Harold Lloyd said farewell to the big screen with his collaboration with director Preston Sturges on The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock. While some of Lloyd's humor from his great days is retained in this film it will not be remembered as one of the best from either Lloyd or Sturges.
Possibly I think that Lloyd may have been too old to be doing all the physical comedy this role called for. It was not as bad as Stan Laurel in Utopia because Lloyd was in better health, but he clearly was playing his age and people in their fifties just don't do some of the crazy stunts this role required.
And Lloyd was one of the most physical of silent screen comedians and certain things were expected of him, most especially his work hanging from ledges in high places. The public that remembered him expected that and Harold was obliged to give it to them.
In the title role we first get a prologue of sorts from Lloyd's greatest silent screen hit The Freshman where we see him glasses and all winning the big football game for his school. After that an enthusiastic Raymond Walburn offers him a job at his advertising agency and Lloyd thinks this is the start of a great career.
Flash forward by presidents from the Harding to the Truman years and we see Lloyd just toiling away at a drudge job and then gets the final blow. No doubt to make room for some eager young hotshot fresh from college, Lloyd gets the pink slip.
After getting his pink slip from Walburn fortune takes Lloyd to a bar run by Edgar Kennedy and the companionship of Jimmy Conlin. Where he takes his first drink, a concoction mixed by Kennedy and he changes in personality totally. After that it gets way too complicated to describe.
The famous stunts from cinematically achieved great heights, a specialty of Lloyd's involves Lloyd, Conlin, and a circus lion on the edge of a skyscraper ledge. It's good, but doesn't work as well as those same stunts in Lloyd's salad days.
As for Preston Sturges, he borrows a leaf from WC Fields who borrows from Charles Dickens in creating some great character names starting with the title role. Look down the cast list of some great character players who have names suiting their personalities. Fields did the same in The Bank Dick which is a much better film.
The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock is a decent enough film for Harold Lloyd to put his career to rest, but far from his or Preston Sturges's best work.
Possibly I think that Lloyd may have been too old to be doing all the physical comedy this role called for. It was not as bad as Stan Laurel in Utopia because Lloyd was in better health, but he clearly was playing his age and people in their fifties just don't do some of the crazy stunts this role required.
And Lloyd was one of the most physical of silent screen comedians and certain things were expected of him, most especially his work hanging from ledges in high places. The public that remembered him expected that and Harold was obliged to give it to them.
In the title role we first get a prologue of sorts from Lloyd's greatest silent screen hit The Freshman where we see him glasses and all winning the big football game for his school. After that an enthusiastic Raymond Walburn offers him a job at his advertising agency and Lloyd thinks this is the start of a great career.
Flash forward by presidents from the Harding to the Truman years and we see Lloyd just toiling away at a drudge job and then gets the final blow. No doubt to make room for some eager young hotshot fresh from college, Lloyd gets the pink slip.
After getting his pink slip from Walburn fortune takes Lloyd to a bar run by Edgar Kennedy and the companionship of Jimmy Conlin. Where he takes his first drink, a concoction mixed by Kennedy and he changes in personality totally. After that it gets way too complicated to describe.
The famous stunts from cinematically achieved great heights, a specialty of Lloyd's involves Lloyd, Conlin, and a circus lion on the edge of a skyscraper ledge. It's good, but doesn't work as well as those same stunts in Lloyd's salad days.
As for Preston Sturges, he borrows a leaf from WC Fields who borrows from Charles Dickens in creating some great character names starting with the title role. Look down the cast list of some great character players who have names suiting their personalities. Fields did the same in The Bank Dick which is a much better film.
The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock is a decent enough film for Harold Lloyd to put his career to rest, but far from his or Preston Sturges's best work.