Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews

Just A Minute (1924) - Charley Chase

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HomokHarcos:


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484733/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_7

A comedy that is essentially one gag, but they sure made the best of it. Charley Chase is going to get married, and all he has to do before he can leave for the wedding is make a quick sale for for his boss. Of course things don't turn out all rosy, and he keeps telling his fiancee "just a minute". We also have a nasty child that makes life miserable for poor Charley. Knowing that this was the same studio that produced the Our Gang series, they should have borrowed one of them instead of the child in this movie.

It does end in a downer though, he loses his job and his woman! Seeing the scenery of Los Angeles and the the forest is a spectacle.

metaldams:
I’ve enjoyed all three one reelers so far but this one is the best of the three.  Extremely well constructed for a film this length.  It is pretty much a one gag film but the gag is milked for all it is worth and the storytelling is top notch.  Charley fixes the slingshot for the kid - that comes into play later in the story.  Charley talks to the jilted ex-lover of his fiancée - that comes into play later in the story.  The whole car ride with the mayor, which is supposed to be an easy sale and take one minute, turns into him adding his wife to the ride, then the kids, then going a different route, then stopping somewhere, then the kid causing destruction - it all builds up perfectly, one inconvenience added at a time.

This is the first short directed by James Parrott, Charley’s brother.  He will direct a lot of these until some dude named Leo McCarey joins the series.

Umbrella Sam:
For something that’s pretty much revolving around one joke, it does do it pretty well. It doesn’t take up the entirety of the short and is changed just enough near the end for it to avoid repetition. Highlights include the other guy giving Charley the picture to remember him by and the kid using the tire to pin his target, a funny mistake that not only seems completely accidental on the kid’s part, but also is very much Charley’s fault for trusting him with a hammer in the first place. Not crazy about the ending, but I know they can’t all be happy endings. I agree, though, about the outdoor scenery; something that really is a plus in a lot of these old films.

Paul Pain:
I laughed my butt off for 6 minutes; and hated the next 6 minutes.  Gags milked well?  Yes.  Funny all the time?  No.

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