CaveGirl Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I have to say I get a kick out of the really off the wall shorts that TCM shows occasionally. The other day or nite, can't remember...I was rivetted to my seat by some weird vaudeville short starring Art Trahan AND...Chas. Chase. Now I had to write their names down, having never heard of them. Trahan did some wacky piano bit with a female singer and this Chas. Chase did a routine wherein he ate everything put in front of him, matches, lit cigarettes, paper...what not! They just don't make them like this anymore... Oddly I just found this write-up below about him on the Net, but no luck yet on Trahan. Any shorts you have seen that really make you crack up? Stars of Vaudeville #304: Chaz Chase Chaz Chase (born in 1901) was a funny looking little man in over-sized clothes who ? like a vacuum cleaner ? gobbled up whatever was placed in front of his mouth, such as lit matches and the flower from his lapel. Seems like the stuff of sideshows, but somehow Chase actually made it work in the big time. Starting in the nineteen-teens, he started working in vaudeville and burlesque. By the early 30s he was performing in Vitaphone shorts and Broadway revues like Ballyhoo of 1930 with W.C. Fields, and High Kickers (1941), a Kalmar and Ruby show featuring Sophie Tucker and Georgie Jessel. When vaudeville dried up, his meat and potatoes became nightclubs in Paris and New York and television variety shows. He worked right up until he died in 1983, performing in Sugar Babies with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, and doing spots on the David Letterman show that year. Edited by: CaveGirl on Nov 1, 2013 3:46 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I can't say I have a favorite, as I like most of the ones I catch. Interesting looks into the history of popular culture of their times, and of days gone by. I remember one of the "travelogue" shorts showing a resort "at the foot of picturesque Mount St. Helens" and wondering if anything of that resort remains. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Sepia, I LOVE that travelogue guy's voice! Shoot, what is his name? Uh, can't remember. I really enjoy those too; thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 For me, it is STAR IN THE NIGHT, a Christmas short. Great story, script, and acting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 James A. Fitzpatrick, the "Voice of the World" (or is it "Voice of the Globe"?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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