The Fraidy Cat

A little known fact is that the incomparable Charley Chase introduced the world to the Little Rascals. This is their first short. They play a bunch of annoying kids who torment poor Charley until he gets his nerve and fights back, with hilarious results. One of Chase's best.

It was the Jimmy Jump series of one-reelers that first brought Charley Chase into the limelight as a performer and they remain to my mind, the best stuff he ever did. The short format suited him perfectly; the longer shorts immediately became messier and more randomly slapstick. This particular "Jimmy Jump" is directed by brother James and is not perhaps one of the best; the finest are those written and directed by Leo McCarey. They have a comic invention and a sharp pithy humour that Chase never really reproduced in the rest of his career. He himself seems to have preferred "safe" and undemanding subjects, eventually settling for the charming but unadventurous, slightly geriatric slapstick shorts of the sound era.

This one is really only of particular interest because of the rare outing of the Our Gang kids in force in another Roach comedy. Interestingly the Pathescope 9.5m version was re-titled "Paul Becomes a Caveman", with no attempt to distinguish Charley Parrott from his (at this point still more famous brother) James, who acted under the name Paul Parrott and was already a popular Pathescope star.

This was a very short Charlie Chase comedy starring as the character "Jimmy Jump". Jimmy is a total wimp--so much so that even the neighborhood children pick on this man! Plus, his rival in love makes his life miserable by picking on him as well. Jimmy is so timid though, he never fights back--choosing in one case to sick him mom on the bullies! Later, Jimmy mistakenly thinks he's dying. So, with nothing to lose, he decides to give all the bullies their "comeuppance"--and it's great fun to watch him in action! While this is obviously NOT a deep film, it is short and well-paced and above all, entertaining. At only about 10 minutes, its well worth seeing and proves that Keaton, Lloyd and Chaplin were not the only funny men of the era.

Fraidy Cat, The (1924)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jimmy Jump (Charley Chase) is the biggest coward in town as everyone picks on him. This includes the Our Gang group who shoot water on him and make is life on scare after another. Jimmy then learns he's going to die in a week so he decides to go out like a man. This is without question one of the best of the early Chase movies as he's just so good in the role of the coward that you can't help but love him but also love to see him get tormented. The Our Gang group made their debut here and their childish charm is easy to spot and it's easy to see why they would get their own series. Chase handles the material very easily and makes for a great number of laughs but one of my favorites has to be the scenes in his bedroom where he has a dummy that he picks on to try and build up courage. There's a lot more slapstick here than in your typical Jimmy Jump film but that's okay because Chase does this perfectly well.

James Parrott, Charley Chase's younger brother, directed this short about the cowardly Jimmy. As one of the title cards says "Even the 'gang' has got Jimmy's goat - they've threatened to sic their pet rabbits on him." The gang members are the "Our Gang" kids but not the first of their film appearances, which was in 1922. Everyone bullies Jimmy, especially Lem Tucker who is chasing after Jimmy's true love, the doctor's daughter. When the doctor tells Jimmy that he needs to diet a week, Jimmy hears it as he will die in a week. Determined to 'go out like a man,' Jimmy gets tough with the kids and with Lem. There are a lot of funny bits in this one including one where Jimmy rides a bull to save the doctor's daughter from Lem. A highly entertaining Chase short.