The Four Star Boarder

This was a moderately funny talking comedy short from Charley Chase. Interestingly enough, the credits list the director as "Charles Parrot"--this was Chase's real name.

Like all the other Chase talking comedies I have seen, this one is a nice time-passer but not even close to being as funny as his silents. I'm not 100% sure why, but the silent shorts just seem funnier.

In this film, Charley gets married and his new wife informs him that her aunt is leaving her half her fortune now instead of waiting until the aunt dies--so that she and her new husband can enjoy this money. Later, the aunt comes to visit but thinks her niece married her old fiancé BEFORE Charley. And, since they haven't yet received this large inheritance, they pretend she IS married to the old beau and Charley poses as their boarder. It's got a few mild laughs and is very watchable, but still is significantly less funny than Hal Roach's stars, Laurel and Hardy.

In an effort not to alienate his wife's wealthy aunt, newly-wed Charley must masquerade as a boarder in his own home while his wife pretends to be married to an old beau.

Although not one of Chase's best comedies, there is no shortage of laughs in this outing for Charley. His long-suffering reaction to the frequently offered artichokes is a corker, and the matter-of-fact way in which he and his wife's old beau exchange places is also very funny. This likely won't win any new fans for Charley, but will please his current ones.

See if you can spot Charley's real life daughter, Polly in the cast -- I couldn't find anyone with enough family resemblance to be sure it was her. It does raise the question of whether she approved of Charley's stage name: the real family name was Parrott, which Charley used to direct. But how comfortable could she have been as Polly Parrott?

"The Four Star Boarder" is a sprightly and extremely fun two-reeler from the later end of Charley Chase's time as a headliner at the Hal Roach Studios, when he was playing more domestic roles. This one feels very opened-up; the funny situation sounds complex but we get it quite quickly (Charley's bride's aunt has lots of money for them, but thinks she has married her previous boyfriend, so Charley disguises himself as their boarder), and then Charley can let loose pulling laughs creatively from all aspects of the situation.

He really uses his performance for comedy purposes well here, letting loose and indulging in parody of broad melodrama, and deriving a lot of mileage from little moments and his reactions to his insufferable aunt-in-law. Her obnoxiousness is just extreme enough not to be unbelievable and his great material too. Probably the best sequence is almost a montage, sweeping through the practical jokes and one-upsmanship Charley deploys on his aunt when they are left alone in the house together. A great visual gag is how he and Felix very casually climb out their windows to change rooms secretly for the night. A later sequence with Charley pretending to be a radio announcer is still fun but doesn't work quite as well.

This short has all the plot elements of one of Charley Chase's dazzlingly tight mini-farces, but moves as a jaunty pace that allows it to dwell wherever some laughs are -- almost as if he has decided to take a more relaxed, casual approach to putting together a comedy short. That carefree feeling of relaxation translates to the viewer. As such it's not Chase's most artful or memorable comedy, but it's undeniably a funny one, and a joyful way to spend twenty minutes.