Life Hesitates at 40 (1935)

Charley finds himself having strange spells during which everything around him seems to stop.

Directors:

Charley Chase, Harold Law

Stars:

Charley Chase, Joyce Compton, James Finlayson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charley Chase	...	Charley Chase
Joyce Compton	...	Joyce
James Finlayson	...	Dr. James Finlayson
Brooks Benedict	...	Harold
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Boy at Soda Fountain

Storyline

Charley barges into the office of a psychiatrist whose avocation is competitive lying. Charley's tale, told with flashbacks and urgency, is odd: sometimes his world just stops in mid-motion. During those freezes, he has brief conversations with someone nearby who doesn't remember the exchange once things move again. A young woman invites him to her house; he arrives, she denies inviting him, and, worse, she's with her fiancé. Charley persists, the fiancé gets mad, and Charley gets the girl on the rebound. A few months later, they run into her ex at an amusement park; several freezes later, Charley is on the outs. Can the doctor do anything?

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | amusement park | doctor | jump | fun house | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1935 (USA)

Filming Locations:

The Pike Amusement Zone, Long Beach, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

15 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

What were they thinking?!

This Charley Chase film has one of the strangest and most unbelievable plots I can recall for one of his movies. He apparently suffers from periods where everything seems to stop. Then the viewer is treated to several occasions where the camera freezes and the dialog continues as if they didn't stop at all. No one but Charley seems to notice this and, frankly, it seemed very contrived and weird...and not in a good way. It's never particularly funny nor does it make any sense.

In the past, I have adored Charley Chase films and have tried to watch them every time Turner Classic Movies shows them. However, oddly, today almost every Chase film they showed was lame--really poor and well below the quality I'd come to expect. Apparently, they showed the best ones first! If you do watch it, look for Alfalfa Switzer (from The Little Rascals) and James Finlayson (a frequent supporting actor in Laurel & Hardy films).

By the way, look for Alfalfa Switzer (from the Our Gang series) as a little boy at the amusement park.