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.

This is just classic timeless comedy. A man (Charlie Chase) is set up on a blind date by his roommate for a dance. Charlie is leery because his roommate set him up with "the pip from Pittsburgh" who Charlie did not find very attractive. So he wears an old dirty suit, does not shave, and eats garlic to repel the girl. Unfortunately, the girl is the charming Thelma Todd. So on the way to and at the dance Charlie has to come up with clever ways to shave without a razor, freshen his breath, and change into his new suit, which his roommate happens to be wearing. Also at the dance is "The Pip" who still has quite a crush on Charlie. It's not like Charlie and Thelma had long meaningful conversations in these shorts, but the chemistry between them is undeniable. The whole thing ends rather abruptly and predictably, but it is the hilarious journey in this one, not the destination, that is so alluring.

'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.

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!

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.