Domesticating Charley Chase

In the mid 1930's, when Charley Chase himself was just past age forty, he began playing characters that were more domesticated than most of the previous roles he took on. They were a combination of the "innocent husband" roles he frequently portrayed in his mid 1920's silents and his fussy "Nance" characterization that had emerged during the talkie period. The husbands Chase played in these films, which were all directed or co-directed by himself (as Charles Parrott), were forever getting into awkward situations. The obstacles facing the "Chase husband" in these films ranged from surviving a trip to his long-lost hillbilly relatives (Southern Exposure, 1935), keeping his assumed hypnotic powers under control (Poker At Eight, 1935), and, most often, the complete destruction of the Chase husband's happy domestic life (Fate's Fathead, 1934, etc.) Some of these films (particularly those of this last category) fit more into the 'situation comedy' mold than his previous sound-era short subjects. Indeed, one such film, The Chases of Pimple Street, is among Chase's best comedies of the mid '30s.

Strictly speaking, The Chases of Pimple Street is only partly a situation comedy, as the beginning of this film is comprised of a series of comic blackouts centering on gags of domestic life. Charley's primary adversary in this short -- the obstacle that prevents him from achieving this elusive, blissful domestic existence -- is his irksome sister-in-law, Celeste, played by Ruthelma Stevens. The film begins with Charley and Betty Mack (his current favorite leading lady in 1934, who plays his wife in the short) singing "You've Got To Give Credit To Love", one of those Chase songs that remains in your head even after the short is over. The immediate transition from this sweetly sentimental tune to the shouting match between Charley and sister-in-law Celeste is among Chase's most brilliant stylistic shifts in his sound-era comedies. The opening number, bouncy and upbeat, provides a splendidly ironic counterpoint to the shrill exchange between Charley and Celeste. Several hilarious scenes follow the musical number, scenes of comic frustration involving Charley's troubles with Celeste, her dog, and what happens when Mr. Chase needs to wash his face in the kitchen sink (his sister-in-law having taken the bathroom). Charley mistakenly puts on two pairs of paints, of two different colors, and goes to work with a big smile on his face -- his wife told him to stop getting upset at Celeste and smile ("smile and the world smiles with you"). He assumes his neighbors' laughter, really at the sight of his having two pairs of pants on, is a result of his broad grin. Getting to the office, his boss (Wilfred Lucas) alerts Charley of his mistake and reveals that he needs someone to entertain an out-of-town client. Chase happily volunteers his sister-in-law. Returning home, he finds out that Celeste didn't return from town yet, and is forced to introduce his wife as Celeste when the boss arrives. When Celeste returns, Charley pretends that she is his wife and Celeste is forced to play along. The out-of-town client (Arthur Housman) gets drunk on the way to the dance hall and isn't happy with the girl that was picked for him. At the dance hall, Charley's bad dancing and Housman's drunkenness cause the boss's wife (Gertrude Astor) to storm out of the club, Charley losing his job in the process.

The short, until the dance hall sequence, is a series of non-stop gags and set-pieces. Chase's anger and frustration towards Celeste provides much of the comic power in this short, while audience sympathy for the Chase character builds and builds following his numerous setbacks in the opening reel. This makes the conclusion of the short that much more disturbing -- The Chases of Pimple Street is one of the rare Chase talkies with a downer of an ending. Contrast it with the cheeriness that emerges from the chaos at the fade-out of Fate's Fathead from the same year. Is the ending of Pimple Street deliberately pessimistic, a la Buster Keaton's College? After all, it is during this period that Chase's marital problems were at their height, the Chases legally separating in 1934 (also notice the reference to Mrs. Parrott in a song from Four Parts (1934): "the evil always get their dues," hence, "BeBe's got bees in her basement"). However, the ending of The Chases of Pimple Street, regardless of its inspiration, seems a bit too abrupt to be anything but sloppy filmmaking, which is rather unfortunate for such an otherwise well constructed comedy.

The comedy's strengths, however, are many. There is a celebrated gag in the beginning of the short, after Charley discovers that Celeste's dog knocked over a bottle of his brandy, in which Charley, off-camera, bites the dog, and declares, "now that's news." The entire sequence in which he is forced to wash over the kitchen sink is brilliantly executed. Celeste asks Charley to light the fire in the furnace and he does so, but the furnace explodes and Charley is sent flying back with soot all over his face. To retaliate, he blows some soot into the furnace, which goes through the grating in the bathroom wall that Celeste is talking into. In this particular gag, Chase's stomach balloons as he blows soot into the furnace, an exaggerated effect that comes off beautifully. The sequence in which Betty has to pretend to be Celeste and vice versa has all the ingredients of a situation comedy, and indeed, serves as a precursor for so many television sitcoms of the '50s onward. The film itself is possibly the best one Chase made with Betty Mack as his leading lady (though some would say Four Parts is equally as amusing).

The Chases of Pimple Street is one of those Charley Chase shorts, like His Silent Racket, that just misses the bulls-eye. It is a near classic short subject, lacking the necessary "topper" of an ending. Laurel & Hardy's 1932 short Their First Mistake may be compared to The Chases of Pimple Street as they both possess the same flaw, but whereas the former depended mostly on gags, the latter becomes more dependent on situation as it progresses and therefore requires (and unfortunately lacks) a fitting conclusion to resolve the situation comedy bent of the short. It nevertheless remains one of the best Chase talkies of the period, and is hilarious from start to just before the finish.

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