Now I'll Tell One

Until recently, this Charley Chase film with Laurel and Hardy has been thought lost. However back in the 1990s, the second reel was discovered...though STILL reel one is missing. Because of this, it's very hard to rate. It's also interesting that books on Laurel & Hardy's films don't mention the movie...probably because up until the screening in 1993, no one realized Oliver Hardy is in the film...though only in a brief scene playing a policeman. It also might not be listed because Laurel never plays with or against Hardy...they just coincidentally were in the same Hal Roach production.

I have no idea what's in the first reel but assume it showed Charley and his wife headed to divorce court...which is where they are in reel two. Charley's wife tells all sorts of lies and exaggerations about how awful Charley is in order to get the divorce he's contesting. She even says he shot her in the heart....but she was okay! She also describes him as a drunk who ran about town in his underwear and beat her! It's all way over the top and the only idiot who seemed to believe all this is Charley's attorney (Stan Laurel)! Oddly, after all this, she dropped her case and the pair were reunited after a bully rushes up to sock Charley since he's supposedly such a cad! What's next? See the film...or at least what's left of it. It's on YouTube if you care to give it a try.

What's left of the film is unfortunately quite funny. I say unfortunately because it really makes you wish we had all of the film. Perhaps one day it will be discovered.

This film was presumed lost for a long time, until the second reel of this movie showed up again in the '90's. So halve of the movie can be seen now days and its highly unlikely that the first reel of the movie will also ever be found. So we'll have to do with the 9+ minutes of this movie that have survived, which is also in poor quality though unfortunately.

A shame since this seemed like a real fun early Laurel & Hardy movie, from the period the weren't a comical duo yet. Stan Laurel plays a clumsy stupid lawyer, while Oliver Hardy plays the tough cop, a role he played more than once, mostly in the early days of his career.

Especially Stan Laurel is in good comedy form and he has a couple of great fun moments in this movie.

It's a fast paced slapstick comedy with also a good comical story about a man (Charley Chase) who is being prosecuted for shooting his wife (Edna Marion). The comedy is well timed and often unexpectedly funny. It makes it all the more a shame that we'll probably be never able again to see this movie in its full glory.

What's still left of it is really good and fun!

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Charley Chase and Edna Marion are in divorce court, seeking, well a divorce. Each tells an increasingly bizarre and awful story of how one has mistreated the other.

This was out of circulation for at least fifty years. When it was finally rediscovered and screened in 1993, the first half was missing. It begins with Miss Marion telling the judge how Charley had shot her in the heart. In the flashback story, Oliver Hardy shows up as a cop. This was a surprise to the audience. It was well known that Stan Laurel appeared in it; he's present in court as a clock-obsessed lawyer representing Charley. Nowadays it seems odd that they would play supporting roles, and Hardy such a small one. But remember that at this point their screen partnership was still in the process of gelling. Chase was Roach's biggest single star -- Our Gang might have been a better paying series, but Chase was an assured and funny money-maker for Hal Roach.

And what shows up is very funny indeed. Perhaps the first half will show up again.

Since I'm trying to watch all the Laurel & Hardy film appearances I hadn't seen yet, this was next on the list. Only the second reel is available for now and what I watched was interesting but because the first one is still missing, I'm not going to give this one a rating. I mean, seeing Oliver Hardy as a cop in a flashback sequence was interesting and seeing Stan Laurel as Charley Chase's defending attorney fascinating but neither appear together here so that's disappointing. And what I saw was more amusing than actually funny but I think maybe if the first reel was still available, I'd not only truly understand what's going on but also think this was more funny. As it now is, Now I'll Tell One is just an interesting curio...