This odd comedy short starts with character actor Edwin Maxwell walking out of a mental asylum only to turn around and knock on the gate to tell a guard there's been an escape, "Who?" the guard asks to which Maxwell answers, "Me!
It's odd. I have always loved Charley Chase films yet today Turner Classic Movies has played several that just weren't very good.
This Charley Chase short was a tale of two halves: the romantic and employment setup where Charley winds up meeting his future wife and employer, and the haunted house scene where Charles - with the hilarious aid of an insane man - gets spooked along with the residents.The second part would do Three Stooges justice; one of those crazy scenes where everyone is running around being scared.
Public Ghost #1 (1935) *** (out of 4) Funny film has Charley Chase meeting a woman and telling her that he's currently unemployed so she tells Chase to visit her father who will put him to work. Chase meets who he thinks is the father but it turns out he's just an impersonator and a tad bit crazy.
Charley Chase is firmly ensconced in the second rank of American film comedians. He tended to play a fastidious man who gets increasingly exasperated as everything goes wrong.
