Conditioning often makes appreciation of silent films difficult. For years, after the calamity of the advent of sound (calamity that is for the reputation and recognition of silent films), audiences, especially in the US, have been conditioned into associating silent film very largely with slapstick comedy (a genre particularly favoured in the US). Consequently there is a tendency to dismiss out of hand any film that doesn't have people falling over and throwing bricks at each other.
But there were some less crude comedy is made and this Charley Chase film is a good example. It is an extremely well-constructed comedy that relies not simply on gags but on the careful build-up of a comic situation. It is greatly helped by fine performances from all, including notably Littlefield who is impeccable as the butler and Buddy the dog (the hide-and-seek game which leads to the dog embarrassing his adopted master is a first-rate idea). An accumulation of misunderstandings gradually become more and more absurd but very neatly, very expertly and very wittily resolved at the end of the film. In brief, it is a well-played farce à la française that will appeal to anyone with a more developed sense of humour and makes a refreshing change from the general run of comedies at this period.
The stile incidentally is taken from the hit play, What Price Glory? by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings which began its long Broadway run in 1924. The Play was filmed by Raoul Walsh in 1926 (and by John Ford in 1962) but there connection between the plot of the play and this film. The dog's name in the film (Rin Chin Chin) is of course based on Rin Tin Tin (the first of that name) who had begun his phenomenal film career in 1922.
But there were some less crude comedy is made and this Charley Chase film is a good example. It is an extremely well-constructed comedy that relies not simply on gags but on the careful build-up of a comic situation. It is greatly helped by fine performances from all, including notably Littlefield who is impeccable as the butler and Buddy the dog (the hide-and-seek game which leads to the dog embarrassing his adopted master is a first-rate idea). An accumulation of misunderstandings gradually become more and more absurd but very neatly, very expertly and very wittily resolved at the end of the film. In brief, it is a well-played farce à la française that will appeal to anyone with a more developed sense of humour and makes a refreshing change from the general run of comedies at this period.
The stile incidentally is taken from the hit play, What Price Glory? by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings which began its long Broadway run in 1924. The Play was filmed by Raoul Walsh in 1926 (and by John Ford in 1962) but there connection between the plot of the play and this film. The dog's name in the film (Rin Chin Chin) is of course based on Rin Tin Tin (the first of that name) who had begun his phenomenal film career in 1922.
