Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Jason goes to Niles for Comedy Shorts Night

Still catching up...this was Comedy Shorts Night a month ago.

SHANGHAIED (1915): Chaplin, in his Essanay days, in a very funny short where the tramp helps to shanghai a crew and then gets shanghaied himself. There he works in the kitchen and has to save himself and his girlfriend who stowed away (Edna Purviance.) Oh yeah, and the owner actually intends to scuttle the ship for the insurance money.

ONE WEEK (1920): A Buster Keaton classic. Here's what I said the last time I saw it:
Buster is given a house as a wedding present--all he has to do is build it himself. Unfortunately, his spurned rival messes with the plans and he ends up with a bizarre monstrosity.
Yup, still hilarious.

Then a brief intermission, and a couple more shorts.

NO FATHER TO GUIDE HIM (1925): Charley Chase (my favorite little-known silent era comedian) in a very funny short. Like much of his movies, it revolves around marital discord, but in this case he gets along fine with his wife and son. He doesn't get along with his mother-in-law, who has barred him from the house. So he has to sneak his son out for a day at the beach, where hilarity ensues (including lost swimsuits, yowza!)

YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN' (1928): Another one I had seen and written about before:
Laurel and Hardy as lousy musicians (they don't play by ear or by reading music, they play by brute force) in an orchestra. They get fired, try to survive as street performers, and get into all sorts of hilarious trouble.
Yup, still hilarious.

Total Running Time: 76 minutes
My Total Minutes: 402,160

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