Run Time: 20 minutes. Studio: Hal Roach Studios. Director: Fred Guiol. Main Cast: Charley Chase, Edna Marion, Viola Richard, Edgar Kennedy, Bull Montana. Producer: Hal Roach. Cinematographer: Len Powers. Editor: Richard C. Currier.
That Charley Chase is one of the great movie comedians is fortunately becoming more and more accepting among film buff in recent years. However for those still not very familiar with his work, I feel Limousine Love would be the ultimate convincer. This short is an example of silent film comedy at its best as well as simply a very funny movie.
The storyline of this short is simply wonderful and is quite funny in and of itself. Charley is on the way to his wedding, when the limousine, he is riding in, gets into an accident. Charley's chauffeur then gets into a fight with the other driver involved in the accident. The chauffeur loses this fight and Charley is left having to drive the limo himself. This actually goes fairly well until he runs out of gas. Meanwhile a woman (Viola Davis) is learning how to drive and has an accident, that results in her clothes getting very wet and dirty. Seeing Charley's limousine and nobody around, she hangs her clothes up to dry on a tree and pulls down the blinds, while she waits for them to dry. Unfortunately for her Charley comes back and starts the limousine and drives away. He does not know he has a nude woman in the back, and she is now far away from her clothes. When he notices her in the mirror he drives back to retrieve her clothes but ruins them in the process. This is made even worse when the woman's husband (Edgar Kennedy) asks for a ride. When Charley gets to the church, he has to find a way to park without his bride to be (Edna Marion), whom he has already kept waiting for a long time, discovering he has a naked woman in the back.
This is a truly top-notch comedy short and can hold its own among the best works of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton or Laurel and Hardy. Many movie buffs argue that Charley Chase is an overlooked genius of classic movie comedy and you can find no better argument for that than this short. This may in fact be one of my favorite silent comedy shorts. What makes this film so great is it knows perfectly how to set up and pay off a comedic situation. This film starts with a typical situation with some nice little slapstick gags. However as the movie progresses the situation continues to progress to something much sillier and outlandish in a way that feels perfectly natural. As such this is a comedy that just gets funnier and funnier as it goes along. This is simply wonderful comedic filmmaking that not only doesn't call attention to itself but that makes it seem easy and natural.
The following is a review from The Motion Picture Herald (by E.G. Johnson), "Charley Chase can generally be depended on to come through with what this writer considers the best in two-reel comedy making of the present day - and this one is not an exception. Fred Guiol can also be credited with the good direction. As in certain other two reelers to his credit. Charley is on his way to meet his bride. It is their wedding day. From the time his crashes into another the story and action swiftly develops, being built around the fact that a married woman, drenched from a spill in a roadside pool by auto, has invaded the rear of his limousine in order to dry her clothing. Her husband comes along and begs a ride from Charley. Her clothing vanishes down a stream when its rescue is attempted. Suspense, as to the discovery of the wife by the husband, is admirably kept up - right up to the time of the ceremony. The cast includes Edna Marion, Viola Richard, Edgar Kennedy and Bull Montana. An excellent two reeler."
That Charley Chase is one of the great movie comedians is fortunately becoming more and more accepting among film buff in recent years. However for those still not very familiar with his work, I feel Limousine Love would be the ultimate convincer. This short is an example of silent film comedy at its best as well as simply a very funny movie.
The storyline of this short is simply wonderful and is quite funny in and of itself. Charley is on the way to his wedding, when the limousine, he is riding in, gets into an accident. Charley's chauffeur then gets into a fight with the other driver involved in the accident. The chauffeur loses this fight and Charley is left having to drive the limo himself. This actually goes fairly well until he runs out of gas. Meanwhile a woman (Viola Davis) is learning how to drive and has an accident, that results in her clothes getting very wet and dirty. Seeing Charley's limousine and nobody around, she hangs her clothes up to dry on a tree and pulls down the blinds, while she waits for them to dry. Unfortunately for her Charley comes back and starts the limousine and drives away. He does not know he has a nude woman in the back, and she is now far away from her clothes. When he notices her in the mirror he drives back to retrieve her clothes but ruins them in the process. This is made even worse when the woman's husband (Edgar Kennedy) asks for a ride. When Charley gets to the church, he has to find a way to park without his bride to be (Edna Marion), whom he has already kept waiting for a long time, discovering he has a naked woman in the back.
This is a truly top-notch comedy short and can hold its own among the best works of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton or Laurel and Hardy. Many movie buffs argue that Charley Chase is an overlooked genius of classic movie comedy and you can find no better argument for that than this short. This may in fact be one of my favorite silent comedy shorts. What makes this film so great is it knows perfectly how to set up and pay off a comedic situation. This film starts with a typical situation with some nice little slapstick gags. However as the movie progresses the situation continues to progress to something much sillier and outlandish in a way that feels perfectly natural. As such this is a comedy that just gets funnier and funnier as it goes along. This is simply wonderful comedic filmmaking that not only doesn't call attention to itself but that makes it seem easy and natural.
The following is a review from The Motion Picture Herald (by E.G. Johnson), "Charley Chase can generally be depended on to come through with what this writer considers the best in two-reel comedy making of the present day - and this one is not an exception. Fred Guiol can also be credited with the good direction. As in certain other two reelers to his credit. Charley is on his way to meet his bride. It is their wedding day. From the time his crashes into another the story and action swiftly develops, being built around the fact that a married woman, drenched from a spill in a roadside pool by auto, has invaded the rear of his limousine in order to dry her clothing. Her husband comes along and begs a ride from Charley. Her clothing vanishes down a stream when its rescue is attempted. Suspense, as to the discovery of the wife by the husband, is admirably kept up - right up to the time of the ceremony. The cast includes Edna Marion, Viola Richard, Edgar Kennedy and Bull Montana. An excellent two reeler."
Exhibitors Herald, 1927
Moving Picture World, 1925
Fred Guiol, the director of this film began his career as a prop boy for D.W. Griffith. He joined Hal Roach Studios in 1919 as a camera man. Come 1923 he was directing shorts there. This began with the often-forgotten Spat Family shorts. He went on to direct films starring some of the studio's other stars of that time including Max Davidson and Glen Tryon. He is probably best known today for directing some of the early silent shorts with Laurel and Hardy including Duck Soup (1927), the first film where the duo truly worked as a team. He stayed with Hal Roach into the early talkie era, even directing some of the talkie shorts that Harry Langdon made there. After leaving Roach, he would direct The Wheeler and Woolsey movies, The Rainmakers (1935) and Mummy's Boys (1936). As a writer he would work on such established classics as Gunga Din (1939) and Giant (1956). Both of those films were directed by George Stevens who has also previously been a cameraman for Hal Roach.
Charley's bride to be, Edna Marion had begun her career in the often forgotten Century Comedies around 1924. However she is best known for her work at Hal Roach Studios. There she costarred with Charley Chase in a good number of films including Now I'll Tell One (1927), Assistant Wives (1927), The Sting of Stings (1927), The Way of All Pants (1927), Never the Dames Shall Meet (1927), All for Nothing (1928), The Family Group (1928), Aching Youths (1928) and The Fight Pest (1928). She also worked with Laurel and Hardy in Sugar Daddies (1927), From Soup to Nuts (1928) and Should Married Men Go Home? (1928). Viola Richard, the nude woman, was a regular in Roach shorts during this era. She also appeared with Charley Chase in What Women Did for Me (1927) and Never the Dames Shall Meet (1927). She is best remembered for appearing with Laurel and Hardy in such films as Sailors Beware! (1927), Why Girls Love Sailors (1927), Do Detectives Think? (1927), Flying Elephants (1928) and Should Married Men Go Home? (1928).
The video below talks about the filming locations for this film.
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Robert Youngston used this short in his feature length compilation film, 4 Clowns (1970). You can watch that movie below.
Robert Youngston used this short in his feature length compilation film, 4 Clowns (1970). You can watch that movie below.
