Fluttering Hearts

Charley Chase combines his gift for pantomime and slapstick in this solid entry in his series for Hal Roach. His brand of humor was based on the "comedy of Embarrassment"; a simple situation compounds itself into almost absolute chaos with Chase left in the dust. As this film is generally unavailable unless you are a 16mm film collector, it is a prime example of just how clever and funny Charley Chase could be AND without words! The sequence in a department store during a white sale begins innocently enough but builds into a free for all that includes Martha Sleeper as the spoiled rich girl and Eugene Pallette as a willing policeman. The brilliant Oliver Hardy, at this time on the threshold of his pairing with Stan Laurel, appears as BIG BILL, the man who can make or break Martha Sleeper's rich father, played to perfection by William Burress. The meeting of Chase and Hardy is priceless; one of the best sequences Charley ever had on screen. This film is just one example of the wonderful screen comedy of a great yet forgotten star, Charley Chase.