The Kid Brother.

Review #1044: The Kid Brother.

Cast: 
Harold Lloyd (Harold Hickory), Jobyna Ralston (Mary Powers), Walter James (Jim Hickory), Leo Willis (Leo Hickory), Olin Francis (Olin Hickory), Constantine Romanoff (Sandoni), Eddie Boland ("Flash" Farrell), Frank Lanning (Sam Hooper), and Ralph Yearsley (Hank Hooper) Directed by Ted Wilde and J.A. Howe.

Review: 
The Kid Brother was the tenth feature film to star Harold Lloyd, released nearly nine months after For Heaven's Sake (#727). The film attempts to carry numerous elements together, such as comedy, romance, and drama, and it manages to do fairly decent while being consistent with its gags. The basic story isn't too particularly deep, but it is one that makes for good entertainment (much like the other Lloyd films) that is more than enough. The film credits two directors (Wilde and Howe, with the latter given a "co-director" credit), although apparently there was also uncredited work done by Lloyd and Lewis Milestone (previously reviewed on Movie Night for his direction of The Racket (1928) - #901). In any case, there is quite a good amount of gags and intertitles to go around, such as the laundry shuffling sequence, or the climax involving a massive ship and one mischievous monkey. The cast all do a fine job in the roles they are assigned to play. Lloyd plays his role with a bit of bashfulness as the youngest Hickory yet he also doesn't underplay his cleverness either, with Lloyd being adept at rolling with the situations that go on in the film. Ralston is charming as ever, doing an acceptable job in her final film with Lloyd. The rest of the Hickorys are brimming with confidence and stature, and each of the three (James, Willis, and Francis) do a good job in their scenes, especially with Lloyd. Romanoff, Boland and Yearsley prove to be fairly decent adversaries as well. This is a movie that comes and goes with amusement and a bit of sharpness that you'd expect from a film with Lloyd, but it is done in a way that it doesn't come off as standard fare or repetitive. There is a certain enjoyment to the situations and how it is executed that make this a fair winner. At 84 minutes long, the movie is just the right kind of length for reasonable enjoyment for most fans of silent films or ones looking for a good laugh.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.