Speedy (1928)

Director: Ted Wilde

Cast: Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Bert Woodruff, Babe Ruth

Have I Seen it Before: Never.

Did I Like It: Lloyd’s final silent film—and by natural extension, his final film to succeed at the level he previously enjoyed—is a startlingly modern movie, and that’s only partially because it’s copyright was so up-to-date that the film comes complete with a New Line Cinema vanity card*.

It’s not entirely a good thing, though. Lloyd is still able to flail and fling with the best of his contemporaries, but being ahead of its time could bring it into something less desirable. In this instance, lowers the entire film from being in that upper pantheon of silent comedies, and limits it to being something a mark more pedestrian.

It’s obsession with baseball leading up to a supporting role for Babe Ruth and a cameo from Lou Gehrig almost puts the entirety of the film at home with an average sitcom. Average may even be something of a strong word to use there. Filling a current series with celebrity cameos can certainly be a sign that the creative direction has veered off course, but a plot line taking the characters on vacation and being a travelogue for some giant tourist attraction is absolute death. So it is that I’m a little underwhelmed to report that my big takeaway from the film is that Coney Island in the 1920s is a perfectly splendid way to spend a Sunday. You might even get a loyal dog out of the deal.

Looking into the film a bit, apparently a slightly augmented sound version of the film was released less than a year after the initial release, but something tells me that version of the film is less the perfect silent-sound fusion/peak of the silent form that was Modern Times (1936) and more just something to play in the theaters that were upgraded for synchronized sound.

*It did eventually fall into public domain last year, otherwise I can’t imagine I would ever end up seeing it in the theater.

For Heaven's Sake (1926)

Director: Sam Taylor

Cast: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Oscar Smith, Noah Young

Have I Seen It Before: Never.

Did I Like It: There’s a moment in Modern Times (1936) where Chaplin as the Tramp roller skates through a remodeling department store. You’ve probably seen the shot. It looks like he’s about to die a horrible death about a half dozen times. To my mind, it was always one of the more daring slapstick stunts put on film.

And then somebody had to do a Youtube video explaining how he did it. Chaplin was never in danger, and it’s a simple illusion using an optical printer. I wished I hadn’t watched it, but now I have and the illusion is always going to be a little bit less. It’s a big reason I try not to engage in any extended conversation with a magician. It just leads to heartache.

That’s the beauty part about this film, as well. There are a great number of times I’m watching this film and I’m thinking, “Thank God John Landis wasn’t working in the 1920s*. Otherwise, a lot more people would have died.” Also, a perfectly reasonable complimentary reaction would be, “Imagine what Lloyd and Co. could do now/Imagine what Tom Cruise would have done had he been in the 1920s.” People dangle off cars in mid-chase. They jump off of said moving vehicles, only to jump back on them. People don’t fall, no matter how much my previous understanding of gravity makes me want to believe that they will. It’s thrilling, you know? To see people disregard their safety for my entertainment, regardless of the decade. It might be the most pure thrill that the cinema can pull off.

Please, please don’t tell me how they managed to pull it off here. It’ll bum me out.

*Or, for that matter, the 2020s, but that’s probably not pertinent to this discussion and more of a reflection of Blues Brothers 2000 (1998).

Girl Shy (1924)

Director: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor

Cast: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Daniels, Carlton Griffin

Have I Seen it Before: Never.

Did I Like It: It’s been a little while since I last saw a Harold Lloyd film, well over a year if my reviews are any indication, Dr. Jack (1922). In that time I’ve watched more than a few silent comedy films. In all that time, I’ve tried to piece together what separates the big three of the era, Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin. Ultimately I’m increasingly of the opinion that comparisons between those three might not be the most productive way to think about the genre. All three must trade in pantomime in order to get their laughs. All three have moments of sublime perfection in that pursuit, and those moments are the perfect blend of thorough planning in the attempt to depict pure chaos. Each of them do it, and the only valid comparison between the three is a question of how much they engage in this transcendent pursuit, and then you’re basically not engaging with the movie at hand, but instead stating your preference for a performer’s body of work in total.

The better framework for judging silent comedies is on their own merits, and with that in mind Girl Shy runs squarely in the middle of the pack. The longer portion of this film is a slightly repetitive romantic farce, which can be enjoyable enough. However, just as things begin to settle into a pattern one might want to call monotonous, the final chase begins. Harnessing the power of the short, and later inspiring the final sequence of The Graduate (1967), Lloyd is allowed to let loose. As he careens towards the pending nuptials of his leading lady (Ralston), Lloyd surprises and bounces from conveyance to conveyance, reminding the audience why he belongs in the pantheons with the other greats who for a time could blur the line between comedy and ballet.

Dr. Jack (1922)

Director: Fred C. Newmeyer

Cast: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, John T. Prince, Eric Mayne

Have I Seen it Before: Never. Recently I’ve become convinced that I’m not living up to my true potential as a weird film snob, and to make amends for that, I need to go to far more screenings at Circle Cinema here in town, and that includes going to their Second Saturday Silent Screenings. Complete with an accompanying organist, the whole experience felt like I had legitimately travelled through time, except for when my phone would vibrate and remind me that I am in fact, the victim of a cosmic joke and have to live the majority of my life in this sewer of eras, the 21st century.

Did I Like It: I’ve long been of the opinion that adding synchronized sound to movies hasn’t been an unassailably good idea, so naturally I would be in for this. For a number of obvious reasons, I’ve always been more of a Charlie Chaplin fan, but I’m worried now that I’ve been limiting myself too much. Of the holy trinity (Chaplin, Lloyd, and Buster Keaton), I’m thinking that picking one and sticking with him has been a fools errand.

Lloyd might not have the pathos of Chaplin, or the ultimate physical fearlessness of Keaton, but he’s got plenty of both to compete in this pantheon. What’s more, he might be the only of those silent comedy greats who is handsome enough to be a romantic lead under his own power. That helps this film immeasurably, as it works exclusively on Lloyd’s charm and the traditional trapping of a farce. That may seem like damning with faint praise, but there’s no way to look on spending 60 minutes* with these characters as anything other than delight.

Naturally, with a movie that is 100 years old, there are more than a few moments that age less than well (that there are only a few is no small feat) and none more than when the real chase of the plot begins** when a perfectly benign pit bull gets in on the action. I always wince at bad things happening to animals in movies, if for no other reason than I know no Humane organization will be there to tell me it’s all a goof. I was only relieved to learn that the dog gives Lloyd back his just deserts. I’ve never seen a dog pull a carpet out from under a human being before, but I laughed, and I laughed without any guilt.

*Is it possible that I’m so wistful for the silent era because their features weren’t afraid of sticking it closer to an hour, and thus never quite wearing out their welcome? Yes, yes it is.

**I was tempted to write this whole review about how great a character name is for the never-seen lunatic “Humpy” Logan? Move over Fred Krueger. Get over yourself Michael Myers. Jason Voorhees? More like Jason bore-hees. You’ve all got boring names. “Humpy” Logan is here to cure what ails us. I’m needing the nickname to not be about him being a hunchback, but in reality about some other incident we’re never meant to see.