An Eastern Westerner (1920)

Harold is a pampered dandy who is sent out west by his parents who feel he's not maturing as a young man. Slow-moving at first, the film picks up quickly when the action moves out west. Out west, he meets Mildred Davis (Harold Lloyd's future wife in real life) whose father is being held by the local toughs. Eventually Harold saves the day and gets the girl and in so doing, he unleashes a plethora of sight gags that are unique, inventive, and absolutely hilarious at times. Lloyd makes use of his smarts in character, as typified in the card playing scene, as well as his athletic prowess which rivaled both that of Chaplin and Keaton. The chase and evasion scenes with the gang on horseback has to be seen to be believed. Harold pulls out all the stops to avoid capture. It's a delightful entertainment, but it's certainly not one of Lloyd's very best. **1/2 of 4 stars.

Eastern Westerner, An (1920) ** (out of 4) A party boy (Harold Lloyd) is sent out west by his parents but once there he encounters a group of masked bandits. I really didn't find this short very entertaining. Not many laughs to be found here.From Hand to Mouth (1920) ** (out of 4) A tramp (Harold Lloyd) meets a young homeless girl and her dog and the three try to get some food. I'm sure this was meant to be a sweet little film but it doesn't come off that way and the lack of laughs make it rather uninteresting.

I found all the sequences in this film to be very funny. It is one of the earlier examples of the chase sequences Harold was developing that would really come into an art form last in GIRL SHY & SPEEDY. It is fine fun, & has some examples of gags LLoyd did not use in later films that are pretty funny. Nice thing is the pacing, which is not quite as frantic as earlier BUMPING INTO Broadway even though the films are about the same length. In a way, this reminds me some of BILLY BLAZES, ESQ. in the western sequences, but the ones in this film show an improvement over the Tom Mix parody of 1919. Some of the sequences in this are laugh out loud funny. If you get a chance to, enjoy this one.

A Hal Roach HAROLD LLOYD Short Subject.Harold becomes AN EASTERN WESTERNER when his wealthy father banishes him from Broadway to Piute Patch.Harold displays his remarkable athletic ability in this funny little film made shortly after he lost half of his right hand in a freak accident. Although his special glove (made by Sam Goldwyn's family) is visible at times, you would never know he was handicapped in any way. Whether trying to sneak into a New York nightclub, or escape from the dangerous Masked Angels out West, Harold is never less than hilarious.Mildred Davis, Harold's future wife, plays the sweet Girl of the West; Noah Young is the nasty outlaw.Robert Israel has composed an excellent film score which perfectly complements Harold's antics on the screen.