The Pip from Pittsburg

Hal Roach is best known as the genius behind many Laurel & Hardy shorts. However, Roach went far beyond the Laurel and Hardy series. This is one example of his genius. The talented Thelma Todd, who starred with the Marx Brothers, steals the show in this hilarious short. "The Pip From Pittsburgh" (aka Chasing Charley) was just shown on TCM and it was great from beginning to end. The dance scene appears to have been a Stan Laurel creation, as he was in the background of many a Roach production as well as some major films, most notably "Bringing Up Baby" (1938) when Katherine Hepburn tore the back of her dress in front of a crowded banquet room. The background music from this short was also standard for the Roach comedies and was so successful in conveying hilarity to a movie that it proved influential with other directors and producers later on.

This short should be marketed on DVD along with many other gems that Roach produced. Hopefully this will come to be in the future. Two thumbs up!

'The Pip from Pittsburg' serves as a valuable record of the late lamented Charlie Chase at his absolute best, making a complete fool of himself trying to undo at very short notice various ploys initially intended to discourage a blind date about whom he had serious reservations but swiftly changes his mind upon discovering that she is turn out to be the gorgeous Thelma Todd and spends the rest of the film attempting with little success to reverse the original bad impression.

The plot anticipates Neil Simon's later comedy of embarrassment 'The Goodbye Girl'. Curiously I always recall this as a silent, since for early talkie the humour is surprisingly visual.

This is one of the most charming Hal Roach comedy shorts ever made. Charley is set up on a blind date with Thelma. He, of course, believes that she will be unattractive and makes himself unkempt. Once he meets beautiful Thelma, he must attempt to clean himself up. Chase is at his best when he portrays a reasonable, single guy. The sight gags are fast and furious and Leroy Shield's music score adds to the charm of this short.

"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.

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.