There were many comedians who made shorts back in the silent era, but only three of them are well known today: Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd.  They weren't the only talented comics though.  Harry Langdon had a unique style that worked very well, and others such as Snub Pollard, Lupino Lane, and Larry Semon were all incredibly popular in their day.  One 'forgotten comic' who really stood above his peers though was Charley Chase.  Born Charles Parrott (and brother of director James Parrott) Chase had a wonderful comic mind.  Not only was he a popular comedy star, but he was an accomplished director, writer, and gag man.  His shorts are inventive and funny, and unlike many silent shorts, they have an internal logic to them that is the hallmark of superior slapstick.  Kino, in association with Lobster Films has released second disc of restored Chase films: The Charley Chase Collection Volume 2.

As with the first volume of Charley Chase shorts, (read Stuart Galbraith IV's review of that disc here) this DVD is shorter than the other Slapstick Symposium series discs, which is ashame.  Containing only five of Chase's two reel shorts (as opposed to the eight on Oliver Hardy's disc) what this volume lacks in quantity it makes up by quality.  These are very funny shorts, ones that will amuse both young and old alike.

It is really a tragedy that Charley Chase is not more well known.  His shorts are certainly funny, featuring absurd comedy, almost surreal at times, and a lot of fast paced action.  He stared in some of the most consistently funny shorts from the silent era, and he was certainly talented enough to be well remembered.  The main reason that he is largely forgotten today is that he never made the jump to feature films.  He made one long subject that was released by Universal, the talking film Modern Love (1929) but it did not do well and he returned to two reel films.
 
The films included on this volume are:

His Wooden Wedding (1925): Charley Chase is at the church about to be married when the best man, a jilted suitor, writes him an anonymous note stating that his wife has a wooden leg.  Breaking off the marriage when he notices his fiancee limping due to a sprained ankle, Chase gets drunk.  Meanwhile the best man steals the engagement ring, which has a very valuable diamond, and hides it in the lining of his hat, the only problem is that he's accidently selected Charley's hat.  When the drunk Chase comes down and decides to go off to a Pacific island and become a beachcomber and takes his hat with him, the best man has no choice but to follow him.
 

In His Wooden Wedding, Charley Chase is informed that his financee has a wooden leg.

A very funny film, this short hangs together quite well.  Everything has a reason for happening, and the action seems natural and not shoe-horned in.  The scene where Charley has slipped the diamond down the back of a woman's dress and is trying to get her to dance vigorously so that the object will fall out was hilarious.  A great comedy to start the set off with.

Isn't Life Terrible (1925): Another hilarious comedy, this one features Oliver Hardy as Charley's lazy brother-in-law who gets sick every time that work is mentioned.    Charley wants to take his family on a vacation, but can't afford one.  When he finds out that a pen company is giving away an ocean voyage to the person who can sell the most fountain pens in three months, Charley set out to win the trip.  When he does though, it isn't was he was hoping for.
 

Oliver Hardy's heart starts giving him trouble when there's work to be done in Isn't Life Terrible.

Innocent Husbands (1925): Another very entertaining film with an absurd plot that nevertheless hangs together very well.  Although Charley has always been faithful, his wife Mame is constantly suspecting that he's fooling around.  When a woman from the party across the hall passes out in Charley's bed, he has a tough time concealing the fact from his wife.  There were several gags that worked well, including the scene where Charley has to pick up a lady for a friend.  He's instructed to wait outside of her building and whistle three times and she'll throw down the key.  When he arrived he dutifully whistles, only to be pelted by dozens of keys.  Another creative and funny short.
 
Dog Shy (1926): One of Chase's best shorts.  This Leo McCarey directed farce is filled with comedy from start to finish.  Charley Chase is deathly afraid of dogs, and as he's hiding from one in a phone booth he starts talking to a girl who happens to be on the line.  She is bemoaning the fact that her parents are forcing her to marry a nobleman whom they've never met.  Going to her house, he's mistaken for the new butler.  Unfortunately there is a party that night with 20 women in attendance, and Charley doesn't know which one is the girl he was talking to on the phone.
 

Charley Chase tries to give 'The Duke' a bath in Dog Shy

There were many great scenes in this film.  When Charley the butler is instructed to wash "The Duke" the family dog, he assumes they are referring to the nobleman who is visiting.  The fact that the lady of the house has told Charley that "if he's hard to handle you must be firm.  Use force..." just adds to the comedy.  The ending worked quite well too, with several things coming all together to end this outrageously funny short on a high note.
 
Bromo and Juliet (1926): Another film directed by Leo McCarey (the man responsible for teaming Stan Laurel with Oliver Hardy) this is a wonderful farce.  Chase's girlfriend will only marry him if he agrees to play Romeo opposite her in a charity play she's putting on.  Charley agrees, but the day of the play he has to revive his future father-in-law who gets smashed on some home-made Scotch, avoid a cabbie who wants his fare (played by Oliver Hardy), and stay out of the grasp of a prohibition era cop.  All while inebriated himself.  He shows up late to the theater but goes on and give a performance the Bard never imagined.  Another laugh filled short.

Audio:

The audio track consisted of a piano score by Neil Brand which sounded very good.  The scores were scene specific and generally added to the experience of watching the film.  Being recently recorded, there wasn't any audio defects.  A very clean sounding track.

Video:

Like the previous three Slapstick Symposium releases, Lobster films has restored the image on these shorts and has done a very good job.  The video quality was outstanding in general.  There are some scratches and the occasional speck or two, and a very few scenes are a little faded and washed out, but these are only sections, and not the entire film.  Once again I am impressed with the job that Lobster has done.

The only cause for concern with this disc is that it was transferred from a PAL master. This means that the speed of the film is accelerated by 4%, which isn't a concern for silent films since there wasn't a standard running speed. A more troublesome matter is that this results in ghosting, where there seems to be a false image during some action scenes. This isn't really a major worry since the vast majority of people won't notice it. It is a subtle defect that is more readily observed if you freeze a frame. While the film is running, it is a minor or nonexistent issue for most people.

Extras:

This disc features a couple of extras.  The first is an eight minute Charley Chase Biography, which is narrated by Serge Bromberg.  The narration is in English, but Bromberg has a very strong French accent.  You can understand everything that he says, but you have to concentrate a bit more than usual.  Unfortunately this section isn't subtitled.  The biography itself consists of clips from Chase's films with narration.  I found this to be very sterile, more of a listing of dates and events than a real look at the actor.  It covers the major events in Chase's life but doesn't provide many details.

There is also a one reel comedy, Shine 'Em Up (1922), staring Chase's brother actor/director James Parrott who is credited here as Paul Parrott.  James looks a lot like his brother.  This is an amusing short where James plays a shoe shine man who tries to drum up some business.

Final Thoughts:

It is a tragedy that Charley Chase is now only known by a handful of silent film aficionados, yet Adam Sandler is a household name.  He was a great comic talent, as all of the films on this disc testify.  His energetic comedies held together very well, with an internal logic that is a little odd but really added to the humor of the films.  Every film in this collection is very funny and enjoyable.  The picture quality, like the other Slapstick Symposium discs, is excellent.  Highly Recommended.