Er im Schlafwagen

Being a three-reeler, this Harold Lloyd vehicle commands more attention than his typical short - though it's not quite as rounded as his feature-length films either!

Train-set for a good part of the duration, it provides plenty of gags characteristic to such a situation: being a stowaway with a small girl in tow, Lloyd has to devise several ways in which to avoid detection; there's a lengthy scene in the berths (at one point, Lloyd causes the train to make an emergency stop in the middle of the country-side simply because his spoilt ward wants a glass of milk!); and the star even contrives to find himself on top of the train as it's speeding towards a tunnel.

As with many of his other shorts I've watched, a good enough comedy but these, somehow, aren't as highly regarded as the equivalent work of a Keaton or even Laurel & Hardy!

Nothing great in this 3-reel comedy from Harold Lloyd. He would use much of this material later in his career and to better effect. The sets are crude and the storyline choppy. Mildred Davis (the girl) disappears for much of the film, and Anna May Bilson (as the little girl--not a boy as stated in the plot summary here) is not very photogenic. Some good comedy bits, but nothing great. And yes, Mildred Davis would become Lloyd's wife soon after this film was completed.

Dolly is a poor little rich girl ignored by her parents and cared for by her nanny Mary. Mary is going home on vacation and takes along Dolly. She expects to reunite with childhood friend (Harold Lloyd). Meanwhile, he's struggling every which way to get to her. The group meets and boards a train but Mary is surprised to find Dolly's father on the train whom she has not informed about taking Dolly.

This is Harold Lloyd before he becomes the famous Harold Lloyd but he's that character already. There's also a tramp who looks like the famous tramp. Lloyd's entry is a lot of action and hilarious stunts. He's going full out on the big action scenes. Once the gang boards the train, they do get stymied by the interior comedy work. I would say that it's a half step below the great tramp. There is a comparison with Chaplin's The Kid. This one lacks the emotional connection compared to The Kid. It limits its full potential until he gets on top of the train for the grande finale. I can do without the black-face but that's comedy of its time. This is Lloyd growing into one of the greats of his era.

While probably a bit more uneven than most of Harold Lloyd's early 1920s comedies, this feature has some very enjoyable moments. Lloyd and Mildred Davis star in a rather complicated story that sees them spend considerable time with a cute young child, giving Lloyd some different material than usual to work with.

The story is the kind of deliberately illogical series of predicaments that provides a showcase for a skilled comic like Lloyd, as his character movies rapidly from one jam to another. Most of it takes place on a train, which provides an enjoyable setting with lots of good props and minor characters.

The parts that work the best turn out to be the scenes with the child. Lloyd's eager beaver style forms a nice contrast with the young girl, combining humor with an occasional warmer moment that works well. The rest of the movie also contains some good gags, but many of the others are only average, at least by Lloyd's standards. Nothing at all is wrong with Lloyd's timing or with the pace; it's just that this time only some of the gag ideas are really creative or funny. It still adds up to an enjoyable comedy that is somewhat above average overall.

In the set-up to this movie, Harold has to take care of Anna Mae Bilson on a train, without a ticket. Once that's established, you can sit back and enjoy this well-paced and funny three-reel comedy.

Once he had begun to make two-reel comedies in 1919, Harold would occasionally make a three-reel one. Whether he was experimenting with a better set-up to the funny sections, or Hal Roach and he agreed the three-reel version played better is not clear. His first feature, A SAILOR-MADE MAN started at three reels and just kept going.

Young Miss Bilson appeared in this movie, and the first-shot short in the Our Gang series, it was called OUR GANG and was released third in sequence. She lived to be 89, dying in 2005.