"Chasing" opens with a salesman jousting with Therese, the housekeeper, to get inside. The salesman, Coccoz, manages to get in and sell some goods to Sylvestre Bonnard (O.P. Heggie). Bonnard seems anxious to find someone from his past, and goes on a journey to find her. There are some cool special effects, especially for 1935, as Bonnard speaks with a statue, and she seems to come alive. Bonnard meets up with the youngster "Jeanne" (Shirley), who created the statue, and follows her around. a little creepy, but turns out to be harmless. Not really much of a plot, but it does make the time go by. The actors and their own stories are more interesting than what we see on screen, but I guess the film is okay. The house-keeper, played by Helen Westley, really steals the show here.
Just ten years prior to this, Anne Shirley was appearing in films as "Baby Dawn O'Day. although her birth name appears to be Dawn Paris. She would be nominated for an Oscar for "Stella Dallas". Making "Chasing Yesterday", she was still only 17 or 18. and of course she quit the biz in 1944, still in her thirties. Also keep an eye out for Trent Durkin as Henri; Durkin died in 1935, right after making this film, in a car accident with Jackie Coogan. Director George Nichols directed a few more films, then he too died in a car accident in 1939. Heggie died in 1936. Much sadness for the cast of this one. Written by Anatole France, who had numerous stories made into films.
Just ten years prior to this, Anne Shirley was appearing in films as "Baby Dawn O'Day. although her birth name appears to be Dawn Paris. She would be nominated for an Oscar for "Stella Dallas". Making "Chasing Yesterday", she was still only 17 or 18. and of course she quit the biz in 1944, still in her thirties. Also keep an eye out for Trent Durkin as Henri; Durkin died in 1935, right after making this film, in a car accident with Jackie Coogan. Director George Nichols directed a few more films, then he too died in a car accident in 1939. Heggie died in 1936. Much sadness for the cast of this one. Written by Anatole France, who had numerous stories made into films.