That's Him!...

I adored this short film. It took me into a world I believed in, entertaining me, moving me, fascinating, feeding the hunger of amusement that I was craving for in a two-reeler. Harold Lloyd is an intimate character and deeply committed to his art.

Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels are catching the train, but he hasn't got the tickets. While she sits, he dashes off, and is forced by robber Snub Pollard to change clothes with him. Now everyone who sees Harold mistakes him for the guy who's just robbed them, and the chase is on.

It's still early days for Harold in his new, Glasses character, and while the normality lit by zaniness is there, for some reason the physical gags, the prat falls and twists that had been the working operations since he had begun to work with Hal Roach on Lonesome Luke, seems a bit labored. I suspect the print I saw was run a trifle slow, revealing the gaps and preparation that higher cranking rates would make seem off handed and spontaneous.

"That's Him" is a Harold Lloyd film starring Lloyd and his familiar supporting characters, Bebe Daniels and Harry 'Snob' Pollard. The three made many films together in the 1910s and when Lloyd branched out with his own production company, he got two more leading ladies (one of which he ended up marrying) and there was no second male lead in these films. While I love Snub, Lloyd seemed to do better on his own.

The story begins with a struggling couple (Lloyd and Daniels) but their troubles soon seemed to be over when Harold receives a telegram saying he's just inherited $1,000,000! Included are train tickets to go to the city to collect the money. Unfortunately, Harold forgets to bring the tickets and so he rushes home to get them. On the way, he meets up with a robber (Pollard) who ends up shooting him...but since this is a slapstick film, Harold is just fine and he shoots Snub several times...and he, too, is just fine! What's next? Well, a LOT of other problems...all of which conspire to try to get him to miss the train.

It's highly unusual to see Snub playing a crook...and a violent one at that. Usually he's either a sweeter guy or perhaps Harold's rival in love. What's not as unusual is seeing Harold playing a bit of an action hero...especially when a gang of toughies attack.

Overall, a good Harold Lloyd for this time period. His work in the 1920s was incredible...and significantly better than "That's Him". But for 1918, it's very good and worth seeing. The print, sadly, is a bit grainy and I was able to find it on the Criterion Channel.

By the way, it was not unusual for films of the 1910s to feature white folks in black makeup playing black roles. It wasn't nice...but that was the norm...and you'll see the conductor on the train is clearly a white guy using burnt cork makeup.