Now I'll Tell One
About Now I'll Tell One
In the surviving second reel, Charley Chase tells a policeman, Oliver Hardy, that he is getting ready to shoot his wife. A flashback puts him in divorce court, where his wife, Edna Marion, testifies to cruelty, abuse, and drinking. His lawyer, Stan Laurel, tries to defend him and only makes him look worse. Hardy and Laurel do not appear in the same scenes. The first half of the two-reeler is treated as lost.
Cast & crew
More about Now I'll Tell One
James Parrott directed this Charley Chase short for Hal Roach. H. M. Walker wrote the titles. Pathé Exchange distributed it. Release dates in the filmographies are 5 October 1927, 9 October, and 29 October. Filmed in April 1927: one log says 13–22 April, another 20–25 April. Copyrighted 8 July 1927. Production number B-22. Two reels. The complete short is listed at 20 minutes. Will Walling plays the judge. Wilson Benge, Lincoln Plummer, and May Wallace are also billed.
Themes
Making
The short was a Pathé Chase comedy. Laurel and Hardy were Roach contract players dropped into small parts, which is why the film was missing from most Laurel and Hardy lists until the second reel turned up.
Preservation
The usual account is that the first half is lost. The second reel, found in London in 1990, circulates and runs 9 minutes and 27 seconds. Wikimedia Commons holds an excerpt.
Notes
- Laurel and Hardy both have bits, before they were billed as a team, and they share no scene.
- David Wyatt found the second reel at the National Film Theatre in London in 1990. It was shown at the Stan Laurel centenary in London that year.
- When Chase falls down a cliff he passes a billboard for the Pacific Electric trolley.
- One Laurel and Hardy log says the first reel also survives. The usual account is that the first half is lost.
Scenes
- Chase throws a dollar in the air, shoots it, and catches the change, while Hardy watches.
- He pins a target on his wife and fires from between his legs. In court she says he tried to shoot her in the heart.
- Laurel's defense in front of the judge leaves Chase looking worse.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Now I'll Tell One (1927) excerpt.webm)
Quotes
I'm getting ready to shoot my wife!
Pardon! I thought it was something serious.
