Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Charley  Chase
[1893-1940]

silent comedy actor & director Charley Chase [1893-1940]          short profile

movies of Charley Chase

works about Charley Chase

family & friends

links

In the top rank of silent comedy stars (then and now),
Charley Chase wrote, directed and (mostly) starred in
over 250 short films in the 1920s & 1930s.


     B I O

     h e r e
Charley Chase [on board at Roach Studios 1920-36]
http://www.amazon.com/36-SILENT-MOVIE-KINGS-BIOGRAPHIES/lm/R351IKUVRN72ND/ including Charley Chase bio
birth name, Charles Joseph Parrott
two Stars on the Walk of Fame

Charley Chase entry at Wikipedia
Charley Chase credits [270+ titles; 1914-1940] at Internet Movie Database
browse Charley Chase on DVD

The World of Charley Chase



Movies of Charley Chase
Charley Chase credits [270+ titles; 1914-1940] at Internet Movie Database
browse Charley Chase on DVD

Famous Comedy Legends DVD box sets  "Famous Comedy Legends - Volume 1" [2002]
National Film Museum b&w DVD set [7/2002] 3 disks for $24.99
Starring Charlie Chaplin {3 shorts), Charley Chase (silent short "Bad Boy" [1925]), W.C. Fields (2 shorts), Buster Keaton (2 shorts, 2 silent features) & The Three Stooges (2 shorts)
"Famous Comedy Legends - Volume 2" [2002]
National Film Museum b&w DVD set [7/2002] 3 disks for $24.99
Starring Charlie Chaplin {2 shorts), Charley Chase (silent shorts "Innocent Husbands" [1925] & "Tell'em Nothing" [1925]), W.C. Fields (1 short), Buster Keaton (2 shorts, 2 features) & The Three Stooges (3 shorts)

Charley Chase DVD sets   "Slapstick Symposium Charley Chase Collection" [2004-2005]
Volume 1: Kino b&w DVD [8/2004] for $22.49
includes six b&w silent comedy short films: "All Wet" [1924], "April Fool" [1924], "Crazy Like A Fox" [1926], "Long Fliv The King" [1926], "Mighty Like A Moose" [1926] & "Mum's The Word" [1926], plus a photo gallery
Volume 2: Kino b&w DVD [9/2005] for $21.99
includes six b&w silent comedy short films: "Bromo and Juliet" [1926], "Dog Shy" [1926], "His Wooden Wedding" [1925], "Innocent Husbands" [1925], "Isn't Life Terrible" [1925], and "Shine 'Em Up" [1922] starring brother Jimmy Parrott & Jobyna Ralston, plus "A Charley Chase Biography" short
Krazy Keystone Komedies shorts  
"Krazy Keystone Komedies: Classic Short Subjects From The King of Comedy" [2007]
14 silent shorts starring (in various combinations) Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Billy Bevan, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, Chester Conklin, Minta Durfee, Louise Fazenda, the Keystone Kids, Mabel Normand, Mack Swain & others
Televista b&w DVD [9/2007] for $12.99
Becoming Charley Chase DVD box set  "Becoming Charley Chase" [2009]
includes over 40 silent comedy short films from 1915-26, plus a featurette,
a family interview, and the documentary film "The Parrott Chase"

Allday/Facets/V.C.I. b&w DVD box set [7/2009] 4 disks for $24.73

Charley Chase Comedy Collection on DVD  "Cut To The Chase: The Charley Chase Comedy Collection" DVD Set [2012]
contains 16 b&w silent Hal Roach shorts from 1924-26: "The Fraidy Cat" as Jimmy Jump, with the 'Our Gang' kids [March 1924]; "April Fool" as Jimmy Jump [May 1924]; "Bad Boy" as Jimmy Jump [April 1925]; "What Price Goofy"
[June 1925] first-ever DVD release; "Isn't Life Terrible" with Oliver Hardy & Fay Wray [July 1925]; "Innocent Hus-bands" [Aug 1925]; "The Caretaker's Daughter" [Oct 1925]; "The Uneasy Three" with Bull Montana [Nov 1925] from a MoMA print; "Charley My Boy" [Jan 1926] exclusive DVD release; "Mama Behave" [Feb 1926] first-ever DVD release; "Dog Shy" [April 1926]; "Mum's The Word" ([May 1926] from a darkish William Fox re-issue print; "Long Fliv The King" with Oliver Hardy [June 1926]; "Mighty Like A Moose" [July 1926]; "Bromo and Juliet" with Oliver Hardy [Sept 1926]; and "Be Your Age" with Oliver Hardy [Nov 1926]

Milestone b&w DVD [11/2012] 2 disks for $21.96

Charley Chase clips & shorts are featured on the 1957, 1961 & 1963 volumes of
Robert G. Youngson's "Kings of Comedy Collection" documentaries
"The Golden Age of Comedy" [D.C.A. Dec 1957]
"When Comedy Was King" [Fox March 1960]
"Days of Thrills and Laughter" [Fox March 1961]
"30 Years of Fun" [Fox Feb 1963]

these & other Charley Chase content are available on
Magic Lantern's Robert G. Youngson [1917-74] Page

·            ·

"Fatty's Suitless Day" [1914]
Starring Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle & Charley Chase
http://www.amazon.com/Fattys-Suitless-Roscoe-Fatty-Arbuckle/dp/B000QRIL76/

"Fatty's Faithful Fido" [1915 short] with Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle & Charley Chase

"Married To Order" aka 'Her Near Sighted Father' [1920]
with Oliver Hardy & Charley Chase /title/tt0248981/

"Jubilo, Jr." comedy two-reeler [Hal Roach/Pathé June 1924] /tt0235502/
Directed by Robert F. McGowan; scenario by Frank Capra; starring Will Rogers, Mickey Daniels, Charley Chase, Allen 'Farina' Hoskins

"Position Wanted" [1924 short]

"Bungalow Boobs" [1924 short]

"All Wet" [1924 b&w silent]

"A Ten-Minute Egg" [1924 b&w silent]

"The Fraidy Cat" as Jimmy Jump, with the 'Our Gang' kids [March 1924]

"The King of The Wild Horses"
[Hal Roach April 1924 silent Western feature]
King of The Wild Horses 1924 silent Western feature poster  The son of a horse rancher is determined to capture & tame a wild stallion; he saves the horse during a forest fire, and together they prove that the foreman has been rustling horses and laying the blame on the boy. Directed by Fred Jackman, Sr.; script by Hal Roach & Carl Himm; starring Edna Murphy, Sidney De Gray, Charley Chase (as Charles Parrott), Léon Bary, Pat Hartigan & Rex the Wonder Horse
Televista b&w silent DVD [6/2009] for $17.99
full credits at IMDb

"April Fool" as Jimmy Jump [May 1924]

"His Wooden Wedding" [1925 b&w silent]

"Bad Boy" as Jimmy Jump [April 1925]

"What Price Goofy" [June 1925] first-ever DVD release on "Cut To The Chase" {above}

"Isn't Life Terrible" with Oliver Hardy & Fay Wray [July 1925]

"Innocent Husbands" b&w silent short [Aug 1925]

"The Caretaker's Daughter" [Oct 1925]

"The Uneasy Three" with Bull Montana [Nov 1925]

"Charley My Boy" [Jan 1926] exclusive DVD release on "Cut To The Chase" {above}

"Mama Behave" [Feb 1926] first-ever DVD release on "Cut To The Chase" {above}

"Dog Shy" b&w silent [April 1926]

"Mum's The Word" b&w silent ([May 1926]

"Long Fliv The King" b&w silent with Oliver Hardy [June 1926]

"Mighty Like A Moose" b&w silent [July 1926]

"Bromo and Juliet" b&w silent with Oliver Hardy [Sept 1926]

"Be Your Age" with Oliver Hardy [Nov 1926]

"Tell 'em Nothing" [1926 silent short]
Starring Charley Chase, Gertrude Astor & Vivien Oakland

"Thundering Fleas" [1926] with Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase & the 'Our Gang' kids

"Crazy Like A Fox" [1926 b&w silent] with Oliver Hardy & Charley Chase

"The Way of All Pants" [1927 short]

"Limousine Love" [Hal Roach/M.G.M. 1928 silent short]


Charley Chase & Thelma Todd Shorts, 1929-32
Thelma Todd [1906-35] was Charley Chase's favorite foil and leading lady;
they appeared together in 12 short films.

"Snappy Sneezer" [1929]
"Crazy Feet" [1929]
"Stepping Out" [1929]
"The Real McCoy" [1930]
"Whispering Whoopee" [Hal Roach/M.G.M. 1930 sound short]
"All Teed Up" [1930]
"Dollar Dizzy" [1930]
"Looser Than Loose" [Hal Roach/M.G.M. 1930 sound short]
"High C's" [1930]
"The Pip From Pittsburg" [Hal Roach/M.G.M. 1931 sound short]
"Rough Seas" [1931]
"The Nickel Nurser" [1932] with Billy Gilbert


"In Walked Charley" [Hal Roach/M.G.M. 1932 sound short]

"Hollywood Party" Technicolor short  [M.G.M. April 1937]
'Hollywood Party' China-themed comedy/variety short film  Technicolor comedy sound short unseen for 60 years until the Vitaphone soundtrack disc was rediscovered in 2000; with hosts Charley 'Chan' Chase & Elissa Landi • Produced by Louis Lewyn, Howard Dietz & Harry Rapf; co-produced & directed by Roy Rowland; featuring Anna May Wong, Leon Errol, Al Lyons and His Coconut Grove Orchestra, singers The Jones Boys, singer Joe Morrison, Ahern Sisters, Marcus Show Girls, tap dancer Dr. Jack Goode, Leon Janney, tap dancer Sunnie O'Dea, singer Betty Jane Rhodes; and cameos by Joe E. Brown, Clark Gable, Freddie Bartholomew, Joan Bennett
full credits at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia {empty}
watch full movie [5/2020 upload; 20:50] online at YouTube

Charley Chase made twenty films for Columbia Pictures
between 1937 & 1940

The Grand Hooter 1937 sound short starring Charley Chase  "The Grand Hooter"  [Columbia May 1937 sound short]
Charley's wife thinks that he spends too much time at his lodge, The Hoot Owls, so he takes her on a weekend vacation, where a jealous husband blames Charley for mash letters sent to his wife by a fellow lodge member • Directed by Del Lord; starring Charley Chase, Peggy Stratford, Nina Quartero, Harry Semels & Bud Jamison
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available; credits at IMDb

"The Big Squirt" [Columbia 1937 short]

Flat Foot Stooges 1938 comedy short directed by Charley Chase  "Flat Foot Stooges"  [Columbia Dec 1938 short]
The stooges are firemen at a station that still uses horses to pull the engines; a salesman wanting to sell them newer firetrucks sabotages the engines, an alarm sends them chasing the emergency, only to discover that what's ablaze is their own firehouse. Co-produced, written & directed by Charley Chase; starring The Three Stooges (Moe & Larry & Curly), with Dick Curtis, Chester Conklin & Lola Jensen
available on "Three Stooges Collection 2" DVD set
Sony b&w DVD [5/2008] 2 disks for $15.99
full credits from IMDb


Works About Charley Chase

Four Clowns comedy anthology  "Four Clowns" [Fox b&w docu feature 1970]
Written & directed by Robert Youngson; co-starring Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb
Columbia Comedy Shorts book by Ted Okuda & Edward Watz  "The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-Reel Hollywood Film Comedies,
1933-1958" [1986] by Ted Okuda & Edward Watz

McFarland & Co. 9x6 pb [10/98] for $35.00
McFarland & Co. 9½x6½ hardcover [9/86] for $45.00
Smile When The Raindrops Fall Charley Chase biography by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds   "Smile When The Raindrops Fall: The Story of Charley Chase" [1997]
by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds

Scarecrow Press 8¾x5¾ hardcover [12/97] for $38.49

"A Charley Chase Biography" documentary short [circa 2005]
available on "Slapstick Symposium Charley Chase - Volume 2" above

"The Parrott Chase" documentary film [circa 2009]


Family & Friends

Magic Lantern's Hal Roach [1892-1992] Page

actor-director  James Parrott  [1898-1939]
known as "The Doodletwit of Screen Comedy”; brother of comedian Charley Chase [1893-1940];
also billed as Paul Parrott & Jimmie Parrott; no browse/Amazon entry
IMDb listing [1917-38]Wikipedia


L i n k s

Charley Chase entry at Wikipedia
Charley Chase credits [270+ titles; 1914-1940] at Internet Movie Database
browse Charley Chase on DVD

DS's "An Introduction To Charley Chase" essay (2004)

The World of Charley Chase



Online sales in association with  browse Charley Chase on DVD at Amazon

top of this page • • back to Magic Lantern homepage