Pour l'amour du ciel

Uptown millionaire J. Harold Manners leads a life insulated by his immense wealth until he meets a very pretty young lady working with her father in a Downtown skid row mission.

Comic genius Harold Lloyd had another tremendous success with FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, a silent film very simple of plot but wildly delirious in terms of hilarious detail & inspiration. Harold had the enviable knack of making an audience like him immediately and empathize with his tribulations. They entered into and became a part of his gags, watching them build and grow, until the final explosion of laughter and the immediate start of his next comedic onslaught.

Here, Harold has two of his finest sequences, two very different extended chases which illustrate his visual wizardry and perfect timing. In the first, Harold infuriates a growing crowd of enraged hoodlums, crooks and ne'er-do-wells into chasing him into the mission, so as to please the sweet young lady. In the second, which climaxes the movie, Harold races to his own delayed wedding, through crowded New York streets (actually filmed in Los Angeles), while shepherding five very friendly and extremely intoxicated bums, culminating in a wild ride atop a runaway double-decker bus. Through it all, Harold exhibits his magnificent athletic ability, putting himself in real danger, a self-imposed peril made even more remarkable by the fact that he was missing half of his right hand.

The production values in the film are absolutely first rate, even down to casting the ‘faces,' wistful & careworn, seen in the mission scenes. The logistics involved in filming the action sequences on actual city streets, involving crowds of extras and split-second precision timing for the stunts, is beyond merely impressive. Lloyd, who fathered the idea, put the film through five previews until he was sure he had it perfect.

Jobyna Ralston once again amply fills the role of the girl of Harold's dreams. Diminutive Paul Weigel exudes saintly goodness as her father. Noah Young brings bullish bluster to his role of a tough gangster tamed by Mr. Lloyd.

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

Six months ago I had barely seen a Harold LLoyd feature (except "The Kid Brother" 35 years ago) - now I know that whenever I feel down I can put on a Harold Lloyd movie and laugh myself silly from start to finish!! It is such a comforting feeling. This is not a typical Harold Lloyd comedy and I was a bit concerned initially - instead of the poor boy who makes good or the eager, hopeful go-getter who by the film's end is everyone's hero, this movie has Lloyd as J. Harold Manners, an idle rich boy who accidentally becomes the patron of a mission for down and outs.

There are two fantastic chases in this movie - the first where Harold pledges to get the "Pool Hall Boys" to the Mission -he does (and a whole lot of other thugs as well) and by the time the police arrive they are all singing hymns and liking it!!! The other one is reminiscent of the hilarious chase in "Girl Shy" - in this chase he has been kidnapped by his well meaning rich friends, his "pool room" mates find him and then he has the job of getting himself and his inebriated friends to the church on time.

Jobyna Ralston, as Hope, can't be over-estimated. Even though her role is usually "the girl", either rich girl, poor girl or working girl, she compliments Harold Lloyd so much and brings so much to his movies on her own, it would be hard for me to imagine any other actress in the role. Noah Young also adds immensely to the laughs as the leader of the thugs. And three cheers for the wonderful Robert Israel and his Orchestra - if only he could score the music for all the silent movies that are available.

Highly, Highly Recommended.

(1926) For Heaven's Sake COMEDY ACTION DRAMA

Harold Lloyd plays upper class and wealthy successful real estate investor, J Harold Manners accidentally burning down a missionary's coffee cart that was supposed to serve the poor. He then writes a check to Brother Paul (Paul Weigel) who in turn assumed he was supposed to use the money to open up an actual facility with his name left on the sign. Except that by the time he found out his name was used without his consent, he then goes straight down there to make the change, except that the young teenage lady who got angry after catching him tear the sign down had no idea he was indeed Harold manners. The one who donated enough money for Brother Paul to open up an actual facility, who introduce her to him as her daughter, Hope (Jobyna Ralston). And he goes head over heels over her who she tries to entice him to reform criminals who hang out at the pool hall, particularly Bull Brindle (Noah Young). Some of the innovative gags also include Lloyd managing to bring many criminals to participate into the missionary. As well as Lloyd making efforts to control five very wasted friends from hurting themselves and guide them safely back to the mission to get married to his love interest Hope. There is some death defying stunts that involves plenty of vehicles and an open top bus that would be hard to imitate if they are done now.

As per 'Why Worry?', Harold Lloyd once again plays an eccentric millionaire here, though one without a worry in the world compared to his earlier hypochondriac. It is refreshing to see Lloyd as something other than his usual nebbish self and the film gets off to a strong start with Lloyd causing chaos everywhere while never being phased, not even when bandits are shooting at him from a speeding car. The plot soon veers in a very different direction though as Lloyd meets and falls in love with the daughter of a preacher who he accidentally donated to. It is a plot turn that comes without any character progression and it almost feels as two different films have been spliced together as Lloyd jumps from being cool and detached to energetically drumming up business for the preacher's mission 'Never Weaken' style. There is also a weird kidnapping subplot that comes out of nowhere and never quite feels right (despite leading to a good chase scene). Indeed, clocking in at under one hour, it feels as if a significant chunk of the film is missing - and according to some reports, Lloyd trimmed the movie himself after being dissatisfied with the final product. The film is not quite as poor as all that, but coming on the back of the well developed narrative comedy that 'The Freshman' was, this feels like a step back towards the skits-based plotting of his earlier works.

Harold Lloyd in his prime as a multi-millionaire who thinks nothing of buying - and trashing - two cars in one day, and who funds a mission for the poor without realising it. He wants nothing to do with it until he spies the minister's comely daughter (Jobyna Ralston). Some decent jokes, an hilarious chase sequence, and a hair-raising race to the altar on a driverless bus help place this, perhaps lesser-known entry, amongst the comedian's better works.