At First Site (1924)
*** (out of 4)
First film in Charley Chase's "Jimmy Jump" series has him falling in love with a woman (Blanche Mehaffey) but a case of mistaken identity could end up costing him the relationship. In terms of silent history this is a pretty important movie as Hal Roach finally let Chase do his thing and there's no doubt that his magic certainly started to shine here (even though his earlier movies are just as funny). I think this is a pretty good short even if it's nothing ground breaking in terms of story. What works so well here is Chase's performance, which is just wonderful as he's not only very funny but he also comes across very warm and charming. The film has some hilarious gags including the first one where his hat accidentally gets set on fire and another great one involving the roof of a car that won't close during a shower. These two scenes are very funny as is some later stuff when Jimmy's boss thinks that he's about to take his bride out. There are also some nice, quiet and warm moments where Jimmy actually does the falling in love that works very well. The film runs just under 10-minutes so there's not too much plot but what is here makes for a good time.
*** (out of 4)
First film in Charley Chase's "Jimmy Jump" series has him falling in love with a woman (Blanche Mehaffey) but a case of mistaken identity could end up costing him the relationship. In terms of silent history this is a pretty important movie as Hal Roach finally let Chase do his thing and there's no doubt that his magic certainly started to shine here (even though his earlier movies are just as funny). I think this is a pretty good short even if it's nothing ground breaking in terms of story. What works so well here is Chase's performance, which is just wonderful as he's not only very funny but he also comes across very warm and charming. The film has some hilarious gags including the first one where his hat accidentally gets set on fire and another great one involving the roof of a car that won't close during a shower. These two scenes are very funny as is some later stuff when Jimmy's boss thinks that he's about to take his bride out. There are also some nice, quiet and warm moments where Jimmy actually does the falling in love that works very well. The film runs just under 10-minutes so there's not too much plot but what is here makes for a good time.