Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews
The Grand Hooter (1937) - Charley Chase
Paul Pain:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028949
We could wax poetic all day about Charley Chase, but we have 20+ weeks to do so. This short was later remade with Shemp Howard as OPEN SEASON FOR SAPS.
OPEN SEASON FOR SAPS review: https://moronika.com/forums/index.php/topic,5737.0.html
This short is better than the remake in every way. The reason is that Charley Chase is the best man for a Charley Chase short. He was just about the only comedian who came into the Columbia Shorts Department with an established persona and had the script writers cater to it. Charley Chase works well as the problematic husband who gets himself into a domestic farce.
The chemistry with the cast works well as a result because their is a top-notch actor in his ideal element. Interesting, the "Latin" couple of "Rosita" and "Ricardo" are played by a Sicilian and a Jew, respectively. They handle it well though. We're getting much better casts than we got with El Brendel. Even Bud Jamison is here and gets to kick Lynton Brent in the can.
The plot is a bit weak, although the ending scene is on a familiar set in Columbia shorts! The commonality of the lodge members just seems a bit strange, and, SPOILER ALERT, Ricardo being a Hooter as well is a bit of a dud.
The next few months will be fun.
9/10 [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke]
metaldams:
Pretty much the same thoughts about this one as OPEN SEASON FOR SAPS. I still say THE GRAND HOOTER is slightly better because yes, Chase is more believable in this role. A great example is him singing and playing guitar to the other woman is much more appropriate than Christine singing to Shemp and Shemp dancing around like a clown. Not that I mind Shemp dancing around like a clown, but it just doesn’t work in this situation,
Then there’s the whole drag thing. In both cases, is there anything remotely feminine about either Chase or Shemp to make one believe if they put on women’s clothes they’re all of the sudden going to be attractive to men? With very few exceptions, drag comedy has never done it for me and this is a big reason why. I also tend to get bored with the chases after a while in these bedroom farce comic dramas, just very one note.
Yeah, not exactly a good start to the Chase series at Columbia. He’s done much better before and will do better after. At least the title is kind of funny if you picture Al Bundy saying it.
metaldams:
....and yes, correct. The last shot uses the balcony set from 3 DUMB CLUCKS. I imagine shot around the same time.
Paul Pain:
While normally long domestic chases normally bore me as well, I liked this one. There were some unique moments, like Charley hiding above shower curtain rod, the room service man flipping 180 and the platter staying intact, and the moment when Charley opens the door into that poor bystander, who handles the scene perfectly.
Paul Pain:
--- Quote from: metaldams on May 23, 2020, 03:11:26 PM ---....and yes, correct. The last shot uses the balcony set from 3 DUMB CLUCKS. I imagine shot around the same time.
--- End quote ---
Indeed. 3 DUMB CLUCKS was filmed Feb. 1 to Feb. 5 in 1937, and THE GRAND HOOTER was filmed Feb. 18 to Feb. 22 of the same year.
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