AN EASTERN WESTERNER is the sixth of thirteen two and three reel shorts Harold Lloyd made with the glasses character and first made 100% after the accident. It is a fantastic short overall and a case where there is just enough of a story, but no so much where it takes away from the gags and overall comedy, which there is plenty of.
The basic plot is Harold is a man about town in the early jazz age prohibition twenties. He comes home late one night, so his father sends him out west to become a man. While out west, Harold meets Mildred and is out to impress her. The bully of the town, played by Noah Young (not the poster on this board, the other one), wants Mildred to marry him and even locks up her father until she says yes, bringing to mind The Three Stooges in THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS.
The night club scene at the beginning is very much the look of jazz age America I was referring to and to bring the point home further, the main gag in this scene involves shimmy dancing. There is a sign on the wall prohibiting this dance, but Harold does it anyway. After being warned not to do it or he’ll be thrown out, he does it through well thought comic circumstance - his back towards a much larger man shimmying and having ice cream from above fall down his neck, causing him to shiver. All this leads to an entertaining altercation where he avoids being thrown out, all ending in a fire hydrant dousing all the patrons.
The west itself looks fantastic and there are again tons of gags I could go on all day listing. The carriage gag where Harold is sitting on a bench and the carriage gets away without him is a great example of pure film comedy. The camera has to be exactly at the right angle for the gag to work. The gags where Harold has to impress Mildred that he’s a real cowboy are well thought out. There’s the tire as rope gag and the gag where Harold has to mount a horse by jumping out a window. Of course, after all this wonderful build up of Harold delaying the jump to get more steam, the horse runs away and Harold takes a big fall. There is also a card game that involves Harold disguising himself at one point to mix drinks and look over the shoulder of his opponents to see what cards they have - again very Three Stooges like.
The chase finale is excellent as well. The minions chasing Harold wear white masks that sort of resemble the KKK. The print I am linking for you guys has a Carl Davis score - my favorite silent film composer - who uses Wagner just like they do in THE BIRTH OF A NATION - so that hammers the point home for me. So many cool parts, including Harold hiding in the laundry on the clothesline, doing a flip on a horseshoe to avoid the enemies, falling in a barrel that breaks around a bunch of the enemies and my favorite, the mirror gag, which I think is so clever and again, a very film based gag. The camera, the set up of Harold and the man chasing him all have to be placed perfectly.
Another fine Harold Lloyd short and looking at what’s ahead, I’m having trouble finding any stinkers.
