By 1934, the Hal Roach-Charley Chase shorts had become standardized. Chase took over the direction of the shorts and he usually had a co-director. In this case, the co-director is Walter Weems, a Sennett gag writer. Chase directed under his real name, Charles Parrott. There are no surprises in the film. It is a fast moving two reels of slapstick and nonsense dialog. Unlike many of the Chase shorts of this period, there really isn't much in the way of plot. A charming touch in most of these Roach shorts is the use of the actor's real names in the shorts. Charley Chase is almost always referred to as Charley Chase. Betty Mack's character is Betty, perennial drunk Arthur Housman is Mr. Houseman, and even Lew Kelly is referred to in a newspaper story as Lew Kelly. Only Del Henderson has a character name. The only thing missing in this short is the usual background music by Leroy Shield. It would have given this short a little more oomph.
Review of Something Simple
