Isn't Life Terrible? (1925)
*** (out of 4)
Semi-spoof of D.W. Griffith's ISN'T LIFE WONDERFUL basically just pokes fun at the title but we have Charley Chase playing the lovely husband who wins a cruise with his wife (Katherine Grant), child and the lazy brother-in-law (Oliver Hardy) but of course nothing goes as planned. This isn't Chase's best film but there are still enough laughs to get you to overlook a rather bizarre and long running joke. The second half of the film takes place on the ship and at the start of this is when the Chase family lose their own daughter and end up with a small black child. You'd think this would lead to the obvious jokes and it does but at the same time the rest of the film plays it straight as the family isn't worried about the missing child and just treat the new kid as their own. It's a little uneasy watching this entire "joke" but perhaps those in 1925 got a bigger kick out of it. A lot of the writing is rather lazy with the obvious jokes always being taken but there are still some funny moments. A lot of this has to do with Charley and his reaction to the lazy Hardy who always "has a spell" whenever it's time to do some work. The two men work well together and that alone makes this worth watching.
*** (out of 4)
Semi-spoof of D.W. Griffith's ISN'T LIFE WONDERFUL basically just pokes fun at the title but we have Charley Chase playing the lovely husband who wins a cruise with his wife (Katherine Grant), child and the lazy brother-in-law (Oliver Hardy) but of course nothing goes as planned. This isn't Chase's best film but there are still enough laughs to get you to overlook a rather bizarre and long running joke. The second half of the film takes place on the ship and at the start of this is when the Chase family lose their own daughter and end up with a small black child. You'd think this would lead to the obvious jokes and it does but at the same time the rest of the film plays it straight as the family isn't worried about the missing child and just treat the new kid as their own. It's a little uneasy watching this entire "joke" but perhaps those in 1925 got a bigger kick out of it. A lot of the writing is rather lazy with the obvious jokes always being taken but there are still some funny moments. A lot of this has to do with Charley and his reaction to the lazy Hardy who always "has a spell" whenever it's time to do some work. The two men work well together and that alone makes this worth watching.