Be Your Age (1926)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Charley Chase plays a timid bank clerk who needs $10,000 right away. His boss gives it to him but then makes him promise to woo an elderly woman (Lillian Leighton) who has just inherited a couple million. Along the way Chase begins to have feelings for the elderly woman's secretary (Gladys Hulette). Chase is one of my favorites but this here is pretty middle ground for the comedian. While there are plenty of laughs to be had, the film has a familiar story, which is just too predictable and we really don't get anything too original. One of the better gags in the film has Chase bringing the woman's son a toy drum but not remembering that the kid is actually a grown adult (played by Oliver Hardy). Another funny sequence deals with Chase trying to get a letter out of a mailbox and another one where he runs into a mirror thinking it's a door. A lot of the humor seems uninspired and only works because the cast is so good. Chase and Hardy have a couple good scenes together and Hulette is very cute as the secretary. Fans of Chase will certainly get a few kicks out of this but if you're new to the man then it might be best to start with a different short.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Charley Chase plays a timid bank clerk who needs $10,000 right away. His boss gives it to him but then makes him promise to woo an elderly woman (Lillian Leighton) who has just inherited a couple million. Along the way Chase begins to have feelings for the elderly woman's secretary (Gladys Hulette). Chase is one of my favorites but this here is pretty middle ground for the comedian. While there are plenty of laughs to be had, the film has a familiar story, which is just too predictable and we really don't get anything too original. One of the better gags in the film has Chase bringing the woman's son a toy drum but not remembering that the kid is actually a grown adult (played by Oliver Hardy). Another funny sequence deals with Chase trying to get a letter out of a mailbox and another one where he runs into a mirror thinking it's a door. A lot of the humor seems uninspired and only works because the cast is so good. Chase and Hardy have a couple good scenes together and Hulette is very cute as the secretary. Fans of Chase will certainly get a few kicks out of this but if you're new to the man then it might be best to start with a different short.