The Real McCoy

Rather weak Chase short with Charley falling for Thelma Todd, then trying to stay alive by acting like a real mountain-man. Best scenes are of Charley singing and playing various instruments, and the square-dance scene.

Real McCoy, The (1930)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A city boy (Charley Chase) tries to win the heart of a country girl (Thelma Todd) by pretending to be a redneck. This early talkie shows once again why Chase is so overlooked as a comedian today. This film has plenty of jokes that fall flat on their face but for the most part they're fun and entertaining. One of the highlights of the film is when the redneck group are doing a square dance and an earlier sequence where Charley must sing a "mountain" song. Another major plus is having Todd on hand as she's certainly charming enough and gets a few good laughs as well.

As of now, none of Chase's Columbia shorts are on DVD but TCM does show them quite often.

Charley is in the hill country of the South. Why, we have no idea. However, when he sees pretty Thelma Todd by the side of the road, he decides to stick around and try to pretend he's one of 'em. The problem, however, is that these mountain folk don't take to outsiders or the law--so he has his hands full trying to fit in with the locals--especially since they have a a bad habit of shooting them! Along the way, there are a few laughs and Charley sings a nice tune--something he did in a few shorts here and there. While not a great voice, it was very pleasant and a nice interlude for those who didn't know he was a man of many talents (he also directed many of Hal Roach Studio's shorts as well). But, combined with all the square dancing, the comedy, at times, ended up taking a back seat. As a result, it's a good film but far from one of Charley's better films.

City boy Charley Chase is smitten with Thelma Todd, who he thinks is a country girl. Edgar Kennedy, in his typical role of the period, Kennedy the Cop, tries to help him out. But what kind of help can anyone get from the bumbling Edgar? This was a Charley Chase vehicle meant to show Charley as a full service entertainer. He had been known as a silent, slapstick comedian, but it was really the way that Chase controlled his body that made him funny. Here, he gets to sing, dance, play musical instruments, deliver snappy dialogue and act as the leading man. He is terrific. Thelma Todd is lovely and charming as his sassy leading lady and Edgar Kennedy is always helpful in these early Hal Roach talkies.

"Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley", a pop song from the 1920s is used as the opening theme music. The rest of the background music is canned Vitaphone scoring. This is the same music Roach used for his late silent with synchronized music and sound effects films. It is bland and unobtrusive. The music which LeRoy Shield wrote in the coming months for subsequent comedies is much richer and memorable.