The Sprocket Vault made
available this past week (Jan. 16) a double-disc DVD set containing a whopping
18 short films (talkies) starring comedy legend Charley Chase.
Titled Charley
Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies, Volume One – 1930-1931, the collection
begins with the February of 1930 theatrical short, The Real McCoy, which
co-stars Thelma Todd. Also from 1930 —
and also co-starring Thelma Todd — are Whispering Whoopee, All
Teed Up and High C’s, plus Dollar Dizzy and Looser
Than Loose (Todd appears with Chase, but did not receive billing).
Rounding out the comedy
shorts from 1930 starring Charley Chase are Fifty Million Husbands
(with Ruth Hiatt and Christine Maple), Fast Work (featuring June Marlowe)
and Girl
Shock (with Carmen Guerrero).
In 1931, Charley Chase
and Thelma Todd teamed up for The Pip from Pittsburg (which is
also presented here in the Spanish-language version titled La Señorita de Chicago)
and Rough
Seas. Also from 1931 featuring
Charley Chase are Thundering Tenors (with Dorothy Granger), One of the Smiths
(featuring Louise Carver), The Panic Is On (opposite Virginia
Whiting), Skip the Maloo! (with Julie Bishop, who was billed as “Jacqueline
Wells”), What a Bozo! (with Gay Seabrook as “Gay, the Bozo”) and The
Hasty Marriage (Gay Seabrook returns and is joined by Lillian Elliott).
Each of the short films
presented in this two-disc collection feature commentary from film historian
and Hal Roach authority Richard M. Roberts (author of “Smileage Guaranteed:
Past Humor, Present Laughter, Musings on the Comedy Film Industry 1910-1945,
Volume One: Hal Roach”).
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