The Pip from Pittsburg

The Pip from Pittsburgh is one of the better Charley Chase shorts I've seen.

It is so titled because Charley's roommate Griff tells him that the blind date he has set up for him is a "pip." Charley complains that's what he told him last time, when the "pip" turned out to be unattractive to Charley. This time, to protect himself, he makes himself unattractive in order to repulse "The Pip." When he discovers it's the ravishing Thelma Todd, his backpedaling antics make up most of the rest of the film.

Particularly hilarious is the scene on the dance floor where Charley steals his suit back from Griffin. Each of them wearing one leg of the same pair of pants must be seen to be believed.

It delivers lots of genuine laughs. I'd have given it an 8/10 except for the sudden ending which resolves nothing and is rather stupid. It's like they ran out of ideas and just decided to stop in mid-stride.

Charley Chase was one of the funniest old-time movie comedians, and made hundreds of two reelers. "The Pip From Pittsburgh" is not one of his best but is representative of Charley's everyman style, presenting 'everyman' in various goofy situations. Here, he is accompanied by the tragic Thelma Todd, who would become the victim of one of Hollywood's unsolved murders just three years later. She had a genuine flair for comedy and could be called an early Carole Lombard.

As stated, the humor is pretty ordinary in "The Pip", because I am thinking of many other Charley Chase shorts which were funnier. But I am not going to lowball a short by one of Hollywood's funniest - not on your life. If you haven't seen him before, just know that he is even funnier in some other shorts.

In the 1920s and 30s, Charley Chase was a very popular comedian--having starred in about 250 short films as well as directing quite a few as well (under his real name 'Charles Parrott'). While the quality of these films vary tremendously, his better films compare quite favorably to comedians such as Laurel and Hardy and Harold Lloyd. Unfortunately, especially during the sound era, his films also too often were very disappointing as well due to lousy scripts. I really think that most of the time, other Roach stars (in particular Laurel and Hardy) were given the better scripts and Chase was given those that didn't quite cut it. This might be much of the reason his name is so rarely recognized today.

However, it's nice to see that Chase is in excellent form in this film. While certainly not among his funniest, this is a very pleasant comedy that nearly earns an 8 because it has some very funny bits.

Charley's friend is trying to fix him up on a blind date with some girl from Pittsburgh. Charley naturally is less than excited and assumes the girl is horrible--after all, it IS a blind date. So his friend gives him the idea of dressing in old clothes, not shaving and eating lots of garlic to keep this "Thelma from Pittsburgh" at a distance. The plan backfires, though, when Thelma turns out to be the lovely and shapely Thelma Todd--a familiar star in Roach films of the early 30s.

So Charley decides he must clean up his act quickly so he can win her heart and he does so in some clever and funny ways. For example, he manages to shave quite covertly at the dance hall, clean his breath AND strip his friend of his suit--all to impress Thelma. It's very, very funny though I am sure uptight politically correct types might be offended at the breath cleaning scene--you just have to see it to see what I mean.

Overall, not among Charley's best (such as MIGHTY LIKE A MOOSE) but a nice old comedy short nonetheless.

Pip from Pittsburg, The (1931)

*** (out of 4)

A simple story made hilarious due to the talents of Charley Chase and Thelma Todd. In the film Chase plays a man forced by his buddy to go on a blind date. Chase is a little worried since the last blind date he went on led to him being stalked so he decides to dress, smell and act like a bum so that the girl won't have anything to do with him. It turns out the girl (Todd) is beautiful so Chase must then try and find a way to appeal to her. While this isn't a classic it's still a very pleasant little gem that has the two stars at the top of their game and delivering some very big laughs. There are countless funny moments but one of the best happens early on when Chase is trying to shave but warning his friend that he doesn't want to go on the date. Chase is then forced on the phone to talk with the girl and everything that happens in these few minutes are very funny. Another excellent scene happens during a dance where the lights go off and each time they do Chase tries to change into a different outfit. Chase and Todd made quite a few shorts together and it's a real shame they didn't do some sort of comic team where they both had equal billing. There's no doubt that Chase is the star of this thing but each time he and Todd are together real magic happens. The two certainly knew how to work off the other and in the end it's their charm that makes this a winner.

"The Pip from Pittsburgh" is undoubtedly a great short which can compete with the top shorts of any comedian of that time. But personally I can't quiet understand the high praise it usually gets; to me this is NOT Chase's best sound short. A few years later his style has much more refined. The shorts under his own direction (signed with his real name, Charles Parrott) were real masterpieces of subtle screwball comedy. "You Said A Hatful", "The Count Takes the Count" or "Neighbourhood House" all have a touch of real originality - they were films that only could have been made by Charley Chase. "The Pip" wears not quiet his own personal style of handwriting - but it is developing.