Runtime: 89 minutes
Directed by: Leo McCarey… and some others
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Adolphe Menjou, Verree Teasdale, Helen Mack, William Gargan
From: Paramount
After a pair of heavy documentaries, something much lighter in tone was needed. Visiting the Criterion Channel to see a Harold Lloyd sound picture; yes, he made some of those even if of course his silents are much more renowned. The idea of milkman milquetoast Lloyd-sporting the amazing name “Burleigh Sullivan”-being a victim of circumstance and fighting for the middleweight boxing title intrigued me, along with the idea of the main co-star being Adolphe Menjou and Leo McCarey as the main director.
Middleweight champ Speed McFarland is knocked out on the street in a clusterfrick of a situation; Sullivan is accused of doing so… incorrectly. Speed’s sleazy promoter Menjou takes advantage and to earn funds for Lloyd’s sick horse, Burleigh “becomes” a boxer. Unbeknownst to him, this is just like boxing in real life—meaning that his opponents are taking dives to lose, only Sullivan is unaware of this. There’s also romance for our lead-his sister also finds a love interest of her own-and no shortage of absurd situations. You see, this is actually a screwball comedy.
Naturally there are physical humor
moments with Lloyd. However, note that it is far less focused on that
than in his silent days so it’s not as frequent or as bold as what we
saw in Safety Last or The Freshman.
That said, he is also able to
keep up with the snappy patter you hear throughout; in fact, he was fine
at delivering dialogue so it’s a shame that his movie career stalled
and then faded away because-as far as I understand it-audiences lost
interest in the sort of character he always played.
Menjou was a bundle of nerves as McFarland’s promoter and the viewer is blessed w/ three entertaining dames-Verree Teasdale, Helen Mack & Dorothy Wilson. The trio of whip-smart ladies deliver rapid-fire lines and don’t tolerate any man acting a fool.
It was quite the amusing 88 minutes; thank goodness the movie is incredibly easy to track down for those interested—everywhere from YouTube to the hopefully not going to shut down anytime soon archive.org.
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