Verrückter Mittwoch

This film drags in some parts, and Lloyd I think puts off some modern viewers. The first time I watched it I thought it was the film equivalent of seeing Ali vs. Andre the Giant. But Sturges' brilliance is in here, and the degree to which it is derived from Lloyd is paid homage to in a wonderful, dark, surreal way. How can you not love a film that starts with the last moments of Lloyd's The Freshman and then shows the hero turned into a mail room stooge who gets buried by the corporate system? The ending is wonderfully hypnotic, happy? Well as is always the case, the poor down trodden guy figures out how to operate the machine just enough to produce his own deus ex machina. Sturges and Lloyd look more brilliant and visionary than ever from the vantage point of post-Enron, MCI, etc.

An interesting if ultimately unsuccessful combination of two clashing comedy styles (overseen by humorless mogul Howard Hughes no less), this film turned out to be Harold Lloyd's swan-song - and, as such, it ended on a somewhat positive note (even though the film was made during Sturges' period of decline).

It opens with a reprise of the climactic football game from one of Lloyd's greatest successes, THE FRESHMAN (1925), eventually bringing that same character (albeit renamed!) up to date. Still, in the end, the film is more Sturges than Lloyd: even if the star plays one of his trademark roles of a patsy (though not without the occasional display of ingenuity), there is little of the star's characteristic slapstick here. Instead, the comedy is in Sturges' typical frantic (and, mainly, dialogue-driven) style - with which Lloyd isn't entirely comfortable; the film also features Sturges' stock company of character players in full swing. That said, it's climaxed by yet another of the star comedian's thrilling set-pieces which finds him overhanging from a building-ledge - hampered this time around by a myopic Jimmy Conlin and an understandably disgruntled circus lion!

While a disappointing whole (it was re-issued in 1950 in a shortened version renamed MAD Wednesday), the film does contain a number of undeniable gems: his romantic attachment to every female member of one particular family (all of whom happen to work for the same firm over a 20-year period); his first encounter with Conlin, with the two of them exchanging wise sayings (the optimistic Lloyd had kept a handful nailed to the wall behind him at his former workplace) in order to explain their current dejected state-of-mind; and, best of all, the unforgettable scene in which Lloyd takes his first alcoholic beverage (an impromptu concoction by bartender Edgar Kennedy and which he names "The Diddlebock") that invariably provokes an unexpected yet hilarious reaction.

In 1947 Preston Sturges and Harold Lloyd worked together and they came up with The Sin of Harold Diddlebock.It's a sequel for Lloyd's silent film classic The Freshman (1925).After this movie Mr.Lloyd retired from the movie business.In his last picture Harold plays a clerk who's fired from his job after twenty years.He ends up to a bar drinking and the man goes crazy.Also a lion in tow gets in a picture and lots of other funny stuff happens on a way.This movie may not be the best of Harold Lloyd, not even close, but it's mighty entertaining.And because of Harold Lloyd this movie works much better than it would have with some average comedian.Lloyd was far from average.He was Lonesome Luke and he was Glasses, which was the character that made him immortal.Lloyd may steal the show in this movie, but there are other great actors there.I could mention Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, Rudy Wallee and Edgar Kennedy.I recommend you to watch this film from 60 years back.For the Harold Lloyd fans it's a must.

A strange film. Written and directed by the brilliant filmmaker Preston Sturges, and starring silent film comedian Harold Lloyd (about 20 years after his prime), this movie tells the story of a college football hero who settles into a rut as he reaches middle age. Suddenly fired from his dead-end job, the milquetoasty Mr. Diddlebock uses his severance money to break out of his rut, embark on a series of adventures over a wild two or three days alongside a chance acquaintance, the aptly named Wormy (played by Sturges regular Jimmy Conlin), and pursue the woman of his dreams.

Even though this film lacks some of the subtlety, sophistication and polish of some of Preston Sturges' earlier work, it nevertheless (in true Sturges fashion) hides away some pretty heady ideas about growing old, taking chances, and living life to the fullest. this film, a minor entry in the Sturges catalog, would have been the crowning achievement in the career of anyone else. Watch this one, if only to find out what Harold really did on Wednesday!

Harold Lloyd was one of Hollywood's greatest physical comedians and actors of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin generation. This film marks his final performance but he could have done so much more in film. Regardless, his contributions should not be overlooked. Harold Lloyd plays Harold Dibbledock, a former football players, who ends up at a dead-end job as a clerk for 22 years. His ungrateful boss sends him packing after he fires him for years of service which was more like a prison sentence than a job. He never relived his glory days on the field. When he encounters an old man who seeks a few dollars to play the horses, he begins a new life after he takes a drink. Until then, Harold has never drank alcohol. He awakens up to learn that he's changed and doesn't have a clue about it. Margaret Hamilton plays Flora in a small performance. Anyway, he learns that he's bought a cab with a driver and a horse and a circus. Anyway, the film's best scenes are stolen by Jackie, the lion. It's a good film!