Topic: The Wrong Miss Wright (1937) - Charley Chase

[Paul Pain]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029798/

Now, this film is a remake of the Hal Roach Charley Chase short CRAZY LIKE A FOX.  I haven't seen that short, so, unlike everyone else, I will not refer to it any further.

This short is a rarity in that the opening scene is quite dramatic, requires decent acting skills, has no comedy, and serves to firmly ground the plot.  It ends quite suddenly and hilariously.

The rest of the short is just plain wild.  While the plot is a bit odd, Charley is clicking 100% here as is director Charles Lamont supporting cast.  Peggy Stratford has finally come around to being a strong actress to complement Charley, so naturally this is the final role of her acting  career.  John Murry, Bud Jamison, and Cy Schindell are great in their respective roles, even if the latter's is short.

Charley is very natural with it all.  It's all these little things... smacking Bud on the arm, shoving the lady in the pool, double talking when trying to explain everything, etc.  Even if the plot is a bit farfetched, it's a fantastic display of Charley's skill, and it's worth watching just for that.  It's a tragic shame that his life was, as one colleague put it, "I never saw him drunk on the set, and I never saw him sober off."

9/10 (for the fantastic cast and directing)

[metaldams]

      Not as good as the original CRAZY LIKE A FOX, which has strong opening gags with Charley on a train and a stronger build up of both characters not realizing who the other one is at first.  That being said, on its own merit, THE WRONG MISS WRIGHT is a fine prime era Columbia short that takes perfect advantage of Charley acting crazy to try to turn off a future father in law he thinks he wants nothing to do with - but actually does once he realizes this is father of the girl he truly wants after all.  The situations come fast and furious and the pace never lets up.  I’m a fan of the various button gags and invoking liberty while freeing a canary from a cage, but it’s really, it’s all funny stuff.  So far, each of these shorts have gotten better than the previous one.  You other guys should check this one out as well as CRAZY LIKE A FOX, which is on YouTube.

[Umbrella Sam]

This is a nice change of pace from the previous two “jealous spouse” comedies in the series. Not that either of them was bad, but it did worry me a bit after watching both that this might be the only theme of the series (the only other Chase Columbia short I’ve seen, SOUTH OF THE BOUDOIR, had a similar theme).

Anyway, this short does indeed start off in a very dramatic way, and it actually is quite impressive for a Columbia short. There’s not much to it besides Chase and Peggy Stratford standing in front of the water talking, but that’s all that’s really needed to give a reason for the audience to want to see them together. It’s nicely done.

The rest of the short is a lot of fun. Chase definitely does have the type of personality to pull off the role of someone who acts crazy but can still be quite charming due to his cheerful nature. I especially like most of the scenes by the pool. They definitely take advantage of the amount of people out there by using each for small gags, like when he slingshots the food off of the one guy’s head and it hits the other guy in the pool. I think my favorite moment is the one where Chase pushes the woman into the pool. It’s just so funny the way he’s so casual about it while everyone else is freaking out. I also really like the scene where he’s dancing with the father. Again, his crazy but also cheerful nature really shines through here.

The only moment I’m not really a big fan of is with the pills, which just seem overused and boring, but otherwise this is a pretty solid comedy short.

9 out of 10

[metaldams]

The rest of the short is a lot of fun. Chase definitely does have the type of personality to pull off the role of someone who acts crazy but can still be quite charming due to his cheerful nature.

Agreed.  Chase, along with Harold Lloyd, is the missing link between Cary Grant and Laurel and Hardy.

[Dr. Mabuse]

One of Charley Chase's best Columbia two-reelers, with a memorable supporting cast and sharp direction from Charles Lamont.  Great fun from start to finish.

8.5/10