"Thundering Tenors" is a neat little two-reel comedy that takes Charley Chase out of the husband-and-wife situations he usually worked in (one could say Chase was the grandfather and patron saint of the family sitcom on TV) and casts him in a devastating parody of Rudy Vallée, a radio singer who crashes a fancy party with a megaphone in one hand and a saxophone case in the other (though we never hear him actually sing in the film) and generates the usual havoc associated with a Hal Roach two-reeler. A brilliantly funny wrestling scene between Chase and a lady doctor and the hilarious reactions of the woman hosting the party who's afraid Chase's antics will get her in wrong with the U.S. Senator who's her principal guest are the highlights, and the odd little interjections from solo jazz instruments making non-verbal wisecracking comments during the dialogue scenes are a far more creative use of music than was typical for Roach comedies.
Review of Thundering Tenors
