Series: Charley Chase

Director: James Parrott
Producer: Hal Roach
Dialogue: H.M. Walker
Photography: Hap Depew
Editor: Richard C. Currier
Sound: Elmer Raguse

Stars: Charley Chase, Muriel Evans, Clarence H. Wilson, Heinie Conklin
Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Released: 03 September 1932
Length: 2 reels
Production No.: C-9
Filming dates: June 15-22, 1932
Rating: 7/10


Young Ironsides

Available on DVD:
 

The 'tissue paper king of New York', Mr. Caldwell Evans, sends a representitive (Chase) down to a bathing beauty contest to stop his daughter from participating in the competition where the prize on offer is $1000. Little does Charley know that the woman he befriends on the train ride down there is the same woman. When they arrive at Oceans Beach, they both check in at the same hotel before taking a walk on the pier.  As Muriel goes to change into her costume, Charley takes a plunge off the pier after he is shot in the rear by a young boy with an arrow. He is soon followed by an innocent fisherman (both dives off the pier into the sea are accompanied by a sound clip of Oliver Hardy falling off the roof and into the pond from HOG WILD).
The beauty contest goes ahead and Muriel enters, along with a host of other beautiful women (including Paulette Goddard). Muriel's father arrives in the nick of time to find his daughter, much to the dismay of Charley, who up until this point has been mis-led into thinking she was somebody else. A hotel detective arrests Charley for non-paymnent of rent, but is released when Muriel insists her father pay the debt.

REVIEW INCOMPLETE.

Trivia
Copyrighted September 22, 1932.
The book Smile When The Raindrops Fall by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds, lists Oliver Hardy's voice as being in the film. It certainly is! Hardy's screams from Hog Wild can be heard at 11:26 as Charley jumps into the sea. Then later at 12:49, as the fisherman is pulled into the sea.
This was the first of 8 films starring Chase and Muriel Evans.
Charlie Hall's appearance is 14 seconds and consists of two words, "yes sir!"
Charley Chase is attempting to eat asparagus on the train but every time he puts it up to his mouth, it flops to the side and behaves in a subtle sexual manner. Muriel Evans, who is seated opposite Chase, doesn't help the male viewer's imagination with her open-mouthed reactions to the situation. Very suggestive (and deliberate) indeed.
When the train comes out of the tunnel, Charley finds himself flirting with another passenger (Billy Gilbert). When Charley realises his error, Billy Gilbert's reaction is very unpredicatbly out of character for him! It's one of the most memorable scenes of the film. Muriel tells Charley that she is going into the changing room to put on her bathing suit when he tries to follow her. She stops him and tells him he has to wait outside. You can't really blame him for trying can you? But, he didn't have to wait too long because a year later in the film Fallen Arches, he did finally get to see her in a bathing suit!
It is shocking to see just how unsafe that pier is. No guard rails whatsoever. One slip and it's splash time!

Charley Chase
Charley (a.k.a. Fearless)
Muriel Evans
Miss Evans
Clarence Wilson
J. Cadwell Evans
Heinie Conklin
House detective
Ernie Alexander
Elevator operator
Harry Bernard
Cop
Baldwin Cooke
Dining car steward
Edward Dillon
Evans' lawyer
Billy Gilbert
Effeminate train passenger
June Glory
Herself - Miss Philadelphia
Paulette Goddard
Miss Hollywood
Charlie Hall
Bellhop
Dorothy Layton
Herself - Miss San Francisco
Jerry Mandy
Fisherman
May Wallace
Mrs. Evans
Almeda Fowler
Woman at Evans' house
Hope Harper
Dock onlooker/Hotel extra
UNIDENTIFIED
[?]
UNIDENTIFIED
[?]
UNIDENTIFIED
Boy

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)

LOBBY CARDS
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STILLS
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Acknowledgements:
Smile When The Raindrops Fall by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds (book)
The Charley Chase Talkes 1929-1940 by James L. Neibaur (book)
Movie Publicity Showcase Volume 23: Charley Chase In "Nurse To You" And Other Selected Shorts by Irv Hyatt (book)
Richard Finegan (stills)
Jorge Finkielman (special thanks)
Jesse Brisson (identification of Hope Harper)

This page was last updated on: 21 October 2023