Not one of Harold Lloyd's funniest films, but one of his sweetest. He plays a shy, stuttering boy who nevertheless writes a book on how to win over the hearts of women. The movie ambles along nicely with some fun sequences and some cute romantic interludes until the climax, which overwhelms everything that comes before it.
When Harold learns of the impending wedding of
the girl he loves to a known bigamist, he must reach the
church
before she says "I do". This turns into perhaps the greatest
action sequence in silent comedy history, as Harold scrambles from one
mode of transportation to another in a breathless race against
time. From fire engine to automobile to motorcycle to
streetcar
to horseback, Harold's energy never flags in his quest to save his girl
from
shame. Insanely fast, furious and funny, it is twenty minutes
unlike anything else you may find in silent comedy and is Lloyd's
crowning achievement. The scene even includes a startling
unplanned moment in which Harold and his horse take a horrible spill.
GIRL SHY was Lloyd's first
independent feature
after leaving Hal Roach, but things were obviously amicable, as Lloyd
makes nice use of three contemporary Our
Gang members: Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon and Mickey
Daniels. - JB