The Kid Brother (1927)

Timid and always in the shadow of his older brothers, the youngest son of a sheriff gets a chance to prove his worth when thieves come to town in this Harold Lloyd comedy. As has been noted by others, the basic plot is hardly original, in many ways a rerun of what we have seen before with Lloyd in 'Grandma's Boy'. This is a far funnier motion picture though and the gags always feel like an organic part of the tale and character progression, whereas the earlier Lloyd film is more a series of skits. At 'The Kid Brother''s most amusing, Lloyd's two nightgown-clad brothers try unsuccessfully to hide when he brings a girl home unannounced at night. This subplot becomes even funnier when morning comes round and they keep trying to romance Lloyd's new girlfriend, unaware that she has already left and it is just Lloyd left behind the bed sheets hanging in his quarters. The film is also blessed with some excellent camera-work for the era (a crane shot that travels up a tree), but if there is one aspect that lets the film down, it is an over-reliance on dialogue with the title cards breaking up the intimacy of the action on more than one occasion. Most of 'The Kid Brother' is very good news though, spinning a tight and cohesive narrative a la 'The Freshman'. Lloyd is also as great as one would expect, though a monkey in the final quarter pretty much steals the show.

Although there is a lot to like in Harold Lloyd's The Kid Brother, perhaps the most understated and least applauded aspect is the chemistry and intermixing shenanigans that results from Jobyna Ralston's character showing up on the scene. Both Lloyd and Ralston had shared the screen before in previous antics, but their interlocking here is as sweet and endearing as can be. It would be their last date on screen before Jobyna would retire a couple of movies into the "talkie" era because of an unfortunate lisp, but if anything, it's a fitting and memorable farewell. Aside from the romance, The Kid Brother also has more than a handful of laughs up its sleeves and while I'm not a big fan of the movie's switch to elaborate stunts in the third act, the majority of the film showcases a somewhat restrained and down to earth tone that is both laugh-out-loud funny and charming at the same time.

Monday May 21, 7:00pm, The Paramount TheaterProduced in what collectively became the greatest year of the silent era, Harold Lloyd considered The Kid Brother (1927) to be lacking sufficient action and humor. In reality, his tenth of eleven silent features was the synthesis of all his acquired talents. It was Lloyd's greatest success in blending his trademark gags with well-developed characters, and a thoughtful, engaging story. The story of an introspective and bullied younger son who surprises everyone with his true strength, suggests numerous popular sources, including, Hal Roach produced The White Sheep (1924), Henry King's Tol'able David (1921), and to some degree even Cinderella. Young Harold Hickory lives in a motherless home with his father, the town sheriff, and two terrorizing older brothers. The bucolic country setting recalls Grandma's Boy (1922), but is far more beautifully realized. To survive the dominance of his larger and stronger brothers, a multitude of gags cleverly demonstrate Harold's mental superiority over them as the films greatest source of humor. When a travelling medicine show rolls into town, Harold and Mary (Jobyna Ralston in her final appearance with Lloyd), the pretty daughter of the deceased owner, share an instant attraction, and a fear of the two thugs who have taken over the show. Constantine Romanoff as the murderous strong man is nearly as frightening in this comedy as the villain of Tolerable David, Ernest Torrance. Harold's hometown rival Hank Hooper (Ralph Yearsley, who also starred in Tol'able David) is larger, stronger, appropriately oafish, and the perfect foil for several amusing confrontations. Hiding aboard an abandoned ship in the final reel, Harold puts a pair of shoes on the medicine show monkey to draw the strong man away. The monkey waddles up the stairs and on deck, with the strong man in pursuit. The Kid Brother is a seamless, well-balanced combination of humor, romance and peril. It is atypically coordinated Lloyd. The pleasantly sentimental story is complimented by excellent casting and production design. What Lloyd saw as insufficient humor was actually a lighter treatment, increasingly reliant and more fully demonstrating his acting abilities (something many comics lacked) in what is without question his best work.

What a disappointment! Compared with SAFETY LAST or the witty and charming GIRL SHY, this is a retreat to the crude slapstick of the one-reelers.The last episode of GIRL SHY was so good it was copied decades later in the GRADUATE, but there is nothing worth copying here. The old gag about hiding behind the body of a horse is recycled, and the washing up routines are lifted from Keaton's THE NAVIGATOR. Neither are there any magic moments here such as the Shakespearean bust of Lloyd in GIRL SHY.Most reviewers give this 4 stars - just goes to show they don't know their job.