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.