Sunday, November 3, 2024

Girl Shy (1924)

Girl Shy (1924)

starring Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston
directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor

80 minutes

Harold Meadows (Harold Lloyd), a tailor, stutters and is shy around women. He writes a book entitled The Secret of Making Love which he hopes to get published. The book is filled with his "expert" advice and "true stories" from his love life.

Harold meets Mary Buckingham (Jobyna Ralston) while he is on his way to see a prospective publisher. Harold and Mary fall in love but Mary already has a suitor, Ronald De Vore, who puts his foot down when he learns about Harold.

Harold's book initially gets rejected by the publisher. After one of the editors (at the publishing house) convinces the owner that he was wrong to reject The Secret of Love Making, Harold receives a large advance.

Harold has given up on Mary but when he learns that Ronald is already married he rushes to tell Mary what he has learned.

Thoughts

I saw this movie as the back half of a double feature. The front half was Hot Water (1924), another Harold Lloyd film. The order that they were shown in is not the order in which they were released.

Harold's quest to reach Mary before she married Ronald was epic. I didn't keep track of all the modes of transportation he employed and stole but there were cars, horses, bicycles, motorcycles, and a street car.

The visualization of some of the scenes from Harold's book were over the top and wonderfully funny.

This was a lot of fun. I bought into the meet cute and really enjoyed watching the relationship between Harold and Mary evolve. It felt like much more than just a series of gags.

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