Catch-as-Catch-Can (1931)

On August 22, 1931, Hal Roach Studios released Catch-as-Catch-Can (1931), a short film about a homesick wrestler named “The Strangler,” who wants to go home to Kansas. His manager Harry is trying to keep him in New York as Harry has all his money riding on “The Strangler.”

Harry is visiting his girlfriend Thelma, where she and her best friend and roommate Zasu, are switchboard operators for the Empire Hotel. “The Strangler” starts talking to Zasu and tells Zasu he is homesick for Kansas. She tells “The Strangler” she is homesick for Missouri. They hit it off and Harry realizes Zasu is his answer to keep “The Strangler” in New York.

Guinn “Big Boy” Williams plays “The Strangler.” Zasu Pitts plays Zasu, while Thelma Todd plays Thelma. Reed Howes plays Harry. The only professional wrestler is Ivan Linow, who plays “The Strangler’s” opponent at the end of the 20-minute short comedy.

Ivan Linow was born Janis Linaus in Latvia on November 21, 1888. Linow wrestled in the United States as early as 1908 at only 20 years of age.

Linow wrestled as one of the top stars in the 1915 New York International Wrestling Tournament. Linow wrestled Ed “Strangler” Lewis throughout the 1910s.

Linow started acting in American films in 1921. Linow appeared in fifty-eight films over the next nineteen years. Linow died of a heart attack on his 52nd birthday, November 21, 1940 in London, England.

Thelma Todd died under suspcious circumstances at only 29 years of age on December 16, 1935. Todd died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sitting in her car in a garage. It is still debated whether Todd died accidentally, committed suicide, or murdered by her boyfriend or someone else.

Zasu Pitts increasingly turned to comedic roles as she got older. Pitts worked in films and television up to her death at only 69 years of age on June 7, 1963. Pitts’s last film, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) was released after her death.

Williams and Howe worked through the 1950s often playing heavies in Westerns and in Williams case, crime thrillers. All four actors appeared in more full-length features than the occasional short.

Catch-as-Catch-Can is an entertaining little short that runs about 20 minutes. You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook page.