THE KID BROTHER (1927)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Comedy

Director: J.A. Howe / Lewis Milestone / Ted Wilde

Cast: Harold Lloyd / Jobyna Ralston / Walter James

Plot

The weakling son of a pioneer sheriff falls for a performer in a traveling medicine show.

What I Liked

Timing is everything in comedy, regardless of medium.  Watching silent-era comedic star Harold Lloyd in “The Kid Brother” really makes that old adage obvious.  The film’s setting, the simplicity of an idealized frontier America, can cover up the meticulousness that must have gone into the timing of the film’s many gags, chase scenes, and fight scenes.  Lloyd and crew treat us to a great variety of different types of visual comedy, and nearly all of them involve multiple people (or an animal) which must be precisely coordinated with each other and the cameras yet convince the audience that the action on screen is not at all rehearsed.  For if an audience loses that suspension of disbelief then there are no laughs, leaving a movie like “The Kid Brother” a complete failure.  The fact that this film has endured as a classic of silent comedy means that the filmmakers were able to make its audience, and audiences of subsequent generations, believe in the magic.  The first half of the film in particular features some moments that remain inspired and just plain funny nearly 90 years later.

What I Didn’t Like

Harold Lloyd is often called the third genius of silent comedy, which puts him in the company of the likes of Chaplin and Keaton.  It is a fact that his films were more popular than Keaton’s at the time.  There are even those who still suggest that Lloyd was superior to both of his competitors.  They’re wrong.  While “Kid Brother” has some moments that made marvel at both his craft and his imagination, at no point did I break out with more than a smirk of amusement.  Indeed, by the time I was half way through the movie I was beginning to get bored, as the gags gave way to a lackluster plot.  The films of Chaplin and Keaton, any of them, will make me laugh out loud, through multiple scenes.  Lloyd was a daring and talented comedian.  Chaplin and Keaton were geniuses.

Most Memorable Scene

I spoke earlier of timing.  That quality is as important behind the camera as it is in front of the camera.  For example, perhaps the signature moment of “The Kid Brother” is not a comedy moment at all, but more of a piece of romantic special effects.  As Harold watches his newfound love walk away, he climbs a tree to keep her in view.  As he does so, the camera rises with him, looking over his shoulder to see the panorama of the valley below.  Today we’re used to watching a camera rise and fall with the characters.  But for the makers of this film, putting a camera on a lift and having it rise with their main character, and having their actor synchronize the speed of his climb with the lift, was a true innovation, one that changed filmmaking forever.  It must have been a stunning experience to see happen for the first time on screen back in 1927

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5