Thundering Tenors

"Thundering Tenors" is a neat little two-reel comedy that takes Charley Chase out of the husband-and-wife situations he usually worked in (one could say Chase was the grandfather and patron saint of the family sitcom on TV) and casts him in a devastating parody of Rudy Vallée, a radio singer who crashes a fancy party with a megaphone in one hand and a saxophone case in the other (though we never hear him actually sing in the film) and generates the usual havoc associated with a Hal Roach two-reeler. A brilliantly funny wrestling scene between Chase and a lady doctor and the hilarious reactions of the woman hosting the party — who's afraid Chase's antics will get her in wrong with the U.S. Senator who's her principal guest — are the highlights, and the odd little interjections from solo jazz instruments making non-verbal wisecracking comments during the dialogue scenes are a far more creative use of music than was typical for Roach comedies.