This Charley Chase film has one of the strangest and most unbelievable plots I can recall for one of his movies. He apparently suffers from periods where everything seems to stop.
Life Hesitates at 40 (1935) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Charley Chase goes to see a doctor (James Finlayson) because he's suffering from some strange medical condition where everything around him stands still and then he begins to hear made-up conversations with people. This fake conversations lead him to a woman's house where her boyfriend isn't too fond to see him there.
"Life Hesitates at 40" showcases the brilliant comic timing and writing of Charley Chase. The photography and sound are ingeniously integrated into the plot(in an avant-garde manner)way beyond the standard for two-reel comedies of any period.
"Life Hesitates at 40" showcases the sophisticated, dazzling comic writing, timing, and direction that characterized most of Charley Chase's work. The use of sound and stop-motion photography is arresting in its use and far ahead of its time.
