Topic: Skinny the Moocher (1939) - Charley Chase

[Paul Pain]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031841/

The next short, RATTLING ROMEO, is unavailable in YouTube.  But, it is the birthday of me, the great Paul Pain, the heartthrob of millions, and I want to review a short on my birthday.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031933/

Let me know when you figure out what this short is.  This short is a strange combo of Charley Chase, Three Stooges, and solo Shemp Howard, and it plays more like a vehicle for John T. Murray.  Now, don't get me wrong, this short has its moments, but it overall sucks as a Charley Chase short.

Nothing here makes sense.  Charley is in debt to everyone, including his personal commode and his butler.  His butler is a kleptomaniac.  His butler won't give Charley permission to go to his own engagement party.  We get a bizarre set of weak characters; they're well-played, but they're bizarre and weak.

I really cannot find anything good to say about this.  We have a strange adaptation of the stuffing and kitchen gags done better later by the Three Stooges in AN ACHE IN EVERY STAKE and even by Monty Collins in NEW NEWS.  The kleptomaniac routine is forced and overdone.  The sudden arrival of violent "police" destroyed what little cohesion was left.

4/10

[metaldams]

You’re right, this short isn’t all that cohesive.  The key to enjoying this one - for me, at least, is to turn the brain off and take in the individual moments.  As far as the stuffing and kitchen gags, also done by Shemp in A PEACH OF A PAIR before this, Chase doesn’t do the gag as well so much as it’s fun seeing him impersonate a French chef with an accent.  I don’t like the way we have to read the ingredients versus hearing Chase say them, though.

The most interesting thing about SKINNY THE MOOCHER is all the very familiar Columbia set pieces.  I’m not usually eagle eyed on this stuff like other people are, but even I can see that looks like the kitchen and house from AN ACHE IN EVERY STAKE.  Also interesting hearing Chase do the “two peas in a pod-uh” thing like in SONS OF THE DESERT.

So yeah, mediocre for Chase purists, but kind of fascinating for Stooge and Columbia fans with the gags, set pieces and character actors.  Screams Columbia and this short moves fast enough.  Nice way to spend 15 minutes.

[Dr. Mabuse]

A misfire all the way.  One of Charley Chase's worst Columbia two-reelers, the ill-conceived "Skinny the Moocher" garners precious few laughs. Quite a chore to sit through.

3/10

[Umbrella Sam]

I actually kind of like this one, although I do see your points. As far as story goes, this is all over the place and there definitely are things that don’t make sense (why doesn’t the father-in-law just confront Chase’s valet?). Still, I do have to admit that I did enjoy a lot of the gags. I really liked Chase’s bear disguise when attempting to sneak past Murray (although it’s never really clear why he even has to sneak past him). I also enjoyed Chase’s attempts to act like a French chef; he does get pretty over-the-top with it, and it is a lot of fun, even if the kitchen gags aren’t done as well as the Stooges did it. The kleptomaniac angle is used a lot, but I like it simply because it’s John T. Murray doing it. I really need to check out more of this guy’s work, because he’s been so much fun in a lot of his appearances in these shorts. I especially love when he’s pretending to dance with himself at the party.

It’s not necessarily a masterpiece, and, again, I can see why people don’t like it because of it being kind of all over the place, but some other Chase Columbia shorts were like this too, and I definitely laughed more watching this than I did watching THE SAP TAKES A WRAP and the awful THE NIGHTSHIRT BANDIT. To me, this one’s alright.

7 out of 10