gelatoflo

Comedy built on gadget gags was nothing new to Snub, nor Hal Roach studio, as they had done it often before with Harold Lloyd in his early 1-2 reel comedies(like in City Slicker or The Chef...). Many of the gadgets here look similar. Nevertheless this solo effort of Snub Pollard is well worth seeing. Actually it's among the best he had done. His usual overacting is not evident in this one, and it also adds some becoming cartoon quality. The short length also helps, as he often seemed having difficulty to handle more than 10 minutes of screen time. It really has some very creative ideas in the beginning.

My comment refers to THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK, as I haven't seen the edited version Mad Wednesday-but I believe some cutting might do this film good. Too bad this movie is currently the most available Lloyd movie on the market. This great genius just shouldn't have ended his career with a movie like this-he certainly deserved a gracefully nostalgic summing-up like Chaplin with Limelight or Keaton with The Railrodder . Lloyd never starred in such a sloppy feature before. His idea of making a comedy just didn't go with that of Sturges. In this rowdy parade of lowest kind of slapstick, with unnatural puns and sayings as dialogue, there is little room for Lloyd to build up anything, neither gags, nor characterization. Too bad, for this film did have a good idea(what becomes of the go-getter who fails to achieve anything) to begin with, and a grand opening(highlight from The Freshman finale), and some terrific acting Lloyd delivered as a washed-up clerk who got fired after working for 20 years at the same position. All these look promising about 25 minutes, then the film just runs out of control. It even gives you an improvising feeling as it stumbles towards the end, when everybody has to shout their lines but nobody seems to know what is going on. . This film is so messy that resembles some low budget early talkie comedies, yet it was made in 1946! What a shame.

MOVIE CRAZY certainly is one of the best Lloyd's Talkies. From the opening gag on there are so many enjoyable moments only Lloyd knows how to provide. The screen test scenes are among the highlights. As always gags are very tightly built. Lloyd also handles the dialogue and timing pretty well; but Constance Cummings portrays a dominating, intelligent female lead that is rare in Lloyd's movies. Only complaint: if the high rise sequence in Feet First is recycled from Safety Last, the fighting-in-the-water scene here certainly looks familiar as well-from The Kid Brother. It's also a bit long and excessive.