The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)
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Features
• Black & White
• DVD-Video
• Silent
• NTSC
In Theaters : 18 July, 1926
DVD Release : 03 August, 2004 |
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The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium) Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
The Founding Father of Situation Comedy
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Like many early comedy artists, the name Charley Chase seems only of interest to film buffs & scholars. One reason his name may not be well-remembered is that he tried--and failed--to transition to feature-length films, working mainly in short subjects. With the first volume (of, hopefully, several more) of Chase's silent comedy work at the Hal Roach studios, he'll finally get his due.
Slender, dapper and handsome, with great comic timing & reactions, Chase practically invented what is known today as "situation comedy" on T.V. Chase liked to take a premise--a situation that could very well happen to anyone--and expand it; make it overblown & farcical. His collaborations with the equally-imaginative director Leo McCarey (the man responsible for teaming Laurel & Hardy) was a momentous occasion.
My favorites from these six shorts? "Mighty Like A Moose" is irresistably charming, foreshadowing today's trends in plastic surgery. "Crazy Like A Fox" is daffy fun as Chase gets to cut loose here, using insane behavior to get the girl. But the others show flashes of comic brilliance: "All Wet" has Chase maneuvering his car into a ridiculously deep & wide puddle...then making repairs underwater! "Long Fliv The King" makes use of the "fish-out-of-water" plot device by having death-row inmate Chase being rescued from the gallows to rule a small country. Look for a then-stock player Oliver Hardy in a supporting role as a servant. "April Fool" is a brief short in which Chase--calling himself Jimmie Jump--takes the fad of playing pranks to hilarious heights.
It's a shame that Mr. Chase died too young in 1940, from a heart attack attributed to heavy drinking. What he created with these shorts helped push the envelope of comedy invention to the next level.
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The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium) dvd movie.