Charley Chase (1937-1940)
Charley Chase came to Columbia in 1937 after a long career at the Hal Roach Studios. Not only did Chase star in his own series at Columbia, but he also wrote, produced, and directed several other shorts for the likes of performers including The 3 Stooges and Andy Clyde. Chase however never directed his own starring shorts, which was something he had
previously done while at Roach, directing under the name Charles
Parrot.
He remained at Columbia until his untimely death in 1940.
He remained at Columbia until his untimely death in 1940.
THE GRAND HOOTER (5/7/37) D: Del Lord. Peggy Sratford, Nena Quartaro, Harry Semels, Bud Jamison Eddie Laughton. Charley shows more concern for his meetings at the Lodge of Hoot Owls than he does for his marriage. TRIVIA: Charley sings in only two of his Columbia comedies. THE GRAND HOOTER is one of them. Remade with Shemp Howard as OPEN SEASON FOR SAPS (1944).
FROM BAD TO WORSE (6/4/37) D: Del Lord . Peggy Stratford, Bobby Watson, Bud Jamison, Lew Davis, Pat Lane, Billy McCall, Edith Craig, Olivia Moore, Ethelreda Leopold, Ruth Hillard, Polly Chase, Elaine Waters. Aboard a train, Charley's honeymoon is interrupted by a young woman and her jealous husband.
THE WRONG MISS WRIGHT(6/18/37) D: Charles Lamont. Peggy Stratford, John T. Murray, Bud Jamison, Robert McKenzie, Eva McKenzie, Ella McKenzie. Charley feigns insanity in order to get released from a prearranged marriage. TRIVIA: Remade with Vera Vague as YOUR DEAR BOY (1943). Reworked with Vera Vague as HAPPY GO WACKY (1952).
CALLING ALL DOCTORS (7/22/37) D: Charles Lamont. Lucille Lund, John T. Murray, Bobby Watson, James C. Morton, Fern Emmett, Vernon Dent, Lon Poff, William Irving, Lynton Brent, Charles Dorety, Bobby Barber. Hypochondriac Charley mistakes a lunatic for a trained physician. TRIVIA: Remade with Vera Vague as DOCTOR, FEEL MY PULSE (1944) and SHE TOOK A POWDER (1951).
THE BIG SQUIRT (9/17/37) D: Del Lord. Lucille Lund, Bud Jamison, Leora Thatcher, Eddie Fetherstone, Theodore Lorch, Carol Tevis, Al Thompson, Polly Chase, Beatrice Blinn. Soda jerk Charley, a mystery story buff, fancies himself as a master criminologist. TRIVIA: This is the second of the Columbia shorts that Charley sings in. The original working title was DON'T LOOK NOW. Remade with Bert Wheeler as THE AWFUL SLEUTH (1951).
MAN BITES LOVEBUG (12/24/37) D: Del Lord. Mary Russel, John T. Murray, Frank Lackteen, Bud Jamison, Etta McDaniel. Charley, a marriage expert, tries to strengthen a friends marriage via jealousy. TRIVIA: Remade with Billy Gilbert as WEDDED BLISS (1944).
TIME OUT FOR TROUBLE (3/18/38) D: Del Lord. Louise Stanley, Ann Doran, Dick Curtis, Eddie Fetherstone, Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison, Bess Flowers, Cy Schindell. Despondent over breaking up with his fiancée, Charley hires a gangster to kill him. TRIVIA: Remade with Shemp Howard as OFF AGAIN, ON AGAIN (1945).
THE MIND NEEDER (4/29/38) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, Vernon Dent, John T. Murray, Bess Flowers. Absentminded Charley struggles to remember his wedding anniversary.TRIVIA: There were two working titles for this film; THE NUMB SKULL and NUMB SKULL NUMBER ONE. Remade with Harry Langdon as MOPEY DOPE (1944).
MANY SAPPY RETURNS (8/19/38) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John T. Murray, Fred Kelsey, John Sheehan, Vernon Dent, Lane Chandler, Kernan Cripps. Charley, a taxi driver, mistakes an escaped lunatic for his girlfriends father. TRIVIA: This is a remake of Charley's Hal Roach short FAST WORK. Remade with Schilling and Lane as HE'S IN AGAIN (1949).
THE NIGHT SHIRT BANDIT (10/28/38) D: Jules White. Phyllis Barry, Eva McKenzie, James C. Morton, Fred Snowflake Toones, Majorie Deanne, June Gittleson. Professor Chase is on the lookout for a night shirt bandit prowling the college campus. TRIVIA: Remade with Andy Clyde as GO CHASE YOURSELF (1948) and PARDON MY NIGHTSHIRT (1956).
PIE À LA MAID (12/25/38) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John Tyrrell, Lionel Belmore, Gaylord Pendleton, Stanley Brown, Edward Hall, Cy Schindell. Charley becomes infatuated with a waitress who has mistaken him for a mobster. TRIVIA: One of the few Columbia comedy shorts to employ background music.
THE SAP TAKES A WRAP (3/10/39) D: Del Lord. Gloria Blondell, Ethel Clayton, The Astom Trio, George Cleveland, Marjorie Deanne, Gene Morgan, Harry Wilson, James Millican, John T. Murray, Bud Jamison, John Tyrrell. Charley gives his girlfriend a mink coat he was supposed to be guarding for three showgirls; when the ladies want their coat back, Charley goes to great lengths to recover it.
THE CHUMP TAKES A BUMP (5/5/39) D: Del Lord. At a night club, Charley fails to recognize his newly blonde wife. TRIVIA: Remade with Huge Herbert as WIFE DECOY (1945).
RATTLING ROMEO (7/14/39) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John Tyrrell, Harry Bernard, Bud Jamison, Ben Taggart, Richard Fiske, Cy Schindell, Stanley Brown. To please his girlfriend, Charley buys an automobile.
SKINNY THE MOOCHER (9/8/39) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John T. Murray, Richard Fiske, Ben Taggart, John Tyrrell, Cy Schindel, Stanley Brown, James Craig, Lorna Gray, Charley, trying to make a favorable impression on his girlfriends father, is hindered by his valets kleptomania.
TEACHER'S PEST (11/3/39) D: Del Lord. Ruth Skinner, Chester Conklin, Richard Fiske, Bud Jamison, Hank Bell, Vernon Dent, Bill Wolfe. Charley is the new schoolteacher in a tough Western town.
THE AWFUL GOOF (12/22/39) D: Del Lord. Linda Winters, Lucille Lund, Dick Curtis, Bud Jamison. Charley innocently gets involved with the wife of a jealous wrestler.
THE HECKLER(2/16/40) D: Del Lord. Vernon Dent, Monty Collins, Bruce Bennett, Richard Fiske, Don Beddoe, Robert Sterling, Bud Jamison, Stanley Brown, Bess Flowers, John Ince, Beatrice Blinn, Linda Winters, Charles Heine Conklin. Charley is an obnoxious spectator at a baseball game. TRIVIA: This film is a remake of the 1930 Mack Sennett comedy THE LOUDMOUTH. Remade with Shemp Howard as MR. NOISY (1946).
SOUTH OF THE BOUDOIR (5/17/40) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, Helen Lynd, Arthur Q. Bryan. Charley's wife walks out on him, so he hires a waitress to take her place when he brings his boss home for dinner. TRIVIA: Remade with Hugh Herbert as WHEN THE WIFE'S AWAY (1946).
HIS BRIDAL FRIGHT (7/12/40) D: Del Lord. Iris Meredith, Bud Jamison, Richard Fiske, Dudley Dickerson, Bruce Bennett, Jack Tiny Lipson, Vernon Dent, Stanley Brown. To impress his fiancée's stamp-collecting father, Charley sets out to obtain a rare postage stamp from Pidgemania.
FROM BAD TO WORSE (6/4/37) D: Del Lord . Peggy Stratford, Bobby Watson, Bud Jamison, Lew Davis, Pat Lane, Billy McCall, Edith Craig, Olivia Moore, Ethelreda Leopold, Ruth Hillard, Polly Chase, Elaine Waters. Aboard a train, Charley's honeymoon is interrupted by a young woman and her jealous husband.
THE WRONG MISS WRIGHT(6/18/37) D: Charles Lamont. Peggy Stratford, John T. Murray, Bud Jamison, Robert McKenzie, Eva McKenzie, Ella McKenzie. Charley feigns insanity in order to get released from a prearranged marriage. TRIVIA: Remade with Vera Vague as YOUR DEAR BOY (1943). Reworked with Vera Vague as HAPPY GO WACKY (1952).
CALLING ALL DOCTORS (7/22/37) D: Charles Lamont. Lucille Lund, John T. Murray, Bobby Watson, James C. Morton, Fern Emmett, Vernon Dent, Lon Poff, William Irving, Lynton Brent, Charles Dorety, Bobby Barber. Hypochondriac Charley mistakes a lunatic for a trained physician. TRIVIA: Remade with Vera Vague as DOCTOR, FEEL MY PULSE (1944) and SHE TOOK A POWDER (1951).
THE BIG SQUIRT (9/17/37) D: Del Lord. Lucille Lund, Bud Jamison, Leora Thatcher, Eddie Fetherstone, Theodore Lorch, Carol Tevis, Al Thompson, Polly Chase, Beatrice Blinn. Soda jerk Charley, a mystery story buff, fancies himself as a master criminologist. TRIVIA: This is the second of the Columbia shorts that Charley sings in. The original working title was DON'T LOOK NOW. Remade with Bert Wheeler as THE AWFUL SLEUTH (1951).
MAN BITES LOVEBUG (12/24/37) D: Del Lord. Mary Russel, John T. Murray, Frank Lackteen, Bud Jamison, Etta McDaniel. Charley, a marriage expert, tries to strengthen a friends marriage via jealousy. TRIVIA: Remade with Billy Gilbert as WEDDED BLISS (1944).
TIME OUT FOR TROUBLE (3/18/38) D: Del Lord. Louise Stanley, Ann Doran, Dick Curtis, Eddie Fetherstone, Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison, Bess Flowers, Cy Schindell. Despondent over breaking up with his fiancée, Charley hires a gangster to kill him. TRIVIA: Remade with Shemp Howard as OFF AGAIN, ON AGAIN (1945).
THE MIND NEEDER (4/29/38) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, Vernon Dent, John T. Murray, Bess Flowers. Absentminded Charley struggles to remember his wedding anniversary.TRIVIA: There were two working titles for this film; THE NUMB SKULL and NUMB SKULL NUMBER ONE. Remade with Harry Langdon as MOPEY DOPE (1944).
MANY SAPPY RETURNS (8/19/38) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John T. Murray, Fred Kelsey, John Sheehan, Vernon Dent, Lane Chandler, Kernan Cripps. Charley, a taxi driver, mistakes an escaped lunatic for his girlfriends father. TRIVIA: This is a remake of Charley's Hal Roach short FAST WORK. Remade with Schilling and Lane as HE'S IN AGAIN (1949).
THE NIGHT SHIRT BANDIT (10/28/38) D: Jules White. Phyllis Barry, Eva McKenzie, James C. Morton, Fred Snowflake Toones, Majorie Deanne, June Gittleson. Professor Chase is on the lookout for a night shirt bandit prowling the college campus. TRIVIA: Remade with Andy Clyde as GO CHASE YOURSELF (1948) and PARDON MY NIGHTSHIRT (1956).
PIE À LA MAID (12/25/38) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John Tyrrell, Lionel Belmore, Gaylord Pendleton, Stanley Brown, Edward Hall, Cy Schindell. Charley becomes infatuated with a waitress who has mistaken him for a mobster. TRIVIA: One of the few Columbia comedy shorts to employ background music.
THE SAP TAKES A WRAP (3/10/39) D: Del Lord. Gloria Blondell, Ethel Clayton, The Astom Trio, George Cleveland, Marjorie Deanne, Gene Morgan, Harry Wilson, James Millican, John T. Murray, Bud Jamison, John Tyrrell. Charley gives his girlfriend a mink coat he was supposed to be guarding for three showgirls; when the ladies want their coat back, Charley goes to great lengths to recover it.
THE CHUMP TAKES A BUMP (5/5/39) D: Del Lord. At a night club, Charley fails to recognize his newly blonde wife. TRIVIA: Remade with Huge Herbert as WIFE DECOY (1945).
RATTLING ROMEO (7/14/39) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John Tyrrell, Harry Bernard, Bud Jamison, Ben Taggart, Richard Fiske, Cy Schindell, Stanley Brown. To please his girlfriend, Charley buys an automobile.
SKINNY THE MOOCHER (9/8/39) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, John T. Murray, Richard Fiske, Ben Taggart, John Tyrrell, Cy Schindel, Stanley Brown, James Craig, Lorna Gray, Charley, trying to make a favorable impression on his girlfriends father, is hindered by his valets kleptomania.
TEACHER'S PEST (11/3/39) D: Del Lord. Ruth Skinner, Chester Conklin, Richard Fiske, Bud Jamison, Hank Bell, Vernon Dent, Bill Wolfe. Charley is the new schoolteacher in a tough Western town.
THE AWFUL GOOF (12/22/39) D: Del Lord. Linda Winters, Lucille Lund, Dick Curtis, Bud Jamison. Charley innocently gets involved with the wife of a jealous wrestler.
THE HECKLER(2/16/40) D: Del Lord. Vernon Dent, Monty Collins, Bruce Bennett, Richard Fiske, Don Beddoe, Robert Sterling, Bud Jamison, Stanley Brown, Bess Flowers, John Ince, Beatrice Blinn, Linda Winters, Charles Heine Conklin. Charley is an obnoxious spectator at a baseball game. TRIVIA: This film is a remake of the 1930 Mack Sennett comedy THE LOUDMOUTH. Remade with Shemp Howard as MR. NOISY (1946).
SOUTH OF THE BOUDOIR (5/17/40) D: Del Lord. Ann Doran, Helen Lynd, Arthur Q. Bryan. Charley's wife walks out on him, so he hires a waitress to take her place when he brings his boss home for dinner. TRIVIA: Remade with Hugh Herbert as WHEN THE WIFE'S AWAY (1946).
HIS BRIDAL FRIGHT (7/12/40) D: Del Lord. Iris Meredith, Bud Jamison, Richard Fiske, Dudley Dickerson, Bruce Bennett, Jack Tiny Lipson, Vernon Dent, Stanley Brown. To impress his fiancée's stamp-collecting father, Charley sets out to obtain a rare postage stamp from Pidgemania.