On the Wrong Trek

Charley Chase, wife Rosina Lawrence, and mother-in-law Bonita Weber take a vacation in California. Well, they intend to, but comedy intervenes.

Chase's last short for Hal Roach is a fine one, with comics from more than 20 years in the movies coming to lend a hand; even Laurel & Hardy show up. Like many of Chase's shorts in his last season, it seems to possess a substantial subtext, as well as a substantial car-wrecking gag; certainly the way it ends, with Clarence Wilson kicking Charley through a door can be seen as a metaphor for the way Hal Roach treated him.

Chase was not through. He would go to Columbia, directing and starring, and was on his way to developing a fine style that combined his dapper, story-oriented comedy with the brutal slapstick producer Jules White championed. But even that would be cut short when he died on June 2, 1940 at the age of 46, having appeared in more than 240 shorts, seventeen movies, and directing more than 170.

This near-forgotten Charley Chase short comedy has probably achieved that status for a good reason – it isn't very good. In fact, the constant bickering between Chase and his on-screen mother-in-law quickly grows very tired and begins to irritate when it's supposed to amuse. Mother has decided they will holiday in California while Charley wanted to go to Michigan. Of course, their holiday is a series of disasters: they're robbed of their clothes and have their classy car stolen by a gang of hobo thieves, they run out of petrol and they inadvertently push another traveller's car over a cliff, etc. It's all pretty predictable stuff, and neither the material nor the leading man are funny enough to pull it off. The film's one strong point at a time when Hollywood was doing all it could to divert people's attention away from the dire state of the country, is its unflinching depiction of the great displaced, littering the side of the road as they try to hitch a lift in their search for work. The hobo camp, in which our weary heroes suddenly find the energy to perform a zippy song-and-dance number tells us we're still in La-La land though. It has to be said, though, that Mrs. Charley surely could nicely fill a pair of jeans; she – and an amusing cameo from Laurel & Hardy – are the only reasons to watch this insipid comedy.

Charley Chase stars and directs this comedy short from Hal Roach Studios. While the director is listed as Charles Parrott, that is Charley's real name and he often directed himself. Also, it's interesting to see that he looks a good bit older in this short--choosing not to dye his graying hair like he did in many other films made around 1936. However, Charley's singing in the film is pretty typical, as he often sang in his sound shorts and had a very pleasant voice.

The film begins with Charley returning to work after a vacation and telling everyone how awful it was. The rest of the movie is a flashback detailing the trip. He wants to go to Michigan, but his bossy mother-in-law insists they go to California--so it's California! On the way, one disaster after another occur and they never even get to their destination.

As far as Chase films go, this one is about average. Like so many of his later domestic comedies, it's a nice leisurely film with a decent number of laughs. I particularly liked the ending--leaving the audience with a good laugh.

PS--Watch the entire movie closely. I'd rather not say any more--you'll understand.

For a '30's comedy this movie surely lacks laughs. The movie features very little comical moments and mostly relies on the comical situations instead. Problem is that the movie doesn't exactly feature many comical situations either.

The story is pretty weirdly connected and it mixes too many elements. The musical number feels out of place and the characters are not used to their full potential, such as Mrs. Chase and Mother-in-law, who should had been given something more interesting- and funny to do in the movie.

The movie is still sort of fun, due to its charming and gentle approach. It provides the movie with some amusing moments that are just not good or funny enough to leave a real lasting impression.

It's a comedy that still amuses, so I just really can't rate it lower than a 6 out of 10 because of that but I also can't exactly rate it any higher either.

6/10

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ON THE WRONG TREK

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white - Short film)

Forced to take part in a Californian driving holiday with his eager-to-please wife (Rosina Lawrence) and domineering mother-in-law (Bonita Weber), Our Hero (Charley Chase) encounters a series of crises which ruin his vacation.

Featuring a brief cameo from Laurel and Hardy (repaying a debt to star Chase, who had appeared in some of their earlier pictures), ON THE WRONG TREK follows its protagonists through Depression-era California, where itinerant workmen are dismissed as 'bums' by law enforcement officers and refused permission to cross state boundaries, and where desperate criminals stage fake traffic accidents to ensnare unwitting victims. Unfortunately, Weber isn't nearly as domineering as she needs to be, which renders Chase's reluctant obedience all the more difficult to comprehend, and most of the comic situations (including an unlikely song and dance number between Chase and Lawrence at a gathering of hobo's!) are only fitfully amusing. Chase co-directed the film with Harold Law.