Now or Never

While probably a bit more uneven than most of Harold Lloyd's early 1920s comedies, this feature has some very enjoyable moments. Lloyd and Mildred Davis star in a rather complicated story that sees them spend considerable time with a cute young child, giving Lloyd some different material than usual to work with.

The story is the kind of deliberately illogical series of predicaments that provides a showcase for a skilled comic like Lloyd, as his character movies rapidly from one jam to another. Most of it takes place on a train, which provides an enjoyable setting with lots of good props and minor characters.

The parts that work the best turn out to be the scenes with the child. Lloyd's eager beaver style forms a nice contrast with the young girl, combining humor with an occasional warmer moment that works well. The rest of the movie also contains some good gags, but many of the others are only average, at least by Lloyd's standards. Nothing at all is wrong with Lloyd's timing or with the pace; it's just that this time only some of the gag ideas are really creative or funny. It still adds up to an enjoyable comedy that is somewhat above average overall.

Harold Lloyd and Chaplin were the two top comics at the boxoffice in the early days of silent movies and Lloyd here pulls together a very funny movie that gets him to show his athletic prowess and comic ingenuity. Lloyd shows up to meet a girl he hasn't seen in years but she is the guardian of a girl whom she brings along. There is only two tickets for three and Lloyd and the little girl have to dodge the train conductor while caring for a little child which puts his mental acumen to task. Set-pieces include a popular one of Lloyd riding on top of the train, Lloyd at the bottom of a train as he tails a hobo who stole his money; Lloyd in a bathroom with a very funny scene involving shaving cream etc Emotional resonance is low but laughs are truly aplenty the more I think of it, the more I laugh as I type. That is a high compliment.

Harold's on his way to reclaim his childhood sweetheart as promised on the occasion of her eighteenth birthday. She is a nanny and brings her cute little charge along with her even though she isn't really supposed to. Harold, driving like a maniac – Lloyd certainly saw speed (and heights) as an infallible ingredient in his thrill comedies – ends up driving through a farmers barn and ends up riding under a train with the bum who cheated him out of his bankroll.

The second part of the film takes place on board the train, where Harold has been lumbered with the little girl because his sweetheart has spotted her boss on the same train. Although the kid is cute, some of the humour is strained here, with some gags lasting too long, and things feel a little flat after the breakneck pace of the film's first half. At 40 minutes, this film was longer than Lloyd's usual two-reelers and it's likely that he deliberately made the film this way so that it could be split into two short films if the longer running time failed to please his fans.

This isn't one of Lloyd's best film but it probably has just about enough highlights to keep most fans happy.

Nothing great in this 3-reel comedy from Harold Lloyd. He would use much of this material later in his career and to better effect. The sets are crude and the storyline choppy. Mildred Davis (the girl) disappears for much of the film, and Anna May Bilson (as the little girl--not a boy as stated in the plot summary here) is not very photogenic. Some good comedy bits, but nothing great. And yes, Mildred Davis would become Lloyd's wife soon after this film was completed.

A Hal Roach HAROLD LLOYD 3-Reeler.

A young fellow must suddenly care for an infant on a very eventful overnight train trip.

Harold Lloyd has a field day in this wonderful short silent film, NOW OR NEVER. His athletic prowess was never in more demand than here where - with half his right hand missing and disguised by a glove - he jumps, crawls, runs, leaps and squirms his way all over, under and through a passenger train. Along the way he must contend with thieving hobos, belligerent passengers, unfriendly bullies, suspicious conductors and the demands of a precocious tiny tot, charmingly played by little Anna Mae Bilson. Through all perplexities & befuddlements, and a lot of real physical danger, Harold is never less than astoundingly funny.

Pretty Mildred Davis plays the infant's nursemaid; Miss Davis' association with Harold Lloyd was at this time turning to romance and would soon culminate in marriage.

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