Find the King

In this two-reel comedy, Edward Everett Horton is the pampered scion of a family, raised by a couple of prissy aunts. He does card tricks. Through various machinations, he winds up running a saloon out west, where he charms one of the two tough guys in town by taking away his tie and fixing a bow tie to him; the other, Jack Curtis, he bests at poker "for keeps!" and wins the heart of local good girl Violet Bird.

It's one of the shorts that Harold Lloyd produced for Paramount starring Horton in this period. It was a way of keeping his staff busy and paid while he worked on his features. They all had a professional sheen and good gags. This ne is particularly funny, because of the gags about card tricks, and some very good comedy titles.

I recently received a copy of the DVD "Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies" as I helped contribute to the fund supporting the restoration of Horton's short films. I noticed pretty quickly that these shorts were NOT like many comedies of the day. Instead of relying on pratfalls and slapstick, these shorts seem much more character-driven...which makes sense as the films were made by Harold Lloyd's production company. By the 20s, Lloyd's style changed from rough and tumble movies designed just for laughs to films where the character is important....more than cheap laughs. As a result, these films seem more polished and more timeless because they offer a very appealing character....not some guy who just punches and kicks people for no apparent reason (which is classic slapstick).

Horton plays an effete sort of rich man who is anything but macho. However, he is called on business to Nevada and it turns out the town he's headed to is rough and tumble...and Horton seems VERY out of place. Yet, oddly, through the course of the film, he's able to get the best of the tough guy running the town AND win the girl. In so many ways, it does look like a Harold Lloyd film, especially his "Why Worry?" where a similar sort of guy is dropped into a tough environment and manages with pluck, determination and brains is able to come out on top.

Overall, a fun little film which is fortunately in pristine condition as a result of its recent restoration.