CHARLEY CHASE

     Though Chase is officially credited for his work on only one L&H film (his memorable supporting appearance in SONS OF THE DESERT), he was nevertheless a strong comic presence on the Roach lot and was known to contribute gags and ideas to many a Laurel and Hardy comedy. The Boys even make a cameo appearance in Chase's On The Wrong Trek (1936).

     The most often used word in describing Charley Chase is "forgotten". A real shame, as his films have the same spirit of Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy, with a healthy dose of satire and surrealism thrown in for good measure. Chase started in the silent era, developing into an everyman character not unlike Harold Lloyd. As opposed to some of the comedies coming out of other studios, the Chase silents were sophisticated, well plotted and thoroughly based on character rather than gags for gags sake. Chase made the transition to talkies as smoothly as Laurel and Hardy, and his comedy, whether in silent or sound films, was something uniquely his own. His work is characterized by breezy little shorts, many of them almost mini-musicals. Chase's attitude toward plots went in many directions. He liked situation comedies, with mistaken identities causing much confusion, and he also liked gimmicky, high concept stories that allowed for maximum gag-making. At the same time, some of his shorts are so carefree that they don't even bother coming to a proper conclusion, which, of course, just makes them all the more fun. Like Laurel and Hardy, many of his gags were about the frustrations of every day life. Chase also enjoyed trick photography and music, and sometimes combined these elements, as in Four Parts (1934), where he and three brothers (played, of course, by himself) perform a musical number. His two early talkie three reelers, High C's and its sequel Rough Seas, can almost be seen as one full six reel musical feature, albeit a feature that doesn't exactly go anywhere (but has a helluva time along the way).

     Charley Chase's forte was character comedy, yet his own character was apt to change from film to film. In one short he would be a brash wiseguy (Rough Seas, 1931), in another a likable but dumb nitwit (Fallen Arches, 1933) and in another a henpecked husband (Poker at EIght, 1936) . His turn in Laurel and Hardy's SONS OF THE DESERT was yet another variation, one he would build on in later years in his Columbia classic The Heckler (1940). Chase was nothing if not versatile.

     Chase had his own "stock company" of supporting players, some of whom almost never show up in the work of Laurel and Hardy. Harry Bowen, a New Yawkish type wiseguy always ready for an argument, and Del Henderson, a huge balding hulk of a man (who appears in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case) were among his favorites. Among his screen wives were the bubbly Betty Mack and Roach ingenue Rosina Lawrence (of WAY OUT WEST and Our Gang fame). But Chase also made excellent use of frequent L&H co-stars Billy Gilbert, James Finlayson and especially Thelma Todd, which makes Charley's world seem like a small corner of the larger Laurel and Hardy Universe, or even vice versa. If all you know of James Finlayson's work is his films with Laurel and Hardy, you're missing a great deal. And while Fin usually looked the same in almost every film the Boys did, in Chase's world, you'd never know if Fin was going to show up sans the walrus mustache or with a patently obvious toupee!

     A well-loved Chase trademark was his wonderful singing voice, and he used it well throughout his Roach career. Some songs showcased by Chase through the years were "The Ice Cream Song", "How About Another Cup of Coffee?", "When You Were Sweet Sixteen", "You Are The Ideal of My Dreams" and that in-house classic, "Smile When The Raindrops Fall".

     Chase was always eager to get into features, but his first effort, BANK NIGHT, bombed during previews and was re-edited into a two reeler, Neighborhood House (1936). Later that year, Roach released him from his contract, but Chase, like his onscreen persona, bounced back and found work at Columbia Studios, where he not only continued doing some excellent shorts (The Heckler ranks with any of his Roach work) but also directed many of The Three Stooges' better efforts, sometimes under his real name of Charles Parrott. Like his younger brother James Parrott, Chase was beset with a drinking problem, and he died at the age of 46 in 1940.

     Comedy historian Glenn Mitchell calls Chase "the least appreciated of film comedy's authentic geniuses." His silent films hold up today better than many of his contemporaries, and his sound comedies deserve to be as well known as Our Gang or Laurel and Hardy's. With any luck, the word "forgotten" will someday no longer be automatically attached to the name of Charlie Chase.