Bumping Into Broadway

A Hal Roach HAROLD LLOYD Comedy Short.

An impoverished young fellow finds himself BUMPING INTO BROADWAY when he falls in love with a pretty showgirl.

This fast-moving romp gave Harold Lloyd an early success for his Glasses Character. Antic chases and sight gags abound, and Harold gets to showoff his buoyant physical dexterity in this film made before a freak accident so badly damaged his right hand. Swiftly moving from boardinghouse to street, on to the theater, and finally to an elaborate speakeasy, the plot gives Harold plenty of opportunity to amuse.

Bebe Daniels is his love interest. Helen Gilmore is the fierce landlady; tough guy Noah Young is the boardinghouse bouncer. In a brief role, Gus Leonard, in drag, is hilarious as the man-crazy spinster who lives one floor below Harold.

Robert Israel has composed an excellent film score which perfectly complements Harold's antics on the screen.

Harold Lloyd was fast becoming cinema's most prolific comedian, and his star power was rising to new heights in 1919. The studio he was contracted to, Pathe Exchange, wanted to capitalize on his escalating popularity by making longer movies than his normal one-reeler 12-minute shorts. The company signed Lloyd to a nine-movie deal for expanded 30-minute films. His first two-reeler was November 1919's "Bumping Into Broadway." When seeing "Broadway," a viewer might think the movie is two separate one-reelers placed back-to-back. The first half deals with Lloyd trying to evade paying the $3.75 a month in rent by attempting to escape the cluthes of the landlord's enforcer. The second part deals with his trying to sell his play to a theater manger, only to end up in an illegal gambling house, where he breaks the bank by his successful bets on the roulette wheel. But a Keystone-like squad of police raids the place just as he's pocketing the dough.

"Bumping on Broadway" co-stars Lloyd's regular female sidekick, Bebe Daniels. The actress reached out to Cecil B. DeMille to seek out the possibilities of expanding her acting talents towards more dramatic roles. The famous director did hire her for his 'Male And Female' production as well as a number of movies for Paramount Pictures. "Broadway" was her second to last film with Lloyd after appearing with him in over 150 films.

Lloyd is a struggling broadway writer while Bebe daniels is a show girl aspiring to be a star. They live next door to each other in a boarding house struggling to make ends meet. They meet one day and Lloyd offers to pay Bebe's rent while forsaking his own rent, thus setting off the hijinks. Three sets are used in this smart and insightful comedy; the boarding house, the broadway stage and set and an underground speakeasy which is raided by the cops. As Lloyd is chased up and down the boarding house eventually ending up in an old woman's home who was crying out for a man, you cannot help but smile. On the broadway set, as he tries to meet the director and sell his story before being forcefully thrown out, you grin. And after following Bebe to protect from the playboy star of the show who has dragged her along to the speakeasy where all hell breaks loose and harold uses a coat hanger to great comic effect, you must applaud. Final scene is perfect denouement to an enjoyable mish-mash.

There are three segments to this two-reel short, and each one has their highlight. It begins with HAROLD LLOYD as a struggling writer who can't pay the rent (a flimsy amount of $3.70 is overdue!!) and this leads to a boarding house sequence that has him avoiding the grim landlady and her strong partner bent on giving deadbeats rough treatment. Lloyd excels in this segment as he narrowly avoids detection when they try to track him down.

BEBE DANIELS makes little impression as "the girl," also unable to pay her rent until Lloyd comes to her aid. Thereafter, there's a backstage Broadway scene that has Lloyd trying to sell his story to a producer with dismal results.

And finally, a gambling joint scene climaxes the film with a wild chase as the dumb cops try to nab Lloyd, who comes up with an ingenious coat rack trip that has to be seen to be believed--or described.

This all plays very quickly--fast and funny throughout with nary a lapse of pace, making it one of the most enjoyable of all the Lloyd silent shorts that I've seen. The TCM showing has it accompanied by a brisk musical score.

This is a very entertaining Harold Lloyd comedy, with some good settings and good joke ideas. There is lots of action, with Bebe Daniels, Snub Pollard, and Noah Young all adding to the fun. Much of the emphasis is on the various characters chasing each other or attempting to elude one another, and Hal Roach is in his element, keeping the pace and the timing on track.

There are basically three sequences, first at a boarding house, then backstage, and then at a gambling club. The first sequence, with Young as the landlady's enforcer, and the third one, with lots of manic chase action, are both very good, and the middle sequence also has some good moments.

The settings and many of the story developments must have been highly contemporary at the time, and yet the enthusiasm from Lloyd and the cast makes it seem fresh and up-to-date. When Lloyd was in his best form, he made you feel as if you knew his characters and understood their troubles, and that's one of the things that makes this one fun to watch.