Harold Meadows is a tailor's apprentice for his uncle in Little Bend, California. He is so shy around women that he can barely speak to them (to stop his stuttering, his uncle has to blow a whistle). Despite this, Harold writes a "how to" book for young men entitled The Secret of Making Love, detailing how to woo different types of young women, such as "the vampire" and "the flapper" (in scenes that parodied two other popular films of the time, Trifling Women and Flaming Youth[citation needed]), and takes a train to see a publisher in Los Angeles.
Harold Lloyd as Harold Meadows
Rich young Mary Buckingham boards the same train after her automobile breaks down. No dogs are allowed aboard, so she hides her Pomeranian under her shawl, but her pet jumps off as the train pulls away. Harold rescues her dog and helps Mary hide it from the conductor. She sees his manuscript, so he starts telling her about his book, overcoming his stuttering in his enthusiasm. They become absorbed in each other. Upon returning home, Mary rejects the latest in a string of marriage proposals from Ronald DeVore, suspecting he is after her large inheritance.
After her car is repaired, Mary intentionally detours through Little Bend repeatedly, hoping to see Harold again. On one such trip, Ronald is also along for the ride, and his unwanted attentions cause Mary get her car stuck near the outskirts of Little Bend. While Ronald walks back to town for a tow, Mary happens to meet Harold. After telling Mary about the remainder of his book, Harold informs her that he is going to see the publisher, Roger Thornby, in a few days to deliver a new chapter that will be about her. They agree to meet again afterward. In Little Bend, Ronald runs into a middle-aged woman who asks if he is finally going to introduce her to his family, but he stalls her, then rides away in the tow-vehicle.
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Mr. Thornby's professional readers find Harold's book hilariously absurd, so he rejects it. Without any royalty money, Harold figures he cannot ask Mary to marry him. So, ashamed to admit the truth to Mary, he pretends that he was only using her as part of his research. Heartbroken, Mary impulsively agrees to marry Ronald. Afterward, though, one of Mr. Thornby's senior employees convinces him that, if the staff liked the book so much, there must be a market for it, so Thornby decides to publish it as "The Boob's Diary," a humorous spoof on the many romantic-advice manuals prevalent at the time.
A few days later, a depressed Harold gets a letter from the publisher, but just rips it up without opening it. Fortunately, his uncle notices that one of the scraps is part of an advance royalty check for $3,000; the accompanying letter states that the book will be published as a comedy. At first, Harold is outraged, but then realizes that he can propose to Mary after all. However, when he sees a newspaper headline announcing Mary and Ronald's wedding that same day at her family's estate, he gives up. By chance, the woman whom Ronald had met a few days earlier walks in and, seeing the newspaper story, tearfully exclaims that she is Ronald's wife. As proof, she shows Harold a locket with the couple's wedding portrait and the engraved words "to my wife" that Ronald had given her two years earlier.
Harold takes the locket and embarks on a frenzied dash, involving bootleggers, car chases and multiple changes of vehicle through the countryside and along the crowded streets of Culver City and Los Angeles. Harold bursts in on the wedding ceremony just as Ronald is about to put the wedding ring on Mary's finger, but Harold cannot stop stuttering long enough to expose Ronald's intended bigamy. So he simply carries Mary off. When they are alone, he tells her about Ronald's secret and shows her the locket. Mary gets Harold to propose to her (with an assist from a passing mail carrier's whistle, which Mary blows to stop Harold's stuttering), and she accepts.
This was Lloyd's first independent production after his split with Hal Roach. It is what Lloyd called a "character story" (as opposed to a "gag film"), and is notable for containing fewer of the stunts which characterize Lloyd's other films throughout most of its length, and instead focusing more on the relationship between Lloyd and Ralston. However, the lengthy finale of the film is one of the most exhilarating, non-stop action sequences of Lloyd's career.[citation needed]
It was also the second of six consecutive movies pairing Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston, who left Hal Roach Studios as well to continue working with Lloyd. Unlike the normal style for filmed romances prior to Girl Shy, both Ralston and Lloyd were featured in comedic scenes.
Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent romantic-comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It includes one of the most famous images from the silent-film era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic. The film was highly successful and critically hailed, and it cemented Lloyd's status as a major figure in early motion pictures. It is still popular at revivals, and it is viewed today as one of the great film comedies.
Richard Daniels Jr. known professionally as Mickey Daniels, was an American actor. Signed by Hal Roach in 1921, he was, along with Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon, Jackie Davis, Mary Kornman, and Ernie Morrison, a regular in the popular Our Gang comedies during the silent era of the series, between 1922 and 1926.
Richard Arlen was an American actor of film and television.
Jobyna Ralston was an American stage and film actress. She had a featured role in Wings in 1927, and is remembered for her on-screen chemistry with Harold Lloyd, with whom she appeared in seven films.
Mary Brian was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films.
The Freshman is a 1925 American silent comedy film that tells the story of a college freshman trying to become popular by joining the school football team. It stars Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict, and James Anderson. It remains one of Lloyd's most successful and enduring films.
Why Worry? is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor and starring Harold Lloyd.
For Heaven's Sake is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Sam Taylor and starring Harold Lloyd. It was one of Lloyd's most successful films and the 12th-highest-grossing film of the silent era, earning $2,600,000.
The Kid Brother is a 1927 American silent comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It was successful and popular upon release and today is considered by critics and fans to be one of Lloyd's best films, integrating elements of comedy, romance, drama, and character development. Its storyline is an homage to a 1921 film called Tol'able David, although it is essentially a re-make of a little-known 1924 Hal Roach feature, The White Sheep, starring Glenn Tryon.
Dogs of War! is a 1923 silent short subject, the fourteenth entry in Hal Roach's Our Gang series. Directed by Robert F. McGowan, the two-reel short was released to theaters in July 1923 by Pathé Exchange. The short was filmed alongside Why Worry?, a feature comedy produced by Roach and starring Harold Lloyd, who makes a cameo appearance in Dogs of War as himself.
Hot Water is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor and starring Harold Lloyd. It features three episodes in the life of Hubby (Lloyd) as he struggles with domestic life with Wifey and his in-laws.
Haunted Spooks is a 1920 American silent Southern Gothic comedy film produced and co-directed by Hal Roach, starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis.
Get Out and Get Under is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Hal Roach and starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis.
Special Delivery is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Roscoe Arbuckle starring Eddie Cantor, Jobyna Ralston and William Powell. It was written by Cantor, John F. Goodrich, and George Marion Jr.. It was released by Paramount Pictures. The film's copyright was renewed in 1954, so it entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2023.
Wine of Youth is a 1924 American silent comedy drama film directed by King Vidor, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, shortly after the merger which created MGM in April 1924. Vidor did not consider it important enough to mention in his autobiography, although it did advance the careers of three young stars-to-be: Ben Lyon, Eleanor Boardman, and William Haines.
From Hand to Mouth is a 1919 American short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd. This was the first film Lloyd made with frequent co-star Mildred Davis. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the British Film Institute.
Among Those Present is a 1921 American "three-reeler" silent comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis and Mary Pickford.
Jobyna Howland was an American stage and screen actress.
Little Mickey Grogan is a 1927 American comedy-drama film directed by James Leo Meehan and written by Dwight Cummins, Dorothy Yost and Charles Kerr. The film stars Frankie Darro, Lassie Lou Ahern, Jobyna Ralston, Carroll Nye, Eugene Jackson, William Scott and Vadim Uraneff. The film was released on December 27, 1927, by Film Booking Offices of America.
Some Mother's Boy is a 1929 American silent drama film directed by Duke Worne and starring Mary Carr, Jason Robards Sr. and Jobyna Ralston.
References
↑ Vance, Jeffrey; Lloyd, Suzanne (2002). Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian. New York: Harry N Abrams. p.115. ISBN0-8109-1674-6.
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