Grandma’s Boy (1922)
Although A Sailor-Made Man was Harold Lloyd’s first feature film, it was Grandma’s Boy that really cemented him as a feature film star. Today, the film is praised for helping to decide how a feature film comedy should be approached, along with Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, and resulted in Lloyd permanently moving into features.
Lloyd plays a 19-year-old living with his grandmother (Anna Townsend). Unable to stand up for himself against a rival (Charles Stevenson), all seems lost to him, until his grandmother gives him a magic charm that will keep him from being harmed, and he gets a chance to prove himself by capturing a wanted criminal (Dick Sutherland).
Grandma’s Boy is a much different experience than the earlier A Sailor-Made Man. That’s not to say A Sailor-Made Man is bad; it moves at a good pace and is full of funny gags. However, Grandma’s Boy stands out by doing more than could really be accomplished in a short comedy; it’s emotional in more ways than one.
Starting with Grandma’s Boy himself, we see a backstory to show that he has actually been treated this way his entire life and it is not limited to the events of the specific time period for the majority of the film. He still does funny things, but it’s balanced in a way that you can feel sorry for him while still laughing at his predicaments. Granted, Lloyd’s character is played up to be a bit more sympathetic than in the short comedies, but it’s in a way that still feels in character for him and he’s supported by a story that fits Lloyd’s idea of balancing out the comedy and drama.
Chaplin often felt like he was focused more on the story than the comedy in his features, and that worked for him, but Lloyd seemed to have found a good way to build a dramatic story while still keeping the comedy at a stable level like in his short comedies. Lloyd is still able to show off some great gags like the mothball scene, but these are placed at points where the action of the story is a bit slow and can use these bits to keep the audience’s interests. Although he does use comedic methods to take out the main villain, the final encounter with the rival is played up to be more dramatic and the comedy doesn’t interrupt during the scenes where Lloyd’s character is feeling discouraged, as they shouldn’t. My one complaint with the story is that the Civil War sequence feels too much like filler, especially considering that the ending retcons it anyway. That sequence probably should have just been made into its own short instead.
The attention to detail regarding the other characters is another nice touch as well. The rival here is really unlikeable, to the point that not once do you ever feel sorry for him when he gets what he deserves. The grandmother character, meanwhile, is portrayed as sweet and caring towards the people who deserve it, but she also can clearly take care of herself, which is a good reminder that the focus is on how Harold’s character will take care of himself, rather than her. The acting in general is pretty spot-on. Mildred Davis is always good as Lloyd’s romantic interest and all the supporting players seem to have a good idea as to how their characters need to be portrayed.
One complaint I’ve seen about this film, as well as some of Lloyd’s other features, is that Lloyd doesn’t do the “thrill comedy” that he is famous for quite as much. It is true that the stunt work in this is not quite as riveting as Safety Last!, though it is hard to meet that standard anyway. For one thing, I do think it’s unfair to base Lloyd’s comedy off of the stunt work because that wasn’t all he relied on even though, yes, it was a much beloved part of his work. Plus, it’s not as though this is completely devoid of stunt work either. There is a chase towards the end involving a car going out of control and Lloyd does lots of physical work in both this and his fights with the rival. So while Grandma’s Boy may not be the most exhilarating of Lloyd’s features, it still does have at least a little bit of excitement in it whenever it fits the story.
It’s not hard to see why Grandma’s Boy was so influential. The balance between comedy and story is almost flawless and, outside of Chaplin’s work at the time, seems to have been a much different experience compared to what most fans were used to, and Lloyd had an advantage since Chaplin’s output was shrinking (Chaplin only released one short film in 1922). Even without this historical context taken into account, the film is still a great experience as its own film and is an essential viewing experience for anyone who is interested in exploring more of Harold Lloyd’s work.
9 out of 10
Lloyd plays a 19-year-old living with his grandmother (Anna Townsend). Unable to stand up for himself against a rival (Charles Stevenson), all seems lost to him, until his grandmother gives him a magic charm that will keep him from being harmed, and he gets a chance to prove himself by capturing a wanted criminal (Dick Sutherland).
Grandma’s Boy is a much different experience than the earlier A Sailor-Made Man. That’s not to say A Sailor-Made Man is bad; it moves at a good pace and is full of funny gags. However, Grandma’s Boy stands out by doing more than could really be accomplished in a short comedy; it’s emotional in more ways than one.
Starting with Grandma’s Boy himself, we see a backstory to show that he has actually been treated this way his entire life and it is not limited to the events of the specific time period for the majority of the film. He still does funny things, but it’s balanced in a way that you can feel sorry for him while still laughing at his predicaments. Granted, Lloyd’s character is played up to be a bit more sympathetic than in the short comedies, but it’s in a way that still feels in character for him and he’s supported by a story that fits Lloyd’s idea of balancing out the comedy and drama.
Chaplin often felt like he was focused more on the story than the comedy in his features, and that worked for him, but Lloyd seemed to have found a good way to build a dramatic story while still keeping the comedy at a stable level like in his short comedies. Lloyd is still able to show off some great gags like the mothball scene, but these are placed at points where the action of the story is a bit slow and can use these bits to keep the audience’s interests. Although he does use comedic methods to take out the main villain, the final encounter with the rival is played up to be more dramatic and the comedy doesn’t interrupt during the scenes where Lloyd’s character is feeling discouraged, as they shouldn’t. My one complaint with the story is that the Civil War sequence feels too much like filler, especially considering that the ending retcons it anyway. That sequence probably should have just been made into its own short instead.
The attention to detail regarding the other characters is another nice touch as well. The rival here is really unlikeable, to the point that not once do you ever feel sorry for him when he gets what he deserves. The grandmother character, meanwhile, is portrayed as sweet and caring towards the people who deserve it, but she also can clearly take care of herself, which is a good reminder that the focus is on how Harold’s character will take care of himself, rather than her. The acting in general is pretty spot-on. Mildred Davis is always good as Lloyd’s romantic interest and all the supporting players seem to have a good idea as to how their characters need to be portrayed.
One complaint I’ve seen about this film, as well as some of Lloyd’s other features, is that Lloyd doesn’t do the “thrill comedy” that he is famous for quite as much. It is true that the stunt work in this is not quite as riveting as Safety Last!, though it is hard to meet that standard anyway. For one thing, I do think it’s unfair to base Lloyd’s comedy off of the stunt work because that wasn’t all he relied on even though, yes, it was a much beloved part of his work. Plus, it’s not as though this is completely devoid of stunt work either. There is a chase towards the end involving a car going out of control and Lloyd does lots of physical work in both this and his fights with the rival. So while Grandma’s Boy may not be the most exhilarating of Lloyd’s features, it still does have at least a little bit of excitement in it whenever it fits the story.
It’s not hard to see why Grandma’s Boy was so influential. The balance between comedy and story is almost flawless and, outside of Chaplin’s work at the time, seems to have been a much different experience compared to what most fans were used to, and Lloyd had an advantage since Chaplin’s output was shrinking (Chaplin only released one short film in 1922). Even without this historical context taken into account, the film is still a great experience as its own film and is an essential viewing experience for anyone who is interested in exploring more of Harold Lloyd’s work.
9 out of 10
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