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Recommendations
Senior Film Conservator
Looking back at the 1920 milestone that is Teasing the Soil, the cinematic shorthand used by Charley Chase is both ancient and revolutionary. Dive into this collection and find the spiritual successors to Charley Chase's vision.
As Charley Chase's most celebrated work, it defines to articulate the unspoken anxieties of United States's 1920 era.
The Brewsters are at their wits' end to solve the problems of the high cost of living. In an endeavor to reduce their household expenses, they have discharged their cook, but somehow it costs them just as much to live. With eggs at a dollar and ten cents a dozen, butter at ninety cents a pound and milk at twenty cents a quart, the Brewsters find themselves slowly but surely being driven into bankruptcy. Brewster reasons it all out to his own satisfaction. He is paying three prices for his food- to the producer, the wholesaler and to the retail dealer. The obvious way to cut down expenses, according to the Brewster idea, is the farm. Why not be a farmer and live for nothing? It's a great idea, and Brewster proceeds to carry it out in a practical way. He trades his city home for a farm with a cow and chickens on it and begins operations immediately. What Brewster doesn't know about milking cows, raising chickens and doing farm chores, would fill a big volume. Mrs. Brewster's knowledge of farming is on a par with her husband's, so their attempt to make a self-supporting institution out of their farm ends in a fiasco, but a comical one nevertheless.
Based on the unique cult status of Teasing the Soil, our vault has identified these titles as the most compelling follow-up experiences for fans of Comedy cinema:
Dir: Charley Chase
Two hotel bell hops get into all kinds of shenanigans between dames, baths and bags of loot.
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Dir: Richard Smith
Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.
Dir: Lloyd Ingraham
While walking along the street one day, Arthur P. Hampton, an impoverished young doctor, and his chums, Stub Masters and Johnny Stokes, are persuaded to part with their last remaining funds by tag day solicitor Mary Jane Smith, with whom the doctor promptly falls in love. Doc's friends then hit upon a get-rich-quick scheme. Knowing that his Uncle George has promised a large sum of money upon his nephew's marriage, they persuade Doc to send out fake wedding invitations naming Mary Jane as the blushing bride. Uncle George, elated at the good news, writes to Mary Jane's aunt, Angelica Burns, an old sweetheart, to invite Mary Jane and Angelica to be his guests on an ocean voyage. Meanwhile, Mary Jane pays a visit to the doctor's office and, upon seeing the wedding invitations, becomes so flustered that she trips and sprains her ankle. Doc comes to her rescue and then begs her to pose as his wife. She agrees, but at ship-side, Stub and Johnnie confess all to Uncle George, who flies into a rage until Doc announces that he and Mary Jane have chosen a wedding at sea.
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Dir: Eduardo Notari
A crime drama in the Gennariello-series. The police detective in Naples that is confronted with modern gangsters and crime events.
Dir: Charley Chase
Misadventures of a traveling company of actors performing for one night in a small town. When the troupe's leading lady deserts the show for a better paying job as a waitress, a young woman from the town gets the role for one night.
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Dir: Charley Chase
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
Dir: Maurice Campbell
Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.
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Dir: Henry Edwards
A millionaire bets £25,000 that he can earn his own living for six months.
Dir: Charley Chase
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
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Dir: Charley Chase
A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.
View DetailsAnalysis relative to Teasing the Soil
| Film Title | Atmosphere | Complexity | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hop to It, Bellhop | Surreal | Abstract | 86% Match |
| Lunatics in Politics | Ethereal | Dense | 97% Match |
| Mary's Ankle | Surreal | High | 86% Match |
| 'A mala nova | Surreal | Layered | 92% Match |
| One Night Only | Gothic | Abstract | 86% Match |
This guide was algorithmically generated using the cinematic metadata of Charley Chase's archive. Last updated: 6/26/2026.
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