Lonesome Luke, Messenger

Messenger service men Harold Lloyd (as Luke) and Harry 'Snub' Pollard are caught hiding from duty by their boss. Oddly considered to be two of the finest messengers on the job, they are given some important assignments. After these deliveries go wrong, the pair must take several packages to the "Orange Blossom Seminary School" for girls, where Mr. Lloyd is distracted by Bebe Daniels and other young women. The messengers spend most of the time in physical comedy situations with rotund Bud Jamison and other men who happen to be working on the premises. In the end, Lloyd receives a surprising new assignment from his boss. One of the last episodes with Lloyd as Luke, "Messenger" gets by on fast-paced stunts.

***** Lonesome Luke, Messenger (8/5/17) Hal Roach ~ Harold Lloyd, 'Snub' Pollard, Bud Jamison, Bebe Daniels

At this stage in his career, Harold Lloyd was playing "Lonesome Luke", a sort of anti-Chaplin imitator... one of the nondescript clowns who found themselves in a situation, performed some pratfalls geared roughly to the situation and got on with the one-reeler. The results, given the cast -- Lloyd, Snub Pollard and Bebe Daniels -- were amusing, but not spectacular.

This is one of their competent efforts as Lloyd has to deliver a message to a girl's school where Bud Jamison is hanging wallpaper. Harold is caught between schoolgirl Bebe and some other girl, Snub and Bud assault each other and the movie paces itself with gradually increasing mayhem. It's a fairly typical slapstick for 1917 with little to really recommend itself except for the promise of future greatness.

Lonesome Luke, Messenger (1917)

*** (out of 4)

Harold Lloyd and 'Snub' Pollard play delivery boys who are sent to deliver some packages to an all girl's seminary school where all hell breaks loose. If you're looking for some sort of story then you're going to be highly disappointed but if you just want a good time then this one-reeler delivers the goods. I must say that I've seen some fast moving films in my life but I'm not sure I've ever seen anything as fast as this. I say fast because there's so much stuff that's constantly happening and at an incredibly fast rate. It's hard for you to adjust your eyes to what you're seeing before you're quickly at another sequence. This here is certainly good to a point but things really start to pick up once the two boys start getting into some trouble. One of the highlights include Lloyd peeking at some girls through a keyhole before getting busted. Another highlight has Lloyd flirting with a couple cute girls and it appears the comedian was influenced by Chaplin here. There's also some scenes with Bud Jamison where he, Snub and Lloyd are all beating and slapping each other around, which seems like something that might have influenced The Three Stooges. While this film is no where near flawless I think silent film buffs should enjoy the madness.

... in that Lloyd had been playing this character already for two years.

This is the first one of Harold Lloyd's Lonesome Luke shorts that I have ever seen, and it really doesn't have any glimpse of the greatness Lloyd will demonstrate in the 1920s and beyond.

In it, Luke (Lloyd) works for a messenger service and is tasked with delivering messages and packages when he's not goofing off. His first assignment involves him following, on a bike, somebody who is driving a car. He is supposed to deliver a message to his house. Why didn't the driver just take the message himself???

Most of the short takes place at a girls' seminary school, where Luke tries to find a way to get in to see a girl, any girl. Of course, one of the more aggressive girls is played by Bebe Daniels who was Lloyd's long time leading lady in his Lonesome Luke shorts. None of the jokes break out of what was typical for the slapstick of the era. Probably worthwhile mainly for Lloyd completists.