The Heckler

In this short, Charley Chase plays an obnoxious guy who loves to go to sporting events in order to taunt the athletes. He's completely boorish and hateful--and everyone around him in the stands hates him. He elbows people next to him, smokes nasty cigars and behaves like a total jerk. And, it gets progressively worse as the film progresses. He's so obnoxious that he pretty much ruins the Green Sox performance--and gamblers decide to pay him to follow the team and harass them from the stands.

I noticed one reviewer loved this one and thought it was among his best at Columbia. I wouldn't agree--but it's all a matter of personal taste. I assume they liked his boorish hi-jinx. I just thought it was all TOO obnoxious and it comes off as forced. This is NOT the sort of character Chase usually played--as he's usually pretty nice but occasionally clueless. Here, he's pretty much the opposite of his usual nice-guy character.In addition, I WANT to like Charley in the films I watch and here you just want him to be flattened by a bus! An interesting failure, though, as I can respect him and the studio trying something original--something lacking in many of his Columbia flicks. Plus, I did like the ending...it was pretty cute.