What's here is funny stuff, but...

Take a Chance (1918)
Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, Harry 'Snub' Pollard, William Blaisdell, Belle Mitchell, and Helen Gilmore
Director: Alfred J. Goulding
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A dapper young man (Lloyd) sets out to woo a pretty cleaning lady (Daniels). Trouble, chaos, and police chases ensue.

 

This is a film that's full of funny bits that are so loosely connected that this film just ends. Literally. Nothing in what little plot we have gets resolved, and if it was a serial I'd be eager to see the next installment, because it ends on quite the cliffhanger. In fact, when the film ended, I thought maybe it was a fragment and that the last few minutes (or maybe an entire second reel) had not survived to the present day... but every description of the film (at IMDB, Wikipedia, and elsewhere) give its run-time as the roughly ten minutes that the version embedded below.

It wasn't a surprising conclusion to reach that I watched a complete version of "Take a Chance", because the version I saw is among one of best preserved and/or restoration jobs of any film from the 1910s I've come across. Nonetheless, it was a disappointing one, because it showed that very little thought was put into what passes for the story here.

Although there are better Harold Lloyd/Bebe Daniels vehicles, this one is still worth watching for a number of reasons. First, Daniels is a joy to watch as always; no one mugged at the camera better than her, nor seemed to be having so much fun or being so annoyed as her. Second, although nearly every one of the loosely connected slapstick and/or comedic chase sequences go on for a little too long, each and every one of them is initially very funny. As a collection of bits, this is an excellent film, but the fact the story presented has a beginning and a middle but no proper end to speak of.

"Take a Chance" is embedded below for your convenience. Take a chance and check it out. See if you agree or disagree with my take... and leave a comment below!

Musical Monday with Tardigrade Inferno

Here's a little hard-rockin' weirdness to get your work-week off to a proper start! Ladies and gentlemen, we invite you to take a ride with Tardigrade Inferno, a Russian avant-garde metal band that we wish we had discovered sooner!

The video for "Arrival of a Train" is a fun mix of visual elements that span most of the main time periods covered by this blog. The song it supports is the title track from the band's new EP, which releases on May 17, 2023. Click here for more information, or to pre-order a copy from the band's official website. (But not until you watch the great video embedded below. Just don't be scared by the bits of color that are featured in it!)

Fanny Friday

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

End of the Road for Elmo?

We checked in on the Moon Girls yesterday, so it seems like a good time to present the conclusion to the Elmo Aardvark adventure that began in this post. He is, after all, their biggest fan! (The art is, once again, by the great Milton Knight. This is reportedly the final story written by Elmo's creator, Will Ryan, before he passed away in 2021.)

 

 You can more artwork and comics by Milton Knight here. (And you should consider becoming one of his patrons via Patreon!)

The ballerinas are gathering...

... for International Dance Day at the end of the month! Soon, they'll be back with us at Shades of Gray.

Some are getting here on their feet.

 
Others are arriving in cabs, but still on their feet!

 
 

More of the Moon Girls

 In the ongoing quest to understand the mysteries of the night sky, the researchers at the Shades of Gray Observatory have recently been focusing their efforts of the Moon Girls. As explained previously, the Man in the Moon is just a fiction, but the Moon Girls are real and they keep the lunar calendar accurate. Here's another picture of a Moon Girl at work that was captured by the powerful telescope at our facility.

Musical Monday with Fu-Schnickens

 
I am not an expert in rap and hip-hop by any stretch of the imagination... but I can recognize talent when I see it and BOY were the Fu-Schnickens talented! Even better -- "Breakdown" has a hook that you will find yourself humming for the next few hours or even days.

I don't grasp the meaning of the video nor the lyrics of the rap (except for the most basic... I understand the words and each sentence, but I am puzzled as to the greater meaning of it all). It's all very fascinating to watch and listen to, and extremely well performed and crafted--and each shot of the video is expertly framed--but all I can ultimately say is, "This is art, and I know what I like. And THIS--I like."

Take a look and a listen. Let me know if you agree! (And if you know what it all means.)

It's a Mohammed Monday!

 
THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

An important reminder from Shades of Gray...

For most filers, U.S. Federal income tax return (and most state income tax return) filings must be submitted by Tuesday, April 18. This is particularly important if you have to pay additional taxes instead of getting a refund. It'd down to the last few hours, folks!

Meanwhile, Fanny feels fortunate that they've not yet figured out how to directly tax her good looks.

It's National Record Store Day 2023

 It's the day we celebrate the time before MP3s, digital streaming music, and even CDs... as well as the retailers who still have those grooved (and often groovy) black disks in cardboard sleeves with great artwork!

We're told that you can put #RecordStoreDay or #RCD into the Interwebs to see if record stores in your area are doing anything special!