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| Images courtesy of Kit Parker Films |
Kit Parker Films, MVD Visual and The Sprocket Vault have made
their efforts to restore and re-release Hal Roach Studios comedies from it’s Golden
Era have resulted in some of the best silent and sound comedy compendiums on
the marketplace next to Flicker Alley.
With their Laurel & Hardy – The Definitive Restorations set
which came out in 2020, the joint efforts by Kit Parker Films and CineMuseum
LLC have produced a wonderful compilation of the beloved comedy duo and soon
after they began setting their sights on some of the other notable Hal Roach
comics who don’t have the same degree of recognition but nevertheless have an
equal amount of comedic talent.
In the past Kit Parker Films began focusing on one of the
original longtime collaborators of the Laurel & Hardy team with comedian
Charley Chase who has appeared in everything from their silent works to some of
their most well-known sound features like Sons of the Desert. Among some of the previously released Charley
Chase compilations have included DVD volumes of ‘The Talkies’ ranging from the
late 1920s through the 1930s as well as some of the actor’s feature films
overseen by Hal Roach. With this new
disc focusing on Charley Chase at Hal Roach – The Late Silents all made
within 1927, Kit Parker Films and The Sprocket Fault with MVD Visual have
upgraded to the blu-ray disc format for the first time with Charley Chase’s
short film collection. With elements gathered
from around the world ranging from solid 35mm to rough 16mm, 8mm or even
videotape sources, the restoration outfit have done their very best to try and
bring many of these long-thought-to-be-lost short comedies to viewers today in
the best quality possible.
With nearly all of the films directed by Charley Chase’s
brother James Parrott with supervision by Leo McCarey, across two discs the set
comprises fifteen shorts as well as three bonus shorts on the second disc and a
running audio commentary by Hal Roach expert Richard M. Roberts. All in black-and-white with some features
missing some frames or, in the case of one an entire first reel with
intertitles used to fill in the gaps, many of the films haven’t been seen in
public since their original first release.
Before the set begins, there’s a preface from the restoration team
explaining the varying quality of the shorts and in some cases an occasional
drop in image resolution as a result of the years of wear and tear on the
films. Despite this, the films remain
timelessly hilarious and showcase Charley Chase’s keen ability for playing off
of the lunacy of Hal Roach comedy with his own riff on the classic Charlie
Chaplin image.
Running roughly over 300 minutes with each short running
approximately 20 apiece, for those familiar or uninitiated with the silent
comedian (I myself have only seen him within Laurel & Hardy comedies), Charley
Chase at Hal Roach – The Late Silents represents a wonderful introductory
chapter and cause for celebration among fans of silent comedy. While the transfers range from being pristine
to poor, that is understandable considering the age and the restoration team
have clearly put exhaustive work into bringing these century-old films back to
life again. Given the strength of this
set, one hopes that down the line the same team behind this will perhaps go
through the Charley Chase ‘Talkies’ series and provide them with a proper
upgrade. For now, this set is a blast and
one of the most surprising delights of silent comedy ripe and waiting for
rediscovery.
--Andrew Kotwicki
