I Do

(1921) I Do SILENT COMEDY

The set up regards (Harold Lloyd) marrying his new wife (Mildred Davis) and upon coming home, their friend of two children leaves them with Lloyd and his new wife to look after.

Some of the sight gags includes the Lloyd trying to clean up the mess and mishaps of the older boy child; especially when goes out to buy fireworks and brings them home; scenes of trying to put baby to sleep; when Lloyd's newly wife tries to calm the children and put them to sleep. There is also a sequence of a prowler around the neighborhood with both Lloyd and Mildred to the housekeeper being spooked up about!

This Harold Lloyd short wasn't really much; not one of his funnier efforts. Of course, I never see bratty kids as anything hilarious. That's what the bulk of this story is, Harold and his wife, Mildred Davis, babysitting his in-laws two young kids. One is a baby who is constantly crying and the other is a four-year-old terror who does everything but demolish the house. Letting the kid create havoc over and over was not entertaining to me.

The best part was the last four or five minutes when the couple thinks that this big goon (Noah Young) is burglarizing their house. Half the time it's the pet cat scaring the couple, but overall, that segment is fun with some good sight gags, reminding me of another Lloyd short, "Haunted Spooks."

However, the good ending doesn't save the whole picture, which I probably wouldn't watch again. Lloyd has done too many other good things to waste even 25 minutes on this one again. It just isn't that funny.

This Harold Lloyd short is the story of newlyweds who use subterfuge to transport some bootleg liquor, then agree to watch a couple of children while the brother-in-law is otherwise occupied. The story includes a bad guy who seems to be checking out the neighborhood.

The best part of the film is the small section that deals with the ornery nature of the young boy left in their charge. I could have watched an entire film about the duel of wits between Lloyd and the kid.

As others have pointed out, the film is uneven, but its best parts are truly funny.

The plot is predictable and thus (to me) not that amusing. There were some nice touches, (like what turned out to really be in the baby carriage!)

The animation at the beginning was quite clever. Not being a film historian I don't know how common animation was at the time, but I liked it's inclusion in a live action short.

I would recommend other Harold Lloyd films instead, such as "Number, Please" or "Bumping Into Broadway".

I have nothing more to say, please change the minimum line requirement to something that rewards, not punishes brevity!

In this Harold Lloyd short, Lloyd and Mildred Davis play a newlywed couple who get stuck watching their two nephews. One is a baby, the other a toddler, and they proceed to drive Lloyd crazy as only little children can. Lloyd finds his slippers nailed to the floor, finds that preparing a bottle isn't as easy as it might seem and really finds out what it means to be a dad when the toddler comes home with an armload of fireworks and begins shooting them at him and the maid.

As far as Lloyd's short comedies go, this isn't one of his funniest, but it's only 25 minutes long, and hey, it's Harold Lloyd after all. You'll be able to see the ending coming practically before the movie has even started.

Grade: B-