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Haunted Spooks (1920) - Harold Lloyd

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metaldams:

--- Quote from: Dr. Mabuse on February 14, 2022, 10:23:17 PM ---Chaplin's lack of productivity (two First National shorts in 1919, with no releases in 1920) left the door open for Harold Lloyd to thrive.  "Haunted Spooks" remains among Lloyd's best two-reelers — ingeniously constructed and timelessly funny.  I agree that the first two-thirds are more successful than the climactic scare hijinks, yet the short never runs out of energy. Another gem from the Third Genius.

--- End quote ---

Chaplin was slaving away on THE KID during these years, but it shows how confident he must have been in his fame to take so much time.  But you’re right, definitely opened up the market for Lloyd.

HomokHarcos:
I liked this one, both the first and second reel. The first reel had a good plot, the part where Harold is in a romance triangle and actually loses, that leads to the suicide scene. I know nowadays there is more controversy about these types of gags (in old Looney Tunes airings they censor scenes like these) but I found it funny the ways that he tries to commit suicide. The bridge part was my favorite when it looked like it was going to be deep only to be very shallow. I also like the car scene that follows, especially due to the background scenery.

I like horror settings, so the second part worked perfectly fine. We do get a stereotypical black man scared of ghosts, but what was cool is that he actually captured one of the villains. Sunshine Sammy was good here and it's not hard to see why he was made to be one of the early stars of Our Gang. Some of the early Our Gang kids were very good (I really like Joe Cobb and Allen Hoskins).

Umbrella Sam:
Another solid effort overall. Not going to lie, with that name, I was expecting the second half to be the majority of the short. Regarding that second half, the obvious stereotypes were a bit uncomfortable, but like HomokHarcos, I also like the twist at the end with the one guy capturing one of the villains. One thing that stood out to me here was Mildred Davis’s acting. I was watching GIRL SHY not too long ago and trying to study what made the two so different but equally effective. Watching Ralston, she appeared very subtle, someone who wanted to appear as natural as possible in her performance, and she was obviously very good at it. Mildred was like the complete opposite. She tended to overact, but I mean it in the best possible way. Just watch her expressions throughout; when she’s driving with Harold and the chickens behind them, her laughter is kind of contagious, and when she’s scared during the haunted house scenes, she does it in pretty much the same over-the-top way Harold or any other comedian of the time would. That’s another reason why she was such a natural fit with Harold.

The first half is also very funny, if not funnier. The scenes with Harold getting his rival declared insane is really funny and I also enjoy the HARD LUCK type scenes. Probably my favorite part is when he’s getting ready to jump off the bridge and these guys interrupt him so casually, not caring in the slightest what he’s about to do. I like dark humor like that; the kind of thing that passes by quickly without constantly hammering it in.

Despite all the troubles surrounding this production, they still managed to turn out a good product, and that is indeed impressive.

metaldams:
You’re right Sam, Mildred did overreact a lot, but in a fun way.  It suited the films of the time.  By the time Jobyna came in, the female lead was written more adult like.

metaldams:

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