Series: Charley Chase Director: Leo McCarey Producer: Hal Roach Titles: H.M. Walker Photography: Editor: Stars: Charley Chase, Martha Sleeper, Beth Darlington, Olive Borden, Noah Young Company: Pathé Exchange Released: 12 October 1924 Length: 1 reel Production No.: D-71 Filming dates: July 18-23, 1924 Rating: 7/10

Too Many Mammas

Available on DVD:

Jimmy Jump (Charley Chase) is an employee at the Mammoth Construction Company, who are trialling a new invention of a telephone that allows you to see the person who is calling you (I wonder if that will ever be a thing...?) A call comes through in the office and a young naked lady in a bathtub calls the boss to arrange a dinner date at The Humming Bird later on that evening. The already-married boss asks Jimmy to accompany him so he can act as an alibi. When they arrive Jimmy goes in first and sees a young woman being thrown across the floor. He confronts the man who did it but ends up being beaten up by a group of waiters and it is explained that it's all part of a dance routine. The boss and his date come inside and Jimmy is given a change of clothing by the manager and the dancer apologises to him for the hassle. The dancer's husband arrives and she quickly dances with Jimmy to avoid him being suspicious. Afterwards Jimmy returns to his booth where the boss is sitting with his date. When the boss's wife shows up he urges Jimmy to pretend the girl is with him. But when Jimmy's girlfriend arrives it gets more than a little confusing! So now we have the two men with their three women and none of the women are supposed to realise that the the men are up to no good. If things couldn't get any more confusing, the woman who is cheating with the boss has her own husband show up as well. Jimmy gets caught in the middle of it all, and when the dancer vouches for him it ends up upsetting HER husband! Then Jimmy's girlfriend's brother shows up - and things don't end well for Jimmy...

Favourite bit An easy choice: the boss sends Jimmy into the nightclub to check it out to see if it is suitable for them all. Moments later, and after taking a beating Jimmy emerges with his clothing all ripped up and tells the boss that everything is good and to come on inside.

Trivia • Copyrighted October 29, 1924. • The establishment that hosts all the excitement is The Humming Bird Café. The exterior of the building is on the Hal Roach backlot. • One of the intertitle cards says "Our theatre party is ruined..." The word theatre is spelt in the English form not the American. • Although we are to assume that Charley Chase's character is 'Jimmy Jump', this is not actually mentioned at all during the film. My opinion • Enjoyable albeit slightly chaotic, especially with the scene where three women are sitting around a booth with the two men and Olive Borden looking like a spare part. Very basic plot and a film which is over almost as quickly as it began. Martha Sleeper certainly doesn't deserve second billing. Olive Borden sitting naked in a bathtub is certainly an eye-opener!

	Charley Chase Jimmy Jump
	Martha Sleeper The Apache dancer
	Beth Darlington Jimmy's girlfriend
	Olive Borden The boss's girlfriend
	Noah Young The Apache dancer's husband
	John T. Prince Theodore, the boss
	Billy Engle Drunken club patron
	Jack Gavin Nightclub manager
	Earl Mohan Beth's brother

UNIDENTIFIED CAST

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)	INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge)

SHOT ON THE LOT (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Smile When The Raindrops Fall by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds (book) This page was last updated on: 05 June 2021