Hot Water (1924 film)

Last updated

Hot Water
Hot Water FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer
Sam Taylor
Written by Thomas J. Gray
Sam Taylor
Tim Whelan
John Grey
Produced by Harold Lloyd
StarringHarold Lloyd
Jobyna Ralston
Cinematography Walter Lundin
Edited by Allen McNeil
Distributed by Pathé Exchange
Release date
  • October 26, 1924 (1924-10-26)
Running time
60 min. [1]
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)
Box office$1,350,000 [2]
Hot Water

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 (Jobyna Ralston) and his in-laws.

Contents

Plot

Lobby card for the film Hot Water lobby card.jpg
Lobby card for the film

The film opens with Lloyd and his best friend sprinting crazily along the street to get to the friend's wedding in time. Lloyd is impatient and resentful of all of that breathless running, he naively views being single as simpler and more desirable --- "I don't see why a man would want to run to his own wedding! You were born a bachelor, why not just let well enough alone?" He then snortingly opines that he himself would never give up his freedom "just for a pair of soft-boiled eyes," but then he accidentally knocks into the alluringly-lovely Jobyna Ralston, and after one look into her huge clear gentle "soft-boiled eyes," he's totally smitten. The remainder of the film greatly changes pace. Episodic in nature (effectively three short films merged into one), the first episode features Hubby (Lloyd) winning a live turkey in a raffle and taking it home on a crowded streetcar, much to the chagrin of the other passengers. The second features Hubby grudgingly taking the family out on his brand new Butterfly Six automobile (with disastrous results), and the third is an escapade with his sleepwalking mother-in-law. The third segment almost qualifies the film as a horror movie, as in it, Hubby mistakenly believes he has actually killed his mother-in-law, and when she starts sleepwalking later, he thinks she's a ghost haunting him.

Cast

Production

The film is a light comedy with minimal character development, and followed Lloyd’s early 1920s pattern of alternating what he called “gag pictures” with “character pictures.” Some distributors had complained about the length of his previous elaborate feature Girl Shy, and Hot Water was the response. Its storyline was also interesting as a unique departure from most of Lloyd’s 1920s features, because his character was married with a family, and was not striving for success, recognition, or romance. It was popular at the box office and grossed $1,350,000, an excellent return for a film of the period. The fictional "Butterfly Six" was in reality a 1923 Chevrolet Superior Sedan.

Renewed interest in Harold Lloyd

In 1962, the "live turkey" and "Butterfly Six automobile" sequences were included in a compilation film produced by Harold Lloyd himself entitled Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and created a renewal of interest in the comedian by introducing him to a whole new generation.

Critic Christopher Workman comments "At a way, way too long 60 minutes, "Hot Water" relies on a seemingly endless succession of pratfalls for its yuks. The only horror-tinged segment is the third.....Still and all, the film was a huge success." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

This is an overview of 1924 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

This is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Arlen</span> American actor (1899–1976)

Richard Arlen was an American actor of film and television.

<i>Humor Risk</i> 1921 film by Richard Smith

Humor Risk, also known as Humorisk, is a lost unreleased 1921 silent comedy short film. It is the first film to star the Marx Brothers, and was the only Marx Brothers movie until the release of their 1929 musical comedy The Cocoanuts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual gag</span> Humor through visualization rather than sound or words

In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretations of the goings-on. Visual gags are used in magic, plays, and acting on television or movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jobyna Ralston</span> American actress (1899–1967)

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.

<i>Girl Shy</i> 1924 American film

Girl Shy is a 1924 romantic comedy silent film starring Harold Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston. The movie was written by Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan and Ted Wilde and was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Taylor. In 2020, the film entered the public domain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clyde Bruckman</span> American film writer and director (1894–1955)

Clyde Adolf Bruckman was an American writer and director of comedy films during the late silent era as well as the early sound era of cinema. Bruckman collaborated with such comedians as Buster Keaton, Monty Banks, W. C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, and Harold Lloyd.

<i>The Freshman</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

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. When the film opened on September 20 at the B.S. Moss Colony Theater on Broadway, Broderick & Felsen's production of Campus Capers was the opening act which was engaged for the full ten weeks of the film's run.

<i>Why Worry?</i> 1923 film

Why Worry? is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor and starring Harold Lloyd.

<i>For Heavens Sake</i> (1926 film) 1926 comedy silent film by Sam Taylor

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.

<i>The Kid Brother</i> 1927 silent comedy film

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.

<i>Haunted Spooks</i> 1920 film by Hal Roach, Alfred J. Goulding

Haunted Spooks is a 1920 American silent Southern Gothic comedy horror film, produced and co-directed by Hal Roach, starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis.

<i>That Little Band of Gold</i> 1915 film by Roscoe Arbuckle

That Little Band of Gold is a 1915 American short comedy film directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and starring Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Ford Sterling.

<i>Special Delivery</i> (1927 film) 1927 film

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.

<i>High and Dizzy</i> 1920 film by Hal Roach

High and Dizzy is a 1920 American short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd.

<i>Now or Never</i> (1921 film) 1921 film

Now or Never is a 1921 American short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd and directed by Hal Roach and Fred C. Newmeyer.

<i>Something Always Happens</i> (1928 film) 1928 film

Something Always Happens is a 1928 American silent comedy horror film, directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Esther Ralston. The plot was the work of director Frank Tuttle, from which the screenplay was written by Florence Ryerson and Raymond Cannon, and the subtitles were provided by Herman J. Mankiewicz. The supporting cast features Neil Hamilton, Sôjin Kamiyama, Charles Sellon, Roscoe Karns, Lawrence Grant, and Mischa Auer. The picture was released on March 24, 1928, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film survives, or who holds the rights.

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.

References

  1. 1 2 Workman, Christopher Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 277. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  2. ↑ Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers," International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938), p. 942 accessed April 19, 2014
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.