Why Worry?

In "Why Worry?" Harold Lloyd plays Harold von Pelham, a pampered and spoiled millionaire who has all the time in the world to worry about medical conditions that don't exist, and treat his smitten nurse and trusted valet as mere lackeys. He goes to a South American retreat for some much-needed rest and relaxation, but instead finds himself in the middle of a revolution. Along the way he picks up a devoted friend, a giant man named aptly Colossus, who becomes as loyal as a dog to Harold because he helps to pull an aching tooth. By the film's end, Harold has plumbed reserves of hidden strength, realizes he no longer needs his pills and medications, and discovers his love for his nurse.

The funniest thing about "Why Worry?" is that this little band of lovable characters never has a clue what's actually going on around them. They don't know one side of the warring parties from the other; they just know when they're in trouble, and they go from scene to scene doing whatever is necessary to get themselves out of scrapes without realizing how they're affecting the bigger picture. This film is wonderfully written and performed, with hilarious bits. Watching Harold's transition from pampered wimp to scrappy freedom fighter is delightful, and he has wonderful chemistry with Jobyna Ralston, who plays his nurse, and John Aasen, the impossibly enormous actor who plays Colossus.

This film is a treat.

Grade: A

The most lively of Harold Lloyd's classic comedies is arguably his most accessible when seen today, and can now be enjoyed without the indiscriminate editing and idiot soundtrack added by Time-Life Films in the early 1960s. Of all his silent features it's the least rooted in the ideals of its age, employing an element of fantasy quite out of character from his usually plausible boy-next-door scenarios. Adopting one of his popular idle, young millionaire roles, Lloyd stars as a wealthy hypochondriac on vacation in South America, thwarting a military coup with the help of his loyal nurse and a gentle (but formidable) giant. It's a measure of Lloyd's appeal that he could be so inventive without seeming at all out of the ordinary in the manner of Keaton or Chaplin. His innocence and vigor allowed him to milk an amazing amount of humor from any one gag (curing the giant's toothache, for example), building each laugh with an escalating but practical absurdity rarely possible outside of silent film comedy.

I had watched this in Hollywood as well but, given its late-night broadcast (being the last of 7 Lloyd films shown in a row), I was quite tired when its turn came and therefore not in the best position to appreciate it!

Lloyd is a spoilt millionaire and a hypochondriac to boot - not his typical struggling character therefore, but just as resourceful in dealing with situations beyond his control; he goes to a supposedly peaceful South American republic for health reasons and finds it torn by revolution! This film, then, would seem to be the precursor of all the south-of-the-border comedies which came much later - for instance Woody Allen's BANANAS (1971).

Still, while the comic action scenes at the climax certainly deliver the goods - Lloyd is assisted by a giant he met while in prison (and whom he had rid of a crippling toothache) - I think that the film is at its best during the earlier stages (especially the hilarious scene in which, taking a stroll around the village streets, he admires the leisurely lifestyle of the simple-folk there - with everyone he meets apparently sound asleep, unaware that their predicament is actually the result of a fresh beating by the oppressive militia!). Incidentally, this was Jobyna Ralston's first film with Lloyd (playing his loving nurse who, at one point, is disguised as a Mexican serving-boy in order to escape the lecherous attentions of the chief villain!).

Take a hypochondriac & place him in the middle of a Latin American country with a revolution going on & what do you get? In this movie, you get great comedy. There are some sequences in this film that almost reach the classics of Safety Last or Girl Shy for Lloyd. Granted, there are a few spots early which are slow, but the uniqueness of how Lloyd plays off in the revolution & with the Giant are so classic that you almost forget the slow start the film has.

Actually, considering the film Lloyd did after this was Girl Shy, the split with Roach really did not slow him down, he sped up even faster. Still, this was the finish for the producer who discovered Harold & had taken him this far. It is so sad that thanks to the split, Harold owned all his films & a wholegeneration of American movie goers forgot he existed. I am so glad in recent years that we have been allowed to rediscover this talent. When you watch his films, you realize how much others who came much later actually were copying pieces of Harolds work in their own films. Remember The Bank Dick chase sequence? Harold did it first in Girl Shy. Remember the race to the church at the end of The Graduate? Lloyd did it first in Girl Shy & then consulted with Mike Nichols to do it again in the successful 1960's film. Forgotten genius describes Lloyd aptly & even though this is a notch below Safety Last & Girl Shy, it is well worth viewing.

For Lloyd's long-standing female sidekick Mildred Davis, "Safety Last" was the final of 15 films with the comedian. The two married on February 10, 1923, both making the decision for her to step aside to raise their future two children. Actress Jobyna Ralston, plucked from the stage by actor Max Linder and appeared in a number of his movies, took Davis' place in September 1923's "Why Worry?," as his nurse. The two, alongside a valet, journey to an island off Chile so Lloyd, playing a hypochondriac rich businessman, can rest in its tropical climate. Trouble is they stumble upon a revolution which embroils them in some incredible hijinks.

"Why Worry?" also was the final film of Lloyd's association with producer Hal Roach, dating back to 1913. The comedian became his own independent producer, forming the Harold Lloyd Film Corporation. Before the two split, to make their last picture together they had to find a last-minute replacement for Lloyd's cellmate named Colosso, a gigantic wild hermit with an aching toothache. Their original choice, Ringling Brothers Circus' Cardiff Giant (real name George Auger), died a day before leaving his Florida home for California. When Roach's publicity department made a nationwide call for a large man, a newspaper article was discovered detailing a man from Minnesota who possessed a gargantuan shoe size. John Aasen was awarded the part, which called for him lugging around and firing a canon on his back at the rebels.

"Why Worry?" was a tough act to follow after the critically-acclaimed "Safety Last." But the film was greeted by capacity theater crowds, ensuring Lloyd's transition to independent productions would be highly successful.