimes the movie gets noticeably better when it stops trying to be a clever comedy and just lets Blondell be annoyed at men. She’s great at being annoyed. 🙄

The ending feels like they ran out of film and just decided to call it a day. One minute they’re fighting, the next they’re shaking hands, and the credits roll. I sat there for a second wondering if my player glitched out.

Honestly? It’s fine. It’s not great, but it’s certainly not the worst thing you could watch on a rainy Tuesday. Just don’t expect it to change your life or make you want to go out and buy a specific brand of toothpaste.