Skinny the Moocher

Charley Chase seems to be channeling a Three Stooges comedy here. He's a formerly rich man heavily in debt to his kleptomaniac valet, trying to get to a party to celebrate his engagement to his usual Columbia co-star, Ann Doran. It starts out at a Stooges level of hysteria and speeds up as it goes along, until Charley is caught in a donnybrook and knocked into a wall repeatedly.

In his dozen years at the Roach studios, Charley starred in marvelous farces that were still full stories. This one seems to be an anecdote, seeming cut down and missing something because of that. Perhaps he and director Del Lord were experimenting or maybe Jules White was bearing down. Still, the gags are funny, including one the Stooges would do several times and while it's by no means a great Charley Chase comedy, it is funny on its own terms.