Girl Shy.

Review #938: Girl Shy.

Cast: 
Harold Lloyd (Harold Meadows, The Poor Boy), Jobyna Ralston (Mary Buckingham, The Rich Girl), Richard Daniels (Jerry Meadows, The Poor Man), and Carlton Griffin (Ronald DeVore, The Rich Man) Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer (#667 - The Freshman, #674 - Grandma's Boy, #758 - Safety Last!, #864 - Hot Water, and #889 - A Sailor-Made Man, #903 - Dr. Jack, #918 - Why Worry?) and Sam Taylor (The Freshman, #727 - For Heaven's Sake, Safety Last!, Hot Water, Dr. Jack, Why Worry?)

Review: 
It is nice to come closer to being full circle with Harold Lloyd's silent feature filmography, with this being the ninth of his eleven to be reviewed (reviewed out of order, but still). This was Lloyd's sixth feature film, with this being the first not to be produced by Hal Roach (who had produced the previous five); in addition, this was a "character picture" (as described by Lloyd), where the relationship between Lloyd and Ralston's characters is given more emphasis than simply having a load of gags. However, the climax of the movie (involving numerous modes of transport, such as the trolley, horse-drawn wagon, and horseback) is a clear highlight for the movie in terms of eye catching hilarity. This time around, the main character is a stutterer around girls who writes about his "lovemaking"; two different types of women (and how to "woo" them) are shown, one being a vamp and the other being a flapper; these two scenes are pretty amusing for the time. Lloyd and Ralston do a pretty job together, balancing sentiment along with moments of amusement quite well. Daniels lends a capable hand to the film, and Griffin serves as a fair enough villain for Lloyd to take action against. Like the other Lloyd films, it runs at a good capable pace (this time around 80 minutes) while also showcasing some fun gags; one of my favorites is Lloyd being moved slowly by a turtle while trying to talk with Ralston. The stuttering (and accompanying whistle to help Lloyd out) never comes off as tedious nor too ridiculous; the parts with him trying to get his book published is quite funny as well. On the whole, this falls along the line of being another good Lloyd movie to watch and enjoy. It isn't as great as something like Safety Last!, but it definitely is something to have a good time with, stutter or not

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.