Young Ironsides (1932)

Harry is hired by a rich family to stop their daughter from entering a beauty contest.

Director:

James Parrott

Writer:

H.M. Walker

Stars:

Charley Chase, Muriel Evans, Clarence Wilson

Cast

Cast overview:
Charley Chase	...	Fearless
Muriel Evans	...	Muriel Evans
Clarence Wilson	...	J. Caldwall Evans (as Clarence H. Wilson)
Heinie Conklin	...	House Detective

Storyline

A New York magnate and his wife are upset that their daughter Muriel intends to enter a beauty pageant in Ocean Beach; "What will the Vanderbilts think?," they lament. The wife hires "Fearless," a man who says he'll do anything for $1000, to find a way to keep Muriel from entering the contest. "Fearless" turns out to be a rather clumsy and unprepossessing man whom Muriel meets on the train to Ocean Beach. Not knowing who she is, he tells her all about the job he's on. Later, when the contest is about to start, he sees her again and asks her help in keeping the elusive Ms. Evans out of the contest. Muriel is happy to help. Will "Fearless" succeed? And what about the $1,000?

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Plot Keywords:

daughter | beauty contest | clumsy | hotel | hula | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1932 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The items in the laundry parcel thrown to fearless are the collars from shirts. In this era shirts still had detachable collars that were laundered and starched separately from the shirt.

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Connections

Spoofs Sons of the Sea (1926)

User Reviews

Big Laughs from Chase Comedy

Young Ironsides (1932)

*** (out of 4)

Very funny short has a couple of rich parents hiring "Fearless" (Charley Chase) to track down their daughter who is going out to California to enter a beauty contest. The parents fear this will ruin their reputation so Chase goes after the girl and gets some help from someone who he doesn't realize is actually the daughter. This isn't a masterpiece of comedy but there are enough big laughs here to make it worth viewing. THe more Chase films I see, silent or sound, the more I begin to feel he's perhaps the most underrated comedian from this era. Once again he does a masterful job at playing that lovable loser and some of the best moments happen early on as he tries playing tough only to get scared by a mouse as well as a fake tiger. The high pitched scream from Chase is priceless and will certainly have you laughing. The ending has Chase in drag, which was pretty funny as is another sequence aboard a train when Chase goes to whisper some sweet words to the lady only to end up in a dark tunnel. Muriel Evans plays the girl and is incredibly charming and extremely good looking as well. Heinie Conklin has a funny bit as a house detective and Billy Gilbert has a quick role. Paulette Goddard plays one of the beauty pageant entries as well.