The Rat’s Knuckles
(Leo McCarey, US 1925, 11 min., 16mm)
What Price Goofy?
(Leo McCarey, US 1925, 21 min., 16mm)
Long Fliv the King
(Leo McCarey, US 1926, 23 min., 16mm)
Limousine Love
(Fred Guiol, US 1928, 23 min., 16mm)
Charley Chase, often overlooked in comparison to other silent comedians, was an extremely successful and productive actor and director in his own right, appearing in more than 150 silent shorts and directing another 125 or so. He flourished at the Hal Roach studio and often appeared with many of their famous actors, such as Laurel and Hardy. This spotlight on the underseen comic will hopefully bring him to light for another generation of silent film fans. In The Rat’s Knuckles, Chase is an inept inventor, trying to sell his idea for a better mousetrap; What Price Goofy? finds Chase as a misunderstood husband trying to retain his wife while hiding the woman in his house; Long Fliv the King is a Ruritanian spoof, where Chase is a condemned man who inadvertently marries a queen; and in Limousine Love, Chase is trying to get to his wedding on time while car and woman troubles keep him delayed.
Live piano accompaniment by Dr. Philip C. Carli.