The Kid Brother

The Hickorys are the strongest family in town. The father is the sheriff and the two elder sons are large and powerful. Harold is small and slight; he cooks at home, does the washing, and nobody takes him seriously. One day a medicine show comes to town. Harold puts on his father's badge and gives them permission. Mary is with the show. A fire breaks out that night and the money collected for the town dam disappears. Suspicion falls on the father. Harold goes to find it. There is a large man in front of him and he will have to fight. Ted Wilde directs. Harold Lloyd plays Harold and Jobyna Ralston plays Mary; Walter James is in the cast. It is an American production, made in 1927. In its best known scene Harold climbs a tree to keep Mary in sight as she walks away, and the camera rises with him without a cut; a special lift was built for the shot. Harold Lloyd is counted one of the three great comedians of the silent era and this is among the films he liked best of his own. The narrative joins comedy to action; the fight on the ship at the end is held long. The matter it treats is being respected; Harold gets on not through strength but through wit. The film comes at the end of the silent period and its takings fell short as sound arrived. The narrative leaves its woman passive and carries the outlook of its period. Its limit is age; the silent language, the pace and the narrative ask some habituation of a viewer today. Who it is for: viewers who like silent comedy and Harold Lloyd's films. Who it is not for: it is old, conventional, and the ending easy.