I love old comedy shorts and have seen and reviewed several dozen Charley Chase films. However, I will be one of the first to admit that his films, particularly the sound ones, are very inconsistent. At times, the quality and writing of his films rivals that of his fellow studio workers Laurel and Hardy but at other times the films are an embarrassing mess. Generall, they are good--this one is one of the embarrassing messes!
So why is this such a bad film? Well, I don't completely blame Charley even though he both starred in and directed this stupid little film. That's because even with good acting, this film was doomed to fail because of shoddy production values and writing. The main plot idea is so contrived and ridiculous that it ruins the entire film. Supposedly a mentally ill man has escaped from the hospital and he runs around repeating nursery rhymes. When Chase and another man repeat nursery rhymes as well (for the dumbest and most contrived reasons), they are assumed to be the maniac. Pretty dumb, I know, but equally bad is the terrible rear-projection chase scene. It is among the shoddiest and most ridiculous even seen on film--even worse than the one from Laurel and Hardy's DANCING MASTERS!
Dumb, unfunny and a waste of time--see this one only if you want to see how bad Charley Chase could be at his worst!!
So why is this such a bad film? Well, I don't completely blame Charley even though he both starred in and directed this stupid little film. That's because even with good acting, this film was doomed to fail because of shoddy production values and writing. The main plot idea is so contrived and ridiculous that it ruins the entire film. Supposedly a mentally ill man has escaped from the hospital and he runs around repeating nursery rhymes. When Chase and another man repeat nursery rhymes as well (for the dumbest and most contrived reasons), they are assumed to be the maniac. Pretty dumb, I know, but equally bad is the terrible rear-projection chase scene. It is among the shoddiest and most ridiculous even seen on film--even worse than the one from Laurel and Hardy's DANCING MASTERS!
Dumb, unfunny and a waste of time--see this one only if you want to see how bad Charley Chase could be at his worst!!