Series: Charley Chase Director: Charles Parrott, Eddie Dunn Producer: Hal Roach Dialogue: Photography: Kenneth Peach Editor: William H. Terhune Sound: Harry Baker Stars: Charley Chase, Betty Mack, Oscar Apfel, Carlton Griffin, Eddie Baker Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Released: 07 July 1934 Length: 2 reels Production No.: C-24 Filming dates: Rating: 7/10

It Happened One Day

Available on DVD:

Betty (MACK) drops off her father Mr. Void (OSCAR APFEL) at the building where he works (the aptly named VOID BUILDING). As he walks towards the entrance he stumbles over Charley (CHASE) who is tieing his shoes on the sidewalk. After giving Charley a lecture about tieing his shoes at home, the two men then try to squeeze through the revolving door to the building. Once again Mr. Void falls over Charley and gives him a mouthful. (He definitely needs some anger management, I think!) In a scene reminiscent of Chase's earlier film, Snappy Sneezer, Mr. Void destroys what he thinks is Charley's hat - only to then discover it is in fact his own. Later, Mr. Void trips over Charley again in a passageway and again Void blames Charley and this time rips up Charley's hat for real. Charley is introduced by a colleague into the office where he is starting his first day on the job. He makes an impression with the fellow clerks with a speech which prompts one of the men (CARLTON GRIFFIN) to start sarcastically speculating that Charley will soon be running the company and will marry the boss's daughter. The boss overhears the gossip and decides that he needs to get Charley out of the office. Mr. Void tells Charley - in front of the other workers that he has been promoted to branch manager at their Long Beach offices (which is actually a demotion), much to the shocked reactions from the other clerks. Charley heads for Long Beach as Mr. Void returns home to speak to his daughter Betty. But when his wife informs him that Betty is also in Long Beach he marches down to the telegram office to write a telegram to Charley telling him to return immediately. Charley arrives in Long Beach (actually Santa Fe railway depot) where he receives his telegram. Betty (whom he does not know) pulls up in a taxi and asks Charley to mail a package for her. When he reads the address of Springfield, Illinois, he recalls some sad memories he associates with it and breaks out into song (which features some clever timing on the car horn inbetween verses).

Charley escorts Betty to her train and then reads his telegram, informing him to return home immediately. He quickly jumps onto the back of the train which has just departed the station and finds Betty in the carriage. Charley explains the situation to her about his boss, a Mr. Void - not knowing he is her father and tells her he is on his way back home. After a bout of sneezing Charley seeks out the porter in order to get a new suit and stumbles upon a newlywed couple in their room. The groom (EDDIE BAKER) offers to loan Charley his spare suit which he has brought with him. When he sits back down next to Betty it is presumed by others they are a recently-married couple expecting a baby and are given gifts by the porter as well as three salesmen on board the train. The train pulls in and Betty's father is there to greet her. When he sees his daughter with Charley he assumes they have married and therefore gives his blessing, as well as a hefty check to Charley. When they all arrive back at the office Mr. Void introduces Charley as a new member of the family. The co-workers congratulate Charley, who drops his check for all to see. But as he bends down to pick it up, the boss comes back into the office and trips over him.... again. Charley's hat is destroyed (again) but he tightly holds on to the check! Afterwards Charley gets his hand stuck in the mail box when he posts Betty's parcel and has to try and pry himself out. Charley drops his cigar into a litter bin and starts a fire. A truck load of incompenent firemen arrive to put out the small fire, which they do eventually but not before drenching Charley, who escapes the mail box by hitting it with a piece of metal.

Favourite bit One minute the newlyweds are all over each other and the next minute they are threatening to fight each other. All over the silliest of misunderstandings. Not usual to see Eddie Baker smiling so that was a nice bonus!

Trivia • Copyrighted May 8, 1934. • The title of the film is an obvious reference to the Frank Capra movie "It Happened One Night", which was released five months before this. • Film Classics re-issued the film with the incorrect title of It Happen One Day. • In the opening scene where Oscar Apfel trips over Charley Chase, who is tieing his shoes he blames Charley. Charley is completely innocent, and Apfel is not watching where he is going because he is reading a newspaper. It's the 2021 equivalent of people being on their mobile bloody phones all the time and completely oblivious to their surroundings. • The passengers seen getting off the train at Long Beach just as Charley boards are the SAME passengers getting off the same train when Charley returns to Long Beach. As I noted some of these identified actors in the list below, I particularly noticed the elderly gentleman with the white beard getting off the train twice! • The "Long Beach" depot is the old Santa Fe Station in Los Angeles. • Toward the end of the film a conductor calls out a list of mostly non-existent "Los" names and ends with "and points east!" Long Beach is south of LA, not east of it (you can't get much farther west than LA so almost anything would have to be "east" of it). • In the office, when Charley gives his little speech about possibly marrying the boss's daughter, he's standing in front of a large photo of the SS City of Los Angeles, of the Los Angeles Steamship Co. (known as LASSCO for short). She was taken out of service in 1933 but was still around. Stan Laurel traveled to Hawaii on board this ship in April 1931. • Contrary to what IMDb says, Harry Bowen is NOT the "perambulator salesman", but the Handy Dandy Diaper salesman. • The opening bit with Chase repeatedly annoying Oscar Apfel reworks material from SNAPPY SNEEZER. Apfel does his usual good job of playing a curmudgeon (he was somewhat typecast in these roles throughout the 1930s). I think he might be wearing a hairpiece in this film. His character's first name is "Alexander." • Great double take from Chase around 4 minute mark when he realises that his boss is looking at him! • When Oscar Apfel finds out he can send 5 more words on the telegram, he seems to anticipate adding "you can go to hell" (pre-Code humor might have allowed this to be more obvious). The name of his company is Null and Void, i.e. zero and empty; there's a "null and void" reference in L&H's OUR WIFE. • The actor playing the telegram officer looks very much like Charles Dorety, but it's hard to see his face to be sure. • The firemen who appear to put out the trash can fire have to be the most inept ever seen, a fire dept. version of the Keystone Kops. They manage to get more water on Charley (and several people on the sidewalk behind him) than on the fire itself. (The fire truck and people watching are at what I like to call "Garvin Corner" on the Back Lot, the place where Anita Garvin sits on a pie in THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY). • Charley's telegram is dated April 30, 1934, and since inserts like that were usually done last in the shooting schedule, the film probably wrapped around that time (April 30th fell on a Monday in 1934). The date line reads "VGAGAHL 6 STRAIT WIRE 1012 AM APRIL 30 1934" "Strait wire" only means it was sent prepaid at usual rates. The text reads "MR CHARLES CHASE / LONG BEACH CALIFORNIA / DISREGARD INSTRUCTIONS RETURN AT ONCE / A L VOID" The train car looks like the same set used in BERTH MARKS and the Our Gang CHOO CHOO. (Note position of door on the compartment at the end; it's the same as the one Stan blunders into in BERTH MARKS). • That might be Ray Turner as the porter who brings flowers to Betty Mack. • The check Charley gets is also dated April 30, 1934. Charley's thumb is hiding the name of the bank, probably intentionally, so all the viewer can see is "Bank & Trust Co. Los Angeles Cal." $5000.00 was a LOT of money in 1934, when the average US income was about half that, and would equate to about 75,000 in 2021 dollars. • When Charley gets on the train he gets on at the rear of the last carriage, yet when he walks into the carriage to find Betty he approaches her from the opposite end. You can tell this because she is facing the rear of the train from her seat (look at the direction the train is moving by looking as the scenery passes the window). So this is a continuity error. I wonder how many others picked up on this point?

	Charley Chase Charley Chase
	Betty Mack Betty Void
	Oscar Apfel Alexander L. Void
	May Wallace Mrs. Void
	Carlton Griffin Office clerk
	Eddie Baker Bridegroom on train
	Marion Byron Bride on train
	Baldwin Cooke Baldy, office clerk
	Charlie Hall Charlie, office clerk
	Ernie Alexander Office clerk
	Carl M. Leviness Office clerk
	Art Rowlands Office clerk
	James C. Morton Train passenger with toupee
	Harry Bowen Handy Dandy Diaper salesman
	Stanley Price Salesman on train
	Harry Bernard Salesman on train
	Harry Dunkinson Train conductor
	Robert Callahan Telegram messenger
	Ray Turner Train porter
	Charles Dorety Telegram officer
	Russell Custer Cab driver/Bystander/Fireman
	Jack Raymond Train passenger
	Betty Danko Pedestrian
	Hope Harper Passenger disembarking train
	Cy Slocum Stunt double for Oscar Apfel
	Ham Kinsey Stunt double for Charley
	UNIDENTIFIED Office clerk
	UNIDENTIFIED Train porter at Long Beach
	UNIDENTIFIED Passenger #1 disembarking train
	UNIDENTIFIED Passenger #2 disembarking train
	UNIDENTIFIED Passenger #3 disembarking train
	UNIDENTIFIED Passenger #4 disembarking train
	UNIDENTIFIED Passenger #5 disembarking train
	UNIDENTIFIED Passenger #6 disembarking train
	UNIDENTIFIED Train passenger
	UNIDENTIFIED Office worker #1 [*I think this actor's name is BILL something]
	UNIDENTIFIED Office worker #2

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)

LOBBY CARDS (click any image to enlarge)

STILLS (click any image to enlarge)

ALTERNATE RE-ISSUE TITLE CARDS (BLACKHAWK & FILM CLASSICS) (click any image to enlarge)

SHOT ON THE BACK LOT (click any image to enlarge)

SHOT ON LOCATION (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Smile When The Raindrops Fall by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds (book) Robert Winslow (extensive trivia notes, identification of Ray Turner) Jesse Brisson (identification of Art Rowlands, Russell Custer, Bobby Callahan, Cy Slocum, Ham Kinsey, Betty Danko, Jack Raymond, Hope Harper) This page was last updated on: 21 July 2023