High C's

High C's (1930)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely weak short from Hal Roach has Charley Chase playing Sgt. Chase who really doesn't want to kill the enemies but instead put them in his choir. He's in the middle of WW1 and is on a mission to kill as many German's as possible but he hears that one has a great voice so he plans on kidnapping him for the band. I love Chase but every once in a while you'll come across one of his films that's pretty bad and this is certainly one of his worst. I think there could have been something decent done with the story but I found Chase's character to be very annoying here and the biggest issue I have is that I simply never laughed. The movie has very little going on in it as Chase keeps getting himself into trouble simply because he wants to find a group of men to sing with. A lot of the Chase shorts had him doing some type of singing but this thing here is pretty much all songs as there are at least four different ones sung. It's clear the music is the main focus while the comedy is put on the back burner but it just doesn't work. Thelma Todd appears in a quick scene and is certainly the highlight of the film as her flirtatious handling of Chase was charming.

This three-reel musical comedy short, set in World War I (!!!), begins with credits sung by two young ladies. Basically, the plot involves Charley as a music-loving player and singer who puts his music before the war activities. Charley and the "Ranch Boys" (including Hal Roach music director Marvin Hatley) sing at least four songs, including "My Little Quadroon". During one battle scene, Charley fakes the end of the war so he can get a German with a great voice from across the battle lines and into his quartet. Thelma Todd isn't given much to do as a French girl, and accents don't seem to be Ms. Todd's specialty! The 1931 short ROUGH SEAS seems to be a sequel to this, with more singing and more military antics (and a chimp!), and with Chase and Todd playing the same roles. Charley Chase is always funny, and he has a good voice and seems to be able to play a number of instruments. This kind of thing must have seemed like a pleasant novelty in the early days of sound, but it doesn't date very well today. Also, three reels (28 minutes, according to my count) is a bit too long, especially since the extra time is filled by quartet harmonizing. Hal Roach played around with longer-form shorts, and some of them worked, but this one should have cut a few songs out and had more comedy. Not among Chase's best vehicles!

The main theme of this short is enlisted man Charley trying to form a singing group during WWI. In a super-weird twist, he finds that a German soldier has a lovely voice and would make a great addition to the group, so he connives to try to sneak the guy across no-man's land! There are also many run-ins with the Lieutenant, a romance with lovely Thelma Todd and, when there's time, a war! This is a bizarre WWI comedy--mostly because the film seems to have A LOT shoved into a relatively short running time--romance, lots of singing, battle scenes and lots of silliness. While this does come off as a bit rushed and cramped, it makes up for it with a lot of energy and it's hard not to like it. And, for folks who don't know that Charley Chase had a nice singing voice and used it in some of his shorts, this is one of the better chances to see and hear him in action.

This entry into the Charley Chase filmography has Charley in one of his more "masculine" roles... a WWI US Army Sergeant! The second half of the film even has him without slicked back hair!

Chase looks like he had fun doing this one. In addition to being a rather different character than usual, he gets to do a lot of singing and playing of instruments.

I am not a big Thelma Todd fan, and her role is pretty much to be seen. But if you like to look at her, you'll like her in this one!