Topic: Charley Chase Hal Roach Vol 3 - August 2021!

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A post by Richard M. Roberts at Silent Comedy Mafia reports that the 3rd volume of Charley Chase Hal Roach shorts will be out sometime in August.

The set covers the years 1934-1936.

http://www.silentcomedymafia.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2725

This set will finish Chase's Roach years, and is very highly anticipated.

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UPDATE:

This is coming out on August 10.

An Amazon pre-order page is up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B092BWWG4S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wouldn't be too concerned about the $39.95 price tag, that's been the MSRP on the other ones, and it's almost certain to drop by at least $10 before it's released. If you pre-order from Amazon and the price drops, you pay the lower price.

Charley Chase returns with Volume Three, featuring his last three years of comedies for the Lot of Fun and some of the best sound shorts he made for Hal Roach. Charley at his most surrealistic in films like Another Wild Idea, Public Ghost No. 1, and Life Hesitates at 40, great gag comedies like It Happened One Day, and Fate's Fathead, and we even have him cloned in multiples for Four Parts. Much hilarity still to be had as Charley Chase winds down his tenure at the studio he helped to build.

1934: The Cracked Iceman, Four Parts, I'll Take Vanilla, Another Wild Idea, It Happened One Day, Something Simple, You Said a Hatful!, Fate's Fathead, The Chases of Pimple Street

1935: Okay Toots!, Poker at Eight, Southern Exposure, The Four-Star Boarder, Nurse to You!, Manhattan Monkey Business, Public Ghost #1

1936: Life Hesitates at 40, The Count Takes the Count, Vamp Till Ready, Neighborhood House, On The Wrong Trek

Bonus features include:

Optional English subtitles
Commentary by Richard M. Roberts
Poster and Stills gallery
¡Huye, faldas! (Spanish language version of Girl Shock)

[metaldams]

Between this, Laurel and Hardy, Harry Langdon, Our Gang, Pitts/Kelly and Todd, and Langdon; I can now have one heck of a Hal Roach talkie marathon.

[HomokHarcos]

YES!! FInally! I will pre-order this certainly.

[HomokHarcos]

Between this, Laurel and Hardy, Harry Langdon, Our Gang, Pitts/Kelly and Todd, and Langdon; I can now have one heck of a Hal Roach talkie marathon.

I'm planning on having a Charley Chase Hal Roach run including the silents. I was just waiting for this to come out before I started.

So will you watch the Roach shorts in chronological order, or by series?

[metaldams]

I'm planning on having a Charley Chase Hal Roach run including the silents. I was just waiting for this to come out before I started.

So will you watch the Roach shorts in chronological order, or by series?

Shorts in chronological order, series mixing together.  I’ll miss a few series like The Boyfriends and a few random shorts, but the bulk of Roach talkie shorts will still be done.  Should be cool.  Would love to do that with Columbia someday.

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This highly-anticipated set comes out on Tuesday, in case anyone needs a reminder. Got a shipping notice from Amazon today.

When these Chase sets began to come out, it was these years that I really looked forward to as I've seen only very few from this time period.

[metaldams]

Mine is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.  I’ll be commenting for sure.

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Mine is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.  I’ll be commenting for sure.

Looking forward to your commentary on these shorts.

[HomokHarcos]

I preordered this, too. I was waiting for this to come out so I can watch them in a row.

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I've watched the first four on disc 1 so far. It's my first time seeing any of these four, and they're great! Betty Mack, who has been in all four so far, has great chemistry with Chase (even more so than Thelma Todd IMO). There's been some good little songs sung by Chase, some location filming, and some Our Gang members have turned up.

[Dr. Mabuse]

My DVD set arrived yesterday and I watched the inventive "Four Parts" last night. Excellent print quality.

[metaldams]

Mine arrived yesterday too.  Believe it or not, I never bought the silent Milestone set that came out ten years ago until now, so I’m going through that first.  Should get to the new set this weekend.

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ANOTHER WILD IDEA features exterior night filming, which you don't always see in these shorts. As the Lord Heath site mentions, the exterior shots in that film afford a look at Sebastian's Cotton Club.

Lord Heath: "Located in Culver City, California and owned by Frank Sebastian, who opened the jazz club in February 1926. It is located at 6500 Washington Blvd, not far from the Hal Roach Studios at 8822 Washington Blvd."

More: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/sebastians-cotton-club-culver-city-california-1926-1938/

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SOMETHING SIMPLE is another winning entry... despite a rear-projection scene that makes the one from COUNTY HOSPITAL look like an Oscar-worthy sequence.

SOMETHING SIMPLE has a cute story of mistaken identity and features a who's who of names people here would recognize - Fred Toones (1 of only 2 Roach credits), Del Henderson, Lew Kelley, Arthur Housman, James C. Morton to name a few.

These 1934 entries are definitely the most consistently strong group of Chase shorts so far, compared to 1930-1933.

[Dr. Mabuse]

These 1934 entries are definitely the most consistently strong group of Chase shorts so far, compared to 1930-1933.

The 1934 entries also have more singing. Several exhibitors complained about the overall quality of the 1932-33 Chase shorts and their lack of musical interludes. Here are a few examples: 

https://ia803406.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?id=motionpictureher114unse&itemPath=%2F22%2Fitems%2Fmotionpictureher114unse&server=ia803406.us.archive.org&page=leaf0128

https://ia802507.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/7/items/motionpictureher111unse/motionpictureher111unse_jp2.zip&file=motionpictureher111unse_jp2%2Fmotionpictureher111unse_0962.jp2&ext=jpg

https://ia802503.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?id=motionpictureher112unse&itemPath=%2F19%2Fitems%2Fmotionpictureher112unse&server=ia802503.us.archive.org&page=leaf0690

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It's interesting to see these Stooges supporting players turn up in the Chase shorts:

Dorothy Appleby, still years from her association with the Stooges at Columbia, makes 1 of only 2 Roach appearances in 1934's FATE'S FATHEAD.

In the same short, Dorothy Granger also has a key supporting role. Unlike Appleby, she appeared in a number of Roach shorts but FATE'S FATHEAD was the last of them.

Jeanie Roberts, best remembered as the hiccuping nurse in MEN IN BLACK, makes her only appearance in a Roach short in 1935's OKAY TOOTS. Her role is much bigger here as Charley's wife but her voice is unmistakable as soon as you hear it.

[metaldams]

I’m enjoying all your posts.

Just watched all 16 shorts in the silent set, most of which I’ve seen before and burned on disc off TCM - only to lose the disc.  Glad I have the legit release now.  A fine set of prime Chase/McCarey films which are brilliantly constructed and just gosh darn funny.

Which is why it’s a trip going into THE CRACKED ICEMAN.  A much more genteel comedy with animated birds, a sweeter and innocent leading lady, Our Gang kids and a song at the end.  Yes, I did sense a “Swinging the Alphabet” vibe at the end, something Richard Roberts eluded to in the commentary,  I do watch his commentaries after each short and I really do feel like I’m getting a story of Chase and Roach, well worth listening to.

I look forward to getting into the rest of this set.

[metaldams]

FOUR PARTS is excellent!  Fantastic confusion comedy, very creative and funny.

I’LL TAKE VANILLA is again the more genteel variety, removed from the pre code days of WHISPERING WHOOPEE and THE PIP FROM PITTSBURGH and more into the Our Gang world, here with Tommy Bond.  Still fun.

The commentaries are informative and Richard Roberts actually addresses the adult entertainer elephant in the room in the I’LL TAKE VANILLA commentary - my unfortunate Google search happening on a work computer!  He then goes into the politics of the  two reeler fading into the double feature and how it effected the Roach lot.  Really good and I’m happy to say I have 18 more shorts and commentaries to go.

[metaldams]

Re: Betty Mack

The leading lady in these early shorts (who does a fine job) is Cora Bell from THE SITTER DOWNERS.

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Re: Betty Mack

The leading lady in these early shorts (who does a fine job) is Cora Bell from THE SITTER DOWNERS.

Good catch! I'm surprised that never dawned on me....

[metaldams]

Good catch! I'm surprised that never dawned on me....

IMDb helped me out.  It’s hard to tell instantly because she’s a blonde with Charley (not a surprise) and a brunette with The Three Stooges.  But once you notice the face and voice  - it’s her.

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Of the three discs in this set, the first was definitely the strongest but were still some really good offerings after that: POKER AT EIGHT, MANHATTAN MONKEY BUSINESS, VAMP TIL READY, NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, ON THE WRONG TREK to name a few. PUBLIC GHOST #1 had its moments too.

I thought Betty Mack was a great match for Chase, but in the later shorts on this set, you get more Joyce Compton, Rosina Lawrence, and Constance Bergen, who are all (generally) a step down in terms of acting ability and chemistry with Chase.

As for the weakest shorts on this set, two stand out above all others - SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, which I couldn't get into at all, and LIFE HESITATES AT 40. The latter's use of time freezing just destroys the pacing of the short... it's all a little too far out in left field for me.

Overall, I still think this is the best of the three volumes and the hits far outweigh the misses here. At their best, the Chase shorts could compete with most others from the era. I'm hoping the elusive 1929 shorts end up seeing the light of day.

[metaldams]

In addition to the 1929 shorts, I’m hoping the 1927 - 1928 silent shorts also show up at some point.

This set inspired me to pick up some sets I amazingly never bought when they were released.  In addition to the Milestone set I mentioned, I also never bought the BECOMING CHARLEY CHASE set until now.  I’m watching some early Sennett shorts where Chase is with a young Mae Busch, who he ironically worked more with at Sennett than Roach.

Concerning Betty Mack, not sure if you’re listening to the commentaries, but the chemistry they had translated off screen to the point where it ruined Chase’s marriage.  She also joined along in Charley’s drinking habit, so the Roach people were desperate to get rid of her.  Yes, they were good on screen together, but at a price.

I’ve gotten through disc one and have really enjoyed it.  Will be getting to the other discs soon.

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Concerning Betty Mack, not sure if you’re listening to the commentaries, but the chemistry they had translated off screen to the point where it ruined Chase’s marriage.  She also joined along in Charley’s drinking habit, so the Roach people were desperate to get rid of her.  Yes, they were good on screen together, but at a price.

I haven't listened to those yet. That's a pretty fascinating (but sad) story about Chase and Mack, but at least I wasn't imaging things when I saw the chemistry on screen.