Becoming Charley Chase
by David Kalat
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charley ChaseDirector: David Kalat
Brand: Video Communications Inc.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Restored, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 460 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-07-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 8562
Studio: VCI Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Becoming Charley Chase
Movie Review: Long awaited comedy rarities are coming!
Summary: 5 Stars
First I want to say that there are NO LINER NOTES in this set, you will want to print this review for reference on what is on each disc.
This may not be the "best of Charley Chase", but it is VERY GOOD! I don't think there is a clinker in the bunch! This is a comprehensive presentation of the early works of Charley Chase (Parrott). His persona starts out raw and refines itself. His unique humor starts to build from short to short. It is interesting to see the slapstick Keystone influence in PEANUTS AND BULLETS, a rather un Charley Chase like short. But that quickly disappears in the very next film presented here, LOVE IN ARMOR. Charley was clearly bucking the trend at Keystone and going more for situational comedy over pie-in-the face humor. His Keystone Comedies seem even more sophisticated than Chaplin's Keystone comedies. They are very story driven.
The King Bee Comedy at the end of disc 1 MARRIED TO ORDER features Oliver Hardy and plays out like a Hal Roach comedy.
The documentary at the end of disc 1 is best watched after viewing all four discs as it makes references to comedies on discs 2, 3 & 4. I found the audio mix poorly done in the documentary. The mood music is overwhelming the interviews, making it hard to hear what they say. I listened to this on two different systems & came up with the same results.
Discs 2 & 3 would take some dedication to get through all at once. Each is very long, over 150 minutes, and with 10 minute comedies, some repeating the theme of romance triangles several times, it could get monotonous. I would suggest breaking up the viewing of these discs for better enjoyment. The only problem is that if you try to start in the middle, you can not continuously watch them, at the end of the short your player will go back to the first menu & you have to select the title menu and then select the next short. One quick short-cut around this is to push your "Next" button on the remote before the DVD production credit ends.
Disc 3 does contain my favorite short in this set: "HELLO BABY" (1925). What may sound like a typical 'Man-takes-care-of-baby' plot is really full of many unexpected comedic plot twists & turns that stray away from the original plot line. And it all happens in 10 minutes! Any attempt to explain it here would ruin the impact.
Disc 4 may be missing Charley on screen, but his presence as director is definitely felt.
It is a pleasure to see his brother James (Paul) Parrott being directed by Charley, and Snub Pollard has always been a favorite of mine. Their shorts here are some of their best work, no doubt helped by Charley's direction.
I also caught Our Gang's Jackie Condon making a brief cameo appearance in a Will Rogers short, "JUS PASSIN THROUGH" (1923). It is quite a long short (27 minutes) & the comedy plot has been repeated many times by other comedians, so it became predictable. Jackie's brief appearance is an example of how actors traveled from set to set on the "lot of fun". Unlike the other two Our Gang member appearances, there is no plot reason for Jackie being there, I bet he just dropped by to watch & they put him in the film.
Overall the shorts look good to great, some are a little light. One disappointing title is JUST A MINUTE on disc 2, this is mastered from a video tape that has tracking problems. I guess they could not get access to the original film.
The music used here is not traditional silent film music & I am unsure as to how I like it, other than kept at a low volume. Some compositions seem to compliment the film, while others seem to be general mood themes that ignore what is happening on-screen.
I would actually suggest watching all of these shorts with their commentary tracks turned on (go to the "More" option in the menu & select the commentary option for all). These historians are very knowledgeable & well prepared to talk about the films. Find out who the then-popular athletes are that make guest appearances, or who that girl is (it's Fay Wray).
Sadly some films are lost, and others like SETTLED AT THE SEASIDE, DON'T FORGET, SEEING NELLIE HOME, & ACCIDENTAL ACCIDENTS are presented in fragments. Watch-able complete sequences, but not complete films. On the good side, there is no duplication between this set and the KINO sets. You will be getting all new material here.
After I finished viewing all four discs I felt a little sad, there was no more to watch. I got spoiled for a moment with some 10 HOURS of new films & documentaries to watch (O.K. I had seen some of these in the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Edison Theater).
Yes, this a 10 hour set!
The contents:
DISC ONE: (2hrs, 24min, 10sec)
CHARLES PARROTT AT KEYSTONE (AND KING BEE!)
PEANUTS AND BULLETS 1/30/15 Music by the Snark Ensemble 12:13
LOVE IN ARMOR 3/11/15 Music by Ben Model 13:29
SETTLED AT THE SEASIDE 03/29/15 Music by Redwine Jazz 6:32
THE RENT JUMPERS 04/08/15 Music by Redwine Jazz 11:01
LOVE, LOOT, AND CRASH 04/24/15 Music by Ben Model 12:21
A VERSATILE VILLAIN 05/29/15 Music by Ben Model 13:00
HE WOULDN'T STAY DOWN 05/30/15 Music by Ben Model 14:23
MARRIED TO ORDER 10/30/20 w/ OLIVER HARDY (King Bee Comedies) Music by the Snark Ensemble 16:11
Bonus: "THE PARROTT CHASE" 45 minute documentary featurette (***Best if viewed after watching all 4 discs***) and optional audio commentaries on all shorts
DISC TWO: (2hrs; 39min; 44sec)
CHARLEY CHASE BECOMES JIMMY JUMP
AT FIRST SIGHT 01/06/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:57
ONE OF THE FAMILY 01/26/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:13
JUST A MINUTE 02/03/24 Music by Ben Model 12:17
POWDER AND SMOKE 02/10/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:57
HARD KNOCKS 03/02/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:41
DON'T FORGET 03/23/24 Surviving extract Music by the Snark Ensemble 2:59
THE FRAIDY CAT 03/30/24 w/ OUR GANG - Music by Ben Model 10:46
PUBLICITY PAYS 05/04/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:55
YOUNG OLDFIELD 06/22/24 w/ Our Gang's JOE COBB - Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:41
STOLEN GOODS 06/29/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:30
JEFFRIES, JR. 07/06/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:27
A TEN-MINUTE EGG 7/20/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:56
SEEING NELLIE HOME 07/27/24 Partial reconstruction from surviving material, Music by Ben Model 5:43
OUTDOOR PAJAMAS 09/14/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 8:38
SITTIN' PRETTY 09/28/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:15
TOO MANY MAMMAS 10/12/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:00
Bonus Material:
ACCIDENTAL ACCIDENTS 11/9/24 surviving extract Music by Ben Model 2:12
EVOLUTION OF A GAG: tracing the history of the mirror gag 7:37
and optional audio commentaries on all shorts
DISC THREE: (2hrs; 46min; 14sec)
JIMMY JUMP BECOMES CHARLEY CHASE
THE POOR FISH 12/07/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:30
THE RATS KNUCKLES 01/04/25 Music by Ben Model 9:17
HELLO BABY! 1/1/8/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:29
FIGHTING FLUID 02/01/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:50
SHOULD HUSBANDS BE WATCHED? 03/14/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:34
IS MARRIAGE THE BUNK? 03/29/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:54
BAD BOY 04/12/25 Charley Chase's first surviving two-reel short Music by the Snark Ensemble 18:24
BIG RED RIDING HOOD 04/26/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:47
LOOKING FOR SALLY The last appearance of Jimmy Jump 05/10/25 Music by Ben Model 20:20
NO FATHER TO GUIDE HIM 09/06/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 19:09
Bonus: "THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE" music featurette
and optional audio commentaries on all shorts
DISC FOUR: (2hrs; 10min; 05sec)
DIRECTED BY CHARLEY PARROTT
A ROLLING STONE Billy West 01/20/19 Music by Ben Model 18:48
THE FLIRTS Harry Mann & Jimmie Adams 04/08/19 Music by the West End Jazz Band 21:38
THE DUMB BELL Snub Pollard 07/16/22 Music by Ben Redwine and Redwine Jazz 9:23
SOFT PEDAL Paul Parrott 12/16/22 Music by Ben Model 9:50
COURTSHIP OF MILES SANDWICH Snub Pollard 06/24/23 Music by the West End Jazz Band 19:12
JUS PASSIN THROUGH Will Rogers Music by Ben Model 27:05 (1923) with a cameo by Our Gang's Jackie Condon.
DEAR OLD PAL Snub Pollard and Paul Parrott, the last film directed by Charles Parrott before he became Charley Chase 11/11/23 Music by Redwine Jazz 9:38
Bonus: Interview with Charley's daughter June Chase Hargis 14:31
and optional audio commentaries on all shorts
Please note that any pre-orders you may have already placed will not be valid--because of the change of distributor, the set will have a new UPC symbol and will be treated by retailers as a new release, so you will need to re-order all over again.
VCI has taken a gamble on releasing this set during hard economic times. Lets all support their effort and buy this great set. And thanks to All Day for assembling this collection! Great job in trying to put as complete a collection of Charlie's early work together from surviving prints as possible, and not double-dipping from the KINO releases.
This 10 hour set costs less than a dollar a short!
Summary of Becoming Charley Chase
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