Charley Chase Megapack ✦ Trusted Source

In the golden age of silent and early sound comedy, a few names dominate the conversation: Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and later, Laurel & Hardy. But lurking just beneath that A-list is a man who might have been the most consistently hilarious of them all. His name is Charley Chase.

A silent film with a frantic pace. Chase is trying to get to his wedding, but his future mother-in-law’s limousine keeps getting stripped of parts by strangers. The final freeze-frame of Chase screaming silently into the camera is the stuff of comedy legend. Charley Chase MegaPack

For decades, Chase was the "best-kept secret" of classic film buffs. That secret, however, is now gloriously out of the bag, thanks to the essential home video treasure: . In the golden age of silent and early

Chase transitioned to talkies better than most. His voice—a smooth, slightly panicked tenor—became his weapon. In this short, he invents a fake, exotic backstory to impress a girl, only to have her father actually be from that exotic place. The rapid-fire linguistic gymnastics are a joy to hear. A silent film with a frantic pace

If you love perfectly tailored suits, double-takes that defy physics, and plots that spiral from "minor misunderstanding" into "absolute urban warfare," you need this collection. Born Charles Parrott in Baltimore in 1893, Chase was a triple-threat: director, writer, and star. While his contemporaries played tramps (Chaplin), stone-faces (Keaton), or go-getters (Lloyd), Chase played the everyday man —specifically, the everyday man who has just accidentally set his mother-in-law’s hat on fire while trying to impress a girl.

Put on Mighty Like a Moose . And prepare to meet your new favorite comedian.

Often cited as one of the funniest two-reelers ever made. Chase plays a homely man who, after getting a drastic makeover, doesn’t recognize his own wife (who has also had a makeover). They end up trying to have an affair with each other. It is sophisticated, ridiculous, and flawless.