Pay Your Dues

Although there were some 60 odd years difference between when this was made and when it was screened on terrestrial television under the umbrella title of 'Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy', it still was funny to an 80's generation used to talking pictures as opposed to a silent 1920's generation. Hurrah for Harold Lloyd.

After seeing the not-so-appealing Lonesome Luke comedy short on the "American Slapstick" DVD, disc 3, the next Harold Lloyd one had his more familiar "glasses" character though he was just in development when Pay Your Dues was being made. In this one, he gets mixed in some lodge initiation when the previous contestant bails out. Since both are wearing handkerchiefs on their faces, the lodge members don't know which is which. There's also a woman who goes after Lloyd when she notices her "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" player disappears. Lots of funny sight gags abound here (including several that anticipate Lloyd's penchant for doing thrills) and there's a every-thing's-gonna-be-all right feel after the whole thing's over. So on that note, I highly recommend Pay Your Dues.

A hazing initiation for a local group not unlike the shriners only identities get switched at a party as one of the initiates escapes on seeing the rites and bails, Landing unlucky OR lucky as the case may be Lloyd into a situation he did not seek out. This movie has lots of fun and a few surprises, and is easy entertainment.

Nothing shocking as we know today AFTER basic instinct, this is just an old-fashioned tale. These movies provide a safer environment to develop talent and interests without high tech gizmos, yet the fundamental message from then to now is get out and get involved. You never know where life will lead IF you don't get involved, but in todays world of SO MUCH OVERLOAD, the simpler times when peace could last a while is missed.

PS the Fez hats are adorable, after going to Vincennes recently to honor Red Skelton and seeing a clown group who wear Fez's this movie is a hoot.

In the mid to late 1910s, Harold Lloyd made quite a name for himself in films due to his rather one-dimensional and obnoxious 'Lonesome Luke' character. Luke was in many ways a knock-off of Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' and Lloyd was one of scores of actors who rode on Chaplin's coat tails. Fortunately, by the time he made PAY YOUR DUES, Lloyd was so fed up with his Luke character that he finally abandoned him completely for his 'Every Man' character--the familiar bespectacled nice guy who gets himself into trouble. While this character wouldn't evolve into the great character it was in the 1920s (with such perfect films as SAFETY LAST and THE FRESHMAN), it was a vast improvement over Luke. Because in many ways the character looks like the 20s character but wasn't quite what we're familiar with, the Lloyd films of 1918-1920 are more like transitional films--with some old time slapstick but also a more refined and likable lead. Like most of the transitional films (before Lloyd left Hal Roach Studios and branched out on his own), this one also has Snub Pollard, though his supporting role is much smaller than in most other films of this era.

The film begins with two blindfolded guys awaiting initiation in some men's club. The first man is tossed about and hazed pretty badly--so much so that the other guy runs away when he peaks out from behind the blindfold. Unfortunately for nice guy Lloyd, at the exact same time he's playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey with a group of female cuties and the club members think HE is the runaway initiate!! So, they grab Lloyd and put him through the full treatment--with lots of pranks and thrills. While not the deepest film of Lloyd's film, the joke does work well and is a pleasant change of pace and is worth watching--particularly for Lloyd fans (of which I am definitely one).