Back in this posting, I introduced some of you to the joys of a comedian of long ago, a gent named Charley Chase. He was a very funny person and he made very funny short films which are rarely seen these days.
Some of his rarest were the talkies he made for Columbia Pictures from 1937 through 1940. He did a lot of directing for Columbia (mostly of The Three Stooges) but he also starred in some films that languish in the Sony/Columbia vaults. They think there's no market for these pictures and so they plan no DVD, no release of any kind. Chase fan Yair Solan thinks otherwise and has set up this online petition, urging Columbia to release these wonderful comedies. If you have a moment, please go sign it. I don't think petitions to end the war or influence our government do any good whatsoever but we can (perhaps) make a difference over something like this. At least, it won't hurt to have the relevant folks at Sony see that thousands of people out here want to see Charley's Columbia films out on DVD.
To learn more about Charley Chase, go to Yair's site. Do not (I repeat:) do not Google Charley's name as its been seized by a porn actress and you'll only get pictures of her.
In the meantime and fortunately: There's a wonderful 4-disk set out that includes copies of many fine silent Chase comedies. We recommend it and him highly. Here's an Amazon link to order.