The well-crafted and amusing chase sequences in "Chasing Choo-Choos" are among the better such scenes of their era and genre. The feature was excerpted from the longer movie "Play Safe", and the idea works well. As it remains, there are a few minutes of decent material left at the beginning that set up the main action in a generally efficient manner.
Monty Banks does well in the lead, as a character vaguely similar to those played by some of the more famous screen comics of the 1920s. The story sets up a romance between him and Virginia Lee Corbin, which her guardians are determined to break up. All of the introductory material is really just to set up the lengthy action/comedy sequences, which involve various means of conveyance ranging from horse carts to automobiles to trains - especially trains. As with the best of such sequences, it has portions that combine comedy and suspense.
Overall, it's a movie that works very well as a short feature. There's not actually much to it, so it can hardly rank anywhere near movies such as "The General" that include brilliant chase scenes as part of a movie that is also brilliant overall. But "Chasing Choo-Choos" does provide nearly 20 minutes of decent action and humor, and that is just what it set out to do.
Monty Banks does well in the lead, as a character vaguely similar to those played by some of the more famous screen comics of the 1920s. The story sets up a romance between him and Virginia Lee Corbin, which her guardians are determined to break up. All of the introductory material is really just to set up the lengthy action/comedy sequences, which involve various means of conveyance ranging from horse carts to automobiles to trains - especially trains. As with the best of such sequences, it has portions that combine comedy and suspense.
Overall, it's a movie that works very well as a short feature. There's not actually much to it, so it can hardly rank anywhere near movies such as "The General" that include brilliant chase scenes as part of a movie that is also brilliant overall. But "Chasing Choo-Choos" does provide nearly 20 minutes of decent action and humor, and that is just what it set out to do.