Topic: Many Sappy Returns (1938) - Charley Chase

[Paul Pain]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030414/

Charley Chase often makes me simultaneously laugh while thinking "what the hell?" because of how surreal things get.  This one is just plain odd, but funny.

Ann Doran and John T. Murray have become solid workhorses with Charley, and they mesh well with Columbia's usual players.  Fred Kesley gets a nice role here as well.

Charley is really the sane man in an insane world.  Ann Doran goes from violently enraged over an honest mistake to in love with him.  John Sheehan is frantic.  John Murray is harmlessly insane.  And Cy Schindell is the "I don't care" asylum worker.  Charley seems normal even with his normal mannerisms here.

The cracker scene is wonderfully bizarre and somehow simultaneously funny.  Watching Charley and John spitting out cracker crumbs is worth the price of admission.  All of it is done very well.  It shows Del Lord is directing this one.

Other highlights include the sunburn and fire jokes, and Charley maniacally driving in circles when he thinks he owns his own cab.  This short brings new flavor to some old puns.  The plot is full of tons of holes though, which for some people might make this tedious.  There were a couple stretches where I didn't laugh at all.  Similar to the directing, it shows Charley wrote and produced this one.

It's a bit weird, but I liked it.

8/10

[metaldams]

      I knew this plot was a bit familiar, and researching it online to jog my memory, indeed it’s a remake of FAST WORK from 1930.  To piggyback off my recent Our Gang review, that’s another great example of a good Dell Henderson role.

      It seems at this point Chase had his own team of character actors that either didn’t or just barely appeared with The Three Stooges - John T. Murray and Ann Doran.  Both are in fine form here, Murray’s insane act (done by Henderson in the original) fitting in well with the plot in this one and Ms. Doran is never lovelier than here.  Vernon Dent gets a nice cameo as the helpless passer by who notices the caB is on fire and Cy Schindell is wonderful as the nonchalant asylum worker.  Fred Kelsey is - Fred Kelsey.  Quick tempered as we all know and love.

      Chase himself is in fine form but I am starting to notice he’s looking older than his years in some close ups.  As Paul mentions, the cracker scene is fantastic, poor Chase trying to spit them out from eating too fast as Murray reprimands him not to waste any being quite funny.  What really makes this short one of the better Columbia Chase shorts so far is just the simple fact this things moves at such a brisk pace from various setting to setting and to no one’s surprise, this is a Del Lord effort.  Definitely has that feel of a late 30’s Columbia as a result, so definitely worth checking out.

[Umbrella Sam]

Pretty good for the most part. Seeing John T. Murray playing an insane person was once again a treat, and he and Chase work well off of each other doing wordplay humor at the restaurant. That makes me wonder, did Murray ever work in vaudeville or burlesque? I ask because his timing with the wordplay is really impressive, the same kind of speed that Abbott and Costello had in their best routines.

The other supporting actors are great too. I love Fred Kelsey’s reaction to Chase’s sunburn comment and Cy Schindell’s uncaring attitude about Murray’s escape. To me, the best moment goes to Vernon Dent. When he notices the taxi on fire, he alerts Chase, and normally you’d think it would cut to Chase freaking out and looking for water. But here, he actually asks Dent what he should do, and Dent just meekly says, “I don’t know.” It’s just so unexpected and unconventional that I find it so much funnier than I imagine they intended it to be.

I do have a few minor problems with it, though. I have to disagree on the cracker part. I just see it as two men trying to talk with their mouths full, and it’s hard to laugh when you can’t really understand them. I also found the ending a bit forced; I get that the concept was that the father had a bad memory and that’s why he didn’t exactly remember Chase, but...come on he had the guy arrested! You’d think he’d remember that at some point!

Outside of those two small problems, this is a very good short. I remember seeing FAST WORK a while ago, and while Dell Henderson was good in that role, I wasn’t a fan of the way it started, with Chase constantly bothering the girl and being annoying in the process. So, based off of that, I would have to say that I do prefer MANY SAPPY RETURNS, as it has a much better set up and the two problems I have with it aren’t really that bad.

9 out of 10

[GreenCanaries]

The girl who gets the crackers in the neck (and attempts to retaliate with the bottle) is Charley's real-life daughter, June. His other daughter Polly shows up in some of his Columbias and later Roachs as well.

John T. Murray was indeed in vaudeville. In fact, you may know his wife and partner: Vivien Oakland, who appeared in many films and comedy shorts all over the map (with Chase, Laurel & Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Andy Clyde, Leon Errol, Glenn Tryon, etc.). I've always wondered if Charley knew them from his own vaudeville days. (Vivien was previously in a duo with her sister Dagmar, probably best known as the manicurist in W.C. Fields' THE BARBER SHOP.)

Here's a fun little Vitaphone short starring Murray & Oakland from 1929:

EDIT: Also, here's a great little ad from a 1923 vaudeville souvenir book. On the same page is a not-yet-39 Jack Benny, and on the previous page is Harry Holman (HOI POLLOI).

[metaldams]

The girl who gets the crackers in the neck (and attempts to retaliate with the bottle) is Charley's real-life daughter, June. His other daughter Polly shows up in some of his Columbias and later Roachs as well.

John T. Murray was indeed in vaudeville. In fact, you may know his wife and partner: Vivien Oakland, who appeared in many films and comedy shorts all over the map (with Chase, Laurel & Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Andy Clyde, Leon Errol, Glenn Tryon, etc.). I've always wondered if Charley knew them from his own vaudeville days. (Vivien was previously in a duo with her sister Dagmar, probably best known as the manicurist in W.C. Fields' THE BARBER SHOP.)

Here's a fun little Vitaphone short starring Murray & Oakland from 1929:

EDIT: Also, here's a great little ad from a 1923 vaudeville souvenir book. On the same page is a not-yet-39 Jack Benny.

I’m definitely aware of Vivien Oakland and also John T. Murray - never knew they were married,  interesting.