Four Parts (1934)
8/10
Fascinating technically...
27 October 2010
This was a difficult film to make and is certainly the most technically demanding film I've seen Charley Chase make. He stars as a set of quadruplets. Formally in the old days they'd use a simple split-screen process to insert the same person into a scene twice--but four times?! The only film I can recall from this era that went further was Keaton's "The Playhouse" where he played even more parts and the results, like this Chase film, are quite stunning even today.

Early in the film, one of the brothers (the dentist) sees a penny on the sidewalk and so does a nice lady (Betty Mack). It's an interesting testament to the times that they fought pretty hard for it--but ultimately, this argument brought them together. But, for the longest time, she doesn't know that he has three identicals out there as well--leading to some cute scenes. Overall, a very good Chase short--not among his very best but quite better than average.

By the way, the song Charley and his 'brothers' are rehearsing is "Honolulu Baby"--the same song that was the theme to Laurel & Hardy's best full-length film, "Sons of the Desert".
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