Welcome to THE WORLD OF CHARLEY CHASE,
the first and only Charley Chase website. Charley Chase was an
incredibly prolific star comedian of the 1920s and 1930s who produced
hundreds of short comedies in both the silent and the sound eras. His
work behind the scenes as a writer/director of his own films and of
countless others has cemented his reputation as one of the principal
architects of early film comedy. Established in 1996, this website is
intended to serve both early cinema aficionados as well as those less
familiar with this comic pioneer. --
Yair Solan.
A review of Brent Walker's new book on Mack Sennett and his influential studio
"Now That's News!"
Charley Chase in the UK
The silent comedies of Charley Chase will be celebrated in a couple of film programs this month in the UK. East London's Barbican Cinema will screen a number of Chase silents - including his classics Crazy Like a Fox (1926), His Wooden Wedding (1925), and Mighty Like a Moose (1926) - on January 22nd. Additionally, as part of their line-up this year, Bristol's annual Slapstick Festival will feature a Chase program on January 28th hosted by the Scottish comic Graeme Garden, who will introduce his favorite Chase silents (no word on which films these are). Both shows will include live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney and should not be missed by UK silent comedy fans.
The Multi-Talented Martha Sleeper
Bob Duncan has written a fascinating article on Martha Sleeper for the SilentHollywood.com website. The charming Ms. Sleeper had appeared alongside Charley Chase in his Too Many Mammas (1924), Bad Boy (1925), Crazy Like a Fox (1926), and Fluttering Hearts (1927), among others entries, as well as with Max Davidson in his classic Pass the Gravy (1928). As Mr. Duncan's article amply demonstrates, Sleeper's life after her years in Hollywood is just as interesting as her experience as a teenage ingenue in slapstick two-reelers of the 1920s. Be sure to check out this excellent piece on one of Charley Chase's finest leading ladies.
Parrott Clips on YouTube
Silent film accompanist and historian Ben Model has posted a couple of terrific Charles Parrott/Paul Parrott films on YouTube. The first is an excerpt from the Hal Roach-produced Sold at Auction (1923), perhaps the most celebrated collaboration between comedian Snub Pollard and director Charley Chase (credited as Charles Parrott). Musical score by Ben Model - the film is available on "A Festival of Silent Comedy, Volume 1" from ReelclassicDVD:
Ben also uploaded another comedy produced at the Hal Roach Studio - the complete Post No Bills (1923), a one-reeler starring Charley Chase's brother, Paul Parrott. Music by Ben Model, from All Day Entertainment's DVD collection American Slapstick Volume 2:
Lost Paul Parrott Footage Found
A recently discovered six-minute fragment of Paul Parrott's The Masked Marvel (1924) was screened at the Bristol Slapstick Festival on January 30th as part of a program of rare comedies hosted by film historian David Wyatt. Originally thought to have been from Charley Chase's lost one-reeler A Perfect Lady (1924), it has been determined that the footage found is in fact a fragment of a two-reel comedy starring Charley's brother, James "Paul" Parrott, produced at Fox - and it now becomes one of the rare Paul Parrott shorts filmed outside the Hal Roach Studio that is at least partially extant. (This corrects earlier reports which had erroneously suggested that the footage may be a fragment of Paul Parrott's A Deep Sea Panic, or even Charley Chase's elusive 1928 silent Chasing Husbands.) More details on this film will be posted when available. Many thanks to Dave Glass for information on this new discovery and to Steve Massa for identifying this film - and, of course, to David Wyatt for treating the Bristol Slapstick audience to this remarkable find.
Petition to Release Charley Chase's Columbia Comedy Shorts on DVD
All
twenty of Charley Chase's films for Columbia Pictures (1937-40) have
been restored and preserved in 35mm prints by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which
is currently considering releasing these classic comedies in an upcoming DVD set.
An online petition has been created to show that there is interest in these culturally significant and very
entertaining films.
The four-disc DVD collection Becoming Charley Chase was released in July 2009. The All Day Entertainment-produced set, distributed by VCI Entertainment, features Chase's early work at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studio, his directorial efforts of the 1910s and '20s, as well as the extant run of his one-reel Jimmy Jump shorts plus a few early two-reelers. Here is a full list of the DVD set's contents; all in all, the set boasts over forty short comedies, with all shorts supplemented by audio commentaries by various film scholars. The comedies included in this collection do not overlap with any previous Charley Chase DVD release. Click here to access All Day's online booklet for Becoming Charley Chase (opens in Adobe), which features liner notes, rare photographs, production credits, and essays. You can order Becoming Charley Chasedirectly from VCI.
A big thanks to the following individuals, who have contributed greatly to the creation and content of this website:
Chris Seguin, Stan Taffel, Steve Mazoki, Robert Farr, Steven Lederman, John V. Brennan, and Cole Johnson.
Copyright (c) Yair Solan, 1996-2011. All Rights Reserved.
All of the written articles and essays published on this website are the sole property of the author(s)
and cannot be reproduced, in whole or in part, without their expressed written permission.
Charley Chase in "What Women Did For Me"
The four-disc DVD collection 
