Chips of the Old Block

An early Vitaphone film, this Warner Brothers short apparently was one created using a very complicated system through which an accompanying record was synchronized with a movie camera. There were several serious setbacks for such a system (such as if a film skipped--it became out of sync for the rest of the film plus the records quickly wore out--and 20 showings was the normal life-span of the records) and even though it produced excellent sound, it was eventually replaced. The last of the Vitaphone films were made in 1930, then the studio switched to the standard sound-on-film system.

I was interested in seeing this performance because of the Bob Hope film, "The Seven Little Foys" (1955). It tells the story of a father and his children forming a comedy, song and dance team after the death of his wife. Well, this film was enjoyable..and "Chips of the Old Block" was wretched! The real life Foys were, to put it bluntly, obnoxious and untalented. Why they'd want to dramatize their act is beyond me. They seem to try hard but that might be a lot of the problem--they put so much energy into the act that they come on strong--like Limburger Cheese!! This is definitely NOT one of the shining moments for Vitaphone and their shorts, as it all comes off like some sort of local talent show instead of a showcase for vaudeville talent (which it usually was). I know this film is important historically, but otherwise avoid it--your brain will thank you.

UPDATE: I just re-watched "The Seven Little Foys" and Turner Classic Movies showed this short afterwards. Once again, I found it to be dreadful. The young adults seem to make up for lacks of talent with energy and volume--and they were about as bad as I remembered them.

FURTHER UPDATE: Because my review has received a lot of 'Not Helpfuls' I decided to watch it yet again. And, it still stank and I am not sure how they became popular.

Chips of the Old Block (1928)

* (out of 4)

The Foy Family was a highly respected group of people inside the entertainment world and they even managed to get a movie done on their life story with James Cagney. CHIPS OF THE OLD BLOCK was the first film I had actually seen them in and I guess the best thing I can say is that watching it was certainly better than having acid poured into my eyes while being kicked in the gut repeatedly. This is a pretty bad movie that features the family standing on a stand doing a couple song and dance numbers as well as a comedy act. Now, I understand that a lot of stage performers struggled when they were brought into a studio and placed in front of a camera and had to perform. Perhaps the family was just having an off day because this thing is pretty bad and thankfully it only lasts 7-minutes or else it would have been pure torture. The dance and singing performances are rather forgettable and the so-called comedy is incredibly weak and annoying.