Next up is one of my favorite Chases, "The Caretaker's Daughter" (1925). In fact, I laughed so much that I rewound my DVD and played it again. I laughed so much the second time, that – you guessed it! – I played it yet again. And the following night, I ran it a fourth time! So why isn't everyone as rapt in this movie as I am? Charley pulls such inimitable expressions of frustration and surprise and his timing is so impeccably polished; plus he's given such wonderful support by George Siegmann (any movie with George Siegmann is a must-see movie), Symona Boniface (as Siegmann's wife), Katherine Grant (Charley's wife – now there was a comic talent that Hollywood hardly ever used to advantage), James Parrott (the caretaker – a brilliant comedy writer as all Laurel and Hardy fans will readily testify), William J. Kelly (a charismatic stage actor), and last and also least as far as importance to the plot goes – except of course for a really neat fade-out – James Finlayson. When you compare the Chase two-reelers to other Roach shorts, you can see they were produced on a really top-budget by supremely gifted directors like Leo McCarey. So why doesn't everyone like "The Caretaker's Daughter?" I think a person's reaction has far more to do with how the movie is presented than the movie itself. Is the print attractive to look at, is it projected at the right speed, and above all, is it accompanied by a really accomplished musical score – not just canned music but preferably timed, scored and played specifically for this movie? In this case of the Chase shorts, the DVD manufacturers have really excelled themselves by hiring Don Kinnier, a really on-the-ball musician whose score is not only most foot-tappingly pleasant to listen to, but really augments the mood, the action, the laughs of every minute of this wonderful short of shorts, "The Caretaker's Daughter".
