Despite having worked with (and in some cases, immortalized) some of comedy’s greatest legends, the work of the iconic Charley Chase mostly went by without proper recognition until the last decade or so. Thankfully, All Day Entertainment has sought to rectify this horrible wrongdoing of ignorance with Becoming Charley Chase, a four-disc set containing over 40 rarely seen shorts from Chase’s early career that feature all-new music scores by Snark Ensemble, Ben Model, the Redwine Jazz Band, and the West End Jazz Band.
Additional content will include audio commentaries on select shorts by noted film historians (who wants to place a bet that Leonard Maltin will be one of them?); a 45-minute retrospective documentary on Chase; a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the new music; an archival interview with Chase’s daughter June; and a collectible booklet – all for under $40.
The set is due out July 28, 2009 (it was originally set to release in January but was postponed) and, as a fan of classic comedy and an even bigger fan of Charley Chase himself, this is some very exciting news!
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