Charley Chase At Hal Roach - The Late Silents 1927 coming from The Sprocket Vault

[whiteberry]

.........on Blu-Ray and DVD

http://www.silentcomedymafia.com/vie...php?f=5&t=3097

[Brown Jenkin]

Well, after all the previous releases being DVD only that's what I'm gonna buy for consistency. Wonder if that means they might do BR for the those now.

[Canadian_Thunder]

Sprocket Vault...aka...Kit Parker...aka...Mill Creek.

[MifuneFan]

Coming from VCI on November 12th.

Both Charley Chase and the Hal Roach Studios Golden Era was in the late 1920's, and 1927 was the year Charley Chase was the Lot of Fun's Number One star. His films from that period, directed by his brother James Parrott and supervised by Leo McCarey, were not only some of his best but were also some of the greatest comedies from the silent era. Most of these classic shorts have never been seen since their original release, and this set combines materials from film archives and private collections from around the world to bring these shorts together for the first time, all with wonderful accompaniment from Dr. Andrew Simpson, commentary tracks by noted Hal Roach Historian Richard M. Roberts, and restoration by the experts at CineMuseum LLC. Fifteen great comedy shorts like MANY SCRAPPY RETURNS, WHAT WOMEN DID FOR ME, THE WAY OF ALL PANTS, and US, show Charley Chase as a comedy talent at the top of his game, with interesting co-stars like Lupe Velez, Jean Arthur and Eugene Pallette, as well as Hal Roach regulars like Anita Garvin, Charley Hall, Noah Young, and even Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Special Features include three bonus short subjects and an extensive photo gallery. This set is a must-have for all fans of Charley Chase, Silent Comedy, and the work of the Lot of Fun, from one of the most fun years the Lot ever had.

Bonus Materials

• 3 bonus comedies
• Extensive photo gallery

[dr727]

VCI’s co-releases with The Mary Pickford Foundation (and other releases like Joan Crawford’s Rain) have completely reframed my impression of the label. Long may the trend at VCI continue & here’s hoping that it’s reflected on this release.

[rdf8585]

Surprised there's not more people talking about this set. It came out this week.

Films:

There Ain't No Santa Claus

Many Scrappy Returns

Are Brunettes Safe?

A One Mama Man

Forgotten Sweeties

Bigger And Better Blondes

Fluttering Hearts

What Women Did For Me

The Sting of Stings

The Lighter That Failed

Now I'll Tell One (Reel 2)

The Way Of All Pants

Us

Assistant Wives

Never the Dames Shall Meet (surviving footage and still recreation)

Extras

The Merry Widower

Call of the Cuckoo (excerpt)

Smile, Buttercup, Smile

Photo Gallery

Commentary tracks by Richard M Roberts

Charley Chase At Hal Roach: The Late Silents (1927) [Trailer] - YouTube

[WaverBoy]

Paul Gierucki, Richard Roberts, Kit Parker, Charlene Dwyer, David Pearson, and composer Andrew Earle Simpson have really outdone themselves this time. My set arrived yesterday. Holy moly. Exactly what I was hoping for and more. A treasure trove of missing prime Chase in lovely HD, with the mark of loving caring hands all over it, pieced together from elements from all over the world in as complete a form as possible and in the highest quality possible. I’m so grateful for their efforts. I love the music scores, and THANK ZEUS the films were transferred at 24fps, so no funky motion artifacting, right on! I can only hope further Chase volumes are planned — besides the silents from ‘28 and ‘29 (especially Limousine Love and Movie Night!) I’d absolutely love to see an HD upgrade of all the films from All Day Entertainment’s Becoming Charley Chase set with new scores (I’m not the biggest fan of The Snark Ensemble although their scores are certainly serviceable), and all the shorts scattered across Kino’s two Chase volumes and Milestone’s Cut to the Chase set (we can keep the Neil Brand and Robert Israel scores for the films featured in the Kino sets, love them!). May it all come to pass at some point in time. Charley Chase is my pick for the “fourth genius” of silent comedy.

[bigshot]

I watched a couple of shorts tonight and the restoration is truly remarkable. Chase is definitely second tier Roach, but the shorts I watched were amusing, even if they didn't evoke any big laughs like Our Gang and Laurel & Hardy. Chase didn't seem to inhabit his character as genuinely as the kids in Our Gang and Stan and Ollie. You see him performing more than the personality based humor of the others. It's more straight slapstick like Snub Pollard and the Taxi Boys. The earlier shorts on the previous sets seemed a bit drawn out and not as well timed as the ones on these. It's well worth getting if you don't have any Charlie Chase yet.

[bigshot]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Charley Chase is my pick for the “fourth genius” of silent comedy.

Not Laurel or Arbuckle?

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Not Laurel or Arbuckle?

No, it’s definitely Charley, then Roscoe. And Stan doesn’t fit as I’m ranking solo performers. Although L&H’s silent shorts are definitely up there for me, I love them. Big Business, Two Tars, and You’re Darn Tootin’ are three of the funniest comedies ever made. If I had to I’d rank silent L&H even with Charley. I vastly prefer their silents to their talkies, although their talkies are way better than talkies of any other former silent film comedian except for most of Charlie’s. I sampled some of Chase’s sound shorts and it seems like he’s still doing silent style acting, just with dialogue added, and it doesn’t really work. Not a big fan of Buster’s or Harold’s sound stuff either.

Re: Chase’s acting, I think he completely inhabits his character and has a distinctive personality, quite different from his fellow contemporaries. And far from being just straight slapstick like Snub Pollard, his style of comedy is much more situational and plot driven, and is a forerunner of modern sitcom-style humour. And I was dying laughing during There Ain’t No Santa Claus. And some of his older shorts are right up there with these, like Mighty Like a Moose and His Wooden Wedding, both absolutely hysterical. Gotta disagree heartily with you on all levels. He’s a barrelful of belly laughs IMO, and definitely first-tier Roach. I’m sure Hal would have agreed with me there.