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Mama Behave"
*** 1/2 (out of ****)
Marital infidelity and mistaken identity rule the day in this pair of Hal Roach silent comedies spotlighting the comedic talents of Charley Chase.
One of the highlights of this year's theme, Life is Short - my year long look at comedy shorts - is it finally allows me the opportunity to review some of Charley Chase's comedies. Chase was unfortunately one of the great silent comedians that never transitioned to feature-length comedies. Because of my focus on feature-length movie reviews, it meant I had to ignore his body of work - despite appearing in hundreds of comedies.
Although not identified by modern movie fans as one of the significant figures of silent comedy, Charley Chase was a very popular comedian in the 1920s. While his comedies lacked the artistic vision of Chaplin's and he didn't perform dazzling stunts like Keaton, Chase's comedies don't have to take a back seat to anyone in the laugh's department.
The Chase persona wasn't much different than the Glasses character played by another great silent film comedian, Harold Lloyd. Both were presented as a kind of everyman, a next door neighbor type. Lloyd's character's were driven by a desire to succeed and achieve the American Dream. I'd argue his comedies were instrumental in the development of the romantic-comedy. As seen in this pair of comedies, Chase was more bedroom farce. Characterized by some as happy-go-lucky, several Chase comedies - "Isn't Life Terrible?" (1925), "What Price Goofy?" (1925) and "Innocent Husbands" (1925) - feature him as a helpless husband with either a jealous wife or an overbearing family.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Chase's two-reelers had a good sense of story. They followed a narrative and weren't merely a collection of gags strung together by a flimsy plot. I'll watch the Keystone Kops but often I have no idea what it going on in the story. Even some of Chaplin's earliest shorts had poor stories. Coincidentally these comedies were produced by Mack Sennett. I wanted to avoid that and not repeat myself with the same criticism review after review. I took careful consideration in selecting these two Charley Chase shorts.
"Mama Behave" (1926), directed by Leo McCarey, has Charley - his character is also named Charley - play a boring husband who hates to take is wife Lolita (Mildred Harris) out dancing. He even pretends not to know how to do the Charleston or otherwise, he fears, it would mean he would have to go out every night. Lolita however is looking for excitement and casually mentions to a friend (Vivien Oakland) that she wishes Charley was more like his twin brother Jim.
Charley finds out about his wife's comment and decides to go and surprise her by buying a suit his brother would wear and take her out dancing, just to show her he too has a wild side. But when Lolita sees Charley in the new suit, she immediately believes it is Jim and addresses him as such. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to pull a good prank on his wife, Charley decides to let her go on thinking he is Jim.
Deep down though Charley would like to "test" his wife and find out if she is true to him. Just how disappointed is she that Charley is not the out going type? Is she really after adventure and romance? As far as comedic premises go, this one is pretty good. No one could accuse it of being entirely original but we see where the comedy could arise from this story.
"Mama Behave" does a good job of raising the stakes against Charley with the best of these predicaments involving Lolita inviting her friend to go out dancing with her and "Jim", for appearance sake - what would people say about a married woman going out with a man that wasn't her husband and not having a chaperone? To keep the ruse going Lolita even suggest "Jim" and her friend kiss. Charley eagerly obliges his wife's command. Contrary to this the comedy isn't risque even though this is a pre-code comedy. It basically adheres to conventional middle class morality.
Despite my previous praise, "Mama Behave" makes a few mistakes. The revelation of Charley's twin brother comes out of left field. That should have been revealed during the opening title cards with Charley always feeling a little insecure and secretly wanting to be like his brother. Doubts about his wife's fidelity should have also been expressed at the beginning, making it the motivating factor in his trickery. When you only have twenty minutes to tell a story your conflicts need to be immediately established within the first scene.
It would have also been nice if "Mama Behave" made some kind of social commentary. Why reference the Charleston and not have Charley criticize jazz and the fleeting values it represents? Why not make a greater commentary about how to keep fidelity alive within a marriage? As it stands now "Mama Behave" informs us the grass isn't always greener on the other side, adultery isn't so uncommon, no one followed prohibition laws concerning alcohol, sometimes deception in a marriage can be a good thing and its best not to have a twin brother.
Given the storyline it is a compliment to Chase's talents and screen presence that he is able to make his character likable. There is even a scene where Charley takes out his anger on a punching bag he imagines is his wife. It doesn't hurt that the comedy is told from his point of view. There are even moments when Chase breaks the forth wall and stares at the audience a la Edgar Kennedy and Oliver Hardy. The female performances weren't as impressive to me but it is interesting to note the aggressive behavior of these characters, reversing gender stereotypes. Charley is the innocent lamb and it is the females looking for a good time. Vivien Oakland in particular reinforces the viewpoint that flappers were easy and man hungry.
"Mama Behave" is a fast moving, funny comedy that gives Charley Chase plenty of room to show off his talent.
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Mighty Like A Moose"
To the extent there is any general consensus, film historians may rank "Mighty Like A Moose" (1926) as Charley Chase's best silent comedy short. It was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2007.
Once again directed by Leo McCarey, the story follows Mr. & Mrs. Moose (Chase and Vivien Oakland) as a rather homely looking couple - the title cards inform us, her face could stop a clock and his could restart it. She has a large nose and he has large front teeth. Because of their looks they were made for each other. But secretly they each wish they were attractive.
While its easy to view our current times as shallow and beauty obsessed - mostly because it is - lets not forget popularity in plastic surgery rose in the 1920s. Some even believe it was the result of new found freedom for women. This makes "Mighty Like A Moose" a sharp contemporary satire.
Chase and Oakland both just happen to be in the same building undergoing their cosmetic transformations. They run into each other while waiting for an elevator and with their new found confidence begin to flirt with one another. We are supposed to believe because of his new teeth and her new nose, they are unrecognizable - hardly! Chase is even so bold as to ask Oakland if she would like to attend a party with him that evening, to which she agrees to. When initially confronted on the issue, they even deny being married!
A lot of well timed physical comedy ensues as the couple heads back home to sneak around and prepare for their date with each other. After finally changing into their evening clothes they arrive at the party but unknown to them, their host is being watched by the police for reasons no one could be bothered to share with the audience.
Unfortunately, this all results in the home being raided by the police as a photographer snaps a photo of Chase and Oakland together! Naturally it is this photo that appears on the front page of the evening paper, which suspiciously has been printed and delivered before they have even arrived home. Still not knowing their true identity, they both believe it will spell the end of their marriages.
Lightening strikes for Charley however. He was given a false set of his old teeth for identification purposes. If he continues to walk around with his large front teeth, his wife won't know that is him in the photo. The wife isn't so lucky. She wasn't given a mold of her old nose for identification. She must reveal to Charley the work she had done and take responsibility for the fact that is her in the photo.
It feeds into a societal double standard as Charley admonishes his wife for her infidelity, never minding that he was the other man. We can forgive this messaging however as it culminates in a great visual gag with Charley playing both his ugly buck toothed self and his handsome rival as they fight for Oakland's hand. It eventually leads to a lets kiss and make up kind of ending.
Much like was accomplished in "Mama Behave", "Mighty Like A Moose" does a good job of presenting Chase in a likable fashion. A lot of historians like to give director Leo McCarey much of the credit for the success of these comedies however in Peter Bogdanovich's wonderful book Who the Devil Made It - a series of conversations with Hollywood's great filmmakers - McCarey says both men were instrumental in the development of these shorts. McCarey acknowledges how clever Chase was and further says he was fortunate to have Hal Roach pair the two of them together. I mention this because with the exception of Chaplin and Keaton, it seems difficult for "critics" to give too much artistic praise to silent movie comedians. It couldn't be Charley Chase that was the creative artist behind these comedies, it must have been Leo McCarey. Similar statements have been made concerning another forgotten comedian, Harry Langdon. Langdon, they say, only succeeded because of Frank Capra.
This isn't meant to take away from McCarey, who was often credited as being the man to pair Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as a team. McCarey worked with nearly all of the great comedians from his era - in addition to Laurel & Hardy and Charley Chase there was Eddie Cantor, Mae West, W.C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers. He also directed my choice for the greatest screwball comedy of all time, "The Awful Truth" (1937).
Between "Mama Behave" and "Mighty Like A Moose" viewers should have a pretty good understanding of Charley Chase's style of comedy and his abilities. He was far too talented to be forgotten by today's audiences. These comedies are nearly 100 years old and yet they are still capable of making you laugh and hit on topics that are relatable even today.
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