The Booster (1928) Review: Charley Chase is honestly a mess

If you have twenty minutes and want to see a man completely fail at being helpful, you should watch this. It is great for people who like that 'cringe' style of comedy before it was even a thing. If you hate silent movies where people run around in circles for no reason, stay away from this one. 🏃‍♂️

Charley Chase has this very specific energy. He is not like Chaplin or Keaton; he feels more like that annoying neighbor who thinks he is doing you a favor while he accidentally breaks your fence.

In this one, he is a 'booster' which basically means he is a professional hype man. He tries to help out a struggling hotel owner played by Robert Emmett O'Connor, who looks like he wants to explode the entire time.

There is a scene with a trunk that goes on for a bit too long. You can tell they were just trying to fill the runtime because the physical gag doesn't really evolve. It is still kind of charming though.

I noticed a guy in the background of the lobby scene who just stares at the camera for a split second. It's those little mistakes that make these old shorts feel real and not like a museum piece. 🏨

Leo McCarey wrote this, and you can definitely see the DNA of his later stuff here. It is way more grounded than something like Felix in Love which is just pure cartoon logic. This feels like it could actually happen to a very unlucky person.

Charley's facial expressions are the whole movie, honestly. He does this thing with his eyes where he looks genuinely terrified of his own ideas. 😳

The lady in the film, Ruby Blaine, doesn't have much to do besides look confused. That happens a lot in these, like in All Wrong where the plot just kind of moves around the women instead of with them.

One part that actually made me laugh out loud was the bit with the oversized clothes. It is such a cheap gag, but Chase sells it with his body language. He moves like a wet noodle sometimes. 🍝

The ending feels very abrupt. Like, they ran out of film or the sun was going down so they just stopped filming. It doesn't really 'resolve' so much as it just ceases to exist.

I think I liked it more than The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu because it doesn't try to be anything other than a goof. It knows it is a silly short and it stays in its lane.

The print I saw was a bit grainy, but you can still see the sweat on Charley's forehead. He really puts in the physical work even if the story is paper thin.

It’s a solid watch for a Sunday afternoon. Nothing life-changing, but it makes you appreciate how hard it is to be funny without saying a single word. 🎥

Also, the hats. Why were the hats in 1928 so sturdy? Someone gets hit and the hat just stays perfectly in place. It's weirdly distracting once you notice it.