Becoming
Charley Chase (Comedy
Compilation/1915 - 1925/All Day Entertainment/VCI Entertainment DVD
Set)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: B Films: B
An
innovator and groundbreaking filmmaker whose contribution to
slapstick comedy is giant and forgotten, Charles Parrott is a big
star of the silent era that wrote, directed and performed in films
whose ideas and movements have been so duplicated, you have seen them
whether you have seen his work or not. It is once again All Day
Entertainment to the rescue with a terrific 4-DVD set called Becoming
Charley Chase.
We
also see extracts of lost films and hope more is recovered somewhere.
All Day has restored the films to the best of their ability and they
look impressive, downright clean and clear at times where it will be
some of the best silent film footage you have seen in a while.
Before enjoying them with any commentary, we highly recommend you
watch them as they are and guarantee you will be impressed. As
slapstick has declined in the U.S. and the likes of Rowan Atkinson's
Mr. Bean picked it up overseas, it is more important than ever to see
this legacy in full swing and in its original form.
The
contents are as follows/DVD One:
CHARLES
PARROTT AT KEYSTONE (AND MORE!)
PEANUTS
AND BULLETS
1/30/15 Music by the Snark Ensemble 12:13
LOVE
IN ARMOR
3/11/15 Music by Ben Model 13:29
SETTLED
AT THE SEASIDE
03/29/15 Music by Redwine Jazz 6:32
THE
RENT JUMPERS
04/08/15 Music by Redwine Jazz 11:01
LOVE,
LOOT, AND CRASH
04/24/15 Music by Ben Model 12:21
A
VERSATILE VILLAIN
05/29/15 Music by Ben Model 13:00
HE
WOULDN'T STAY DOWN
05/30/15 Music by Ben Model 14:23
MARRIED
TO ORDER
10/30/20 Music by the Snark Ensemble 16:11
DVD
Two:
CHARLEY
CHASE BECOMES JIMMY JUMP
AT
FIRST SIGHT
01/06/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:57
ONE
OF THE FAMILY
01/26/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:13
JUST
A MINUTE
02/03/24 Music by Ben Model 12:17
POWDER
AND SMOKE
02/10/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:57
HARD
KNOCKS
03/02/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:41
DON'T
FORGET
03/23/24 Surviving extract Music by the Snark Ensemble 2:59
THE
FRAIDY CAT
03/30/24 Music by Ben Model 10:46
PUBLICITY
PAYS
05/04/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:55
YOUNG
OLDFIELD
06/22/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:41
STOLEN
GOODS
06/29/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:30
JEFFRIES,
JR.
07/06/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:27
A
TEN-MINUTE EGG
7/20/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:56
SEEING
NELLIE HOME
07/27/24 Partial reconstruction from surviving material Music by Ben
Model 5:43
OUTDOOR
PAJAMAS
09/14/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 8:38
SITTIN'
PRETTY
09/28/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:15
TOO
MANY MAMMAS
10/12/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:00
DVD
Three:
JIMMY
JUMP BECOMES CHARLEY CHASE
THE
POOR FISH
12/07/24 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:30
THE
RATS KNUCKLES
01/04/25 Music by Ben Model 9:17
HELLO
BABY!
1/18/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 10:29
FIGHTING
FLUID
02/01/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:50
SHOULD
HUSBANDS BE WATCHED?
03/14/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:34
IS
MARRIAGE THE BUNK?
03/29/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:54
BAD
BOY
04/12/25 Charley Chase's first surviving two-reel short Music by the
Snark Ensemble 18:24
BIG
RED RIDING HOOD
04/26/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 9:47
LOOKING
FOR SALLY
The last appearance of Jimmy Jump 05/10/25 Music by Ben Model 20:20
NO
FATHER TO GUIDE HIM
09/06/25 Music by the Snark Ensemble 19:09
DVD
Four:
DIRECTED
BY CHARLEY PARROTT
A
ROLLING STONE
Billy West 01/20/19 Music by Ben Model 18:48
THE
FLIRTS
Harry Mann & Jimmie Adams 04/08/19 Music by the West End Jazz
Band 21:38
THE
DUMB BELL
Snub Pollard 07/16/22 Music by Ben Redwine and Redwine Jazz 9:23
SOFT
PEDAL
Paul Parrott 12/16/22 Music by Ben Model 9:50
COURTSHIP
OF MILES SANDWICH
Snub Pollard 06/24/23 Music by the West End Jazz Band 19:12
JUS
PASSIN THROUGH
Will Rogers Music by Ben Model 27:05
DEAR
OLD PAL
Snub Pollard and Paul Parrott, the last film directed by Charles
Parrott before he became Charley Chase 11/11/23 Music by Redwine Jazz
9:38
For
film scholars and film fans, this is a must-see collection and an
historic winner of a set for All Day, continuing to release some of
the most important DVD sets on the market.
The
1.33 X 1 image has some choice moments, but there is even damage All
Day and David Kalat cold not fix, so we have to rate accordingly, but
we usually give a lower rating to unrestored footage, so it is in
keeping with our ratings. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is from
newly recorded material whose artists are identified on the above
film list and the sound is just fine, plus is not the phony keyboard
music that partly killed a silent film revival in the 1980s. Extras
include expert commentaries with fans and scholars on all 40 shorts,
archival interviews with Chase's daughter Juno, The
Sounds Of Silence
on scoring films, Evolution
Of A Gag showing
how Chase invented the famed Mirror Gag before The Marx Brothers made
it immortal and The
Parriott Chase
that offers a 45-minutes retrospective on the man's career.
For
more of Chase's work, you will want to add the Cut
To The Chase
DVD set from Milestone we have covered since this posting at this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11995/Cut+To+The+Chase:+The+Charley+C
-
Nicholas Sheffo
