A Sailor-Made Man (1921)

Director:

Fred C. Newmeyer

Writers:

Hal Roach (story) &
Sam Taylor (story) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

An idle, wealthy playboy foolishly joins the Navy when the father of the girl he wants to marry tells him to get a job to prove himself worthy.

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Rescue | Port | Monkey | Idle Rich

Cast

Harold Lloyd	...	The Boy
Mildred Davis	...	The Girl
Noah Young	...	The Rowdy Element
Dick Sutherland	...	Maharajah of Khairpura-Bhandanna

Runtime:

USA:46 min (2002 restoration) | USA:47 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

Released on 25 December 1921, it grossed $485,000. The success of this film as a feature led Lloyd to abandon making 2-reel shorts. His next film, Grandma's Boy (1922) was designed from the start as a 5-reel feature and would be released nine months after _Sailor Made Man, A (1921)_.

Goofs:

Continuity: When The Girl takes the cigar away from the old woman on the streets of Khairpura-Bhandanna, she turns and sees Harold approaching; she then immediately reaches out her arms to embrace him and she's holding the cigar in her right hand. In the next shot, as she has her arms around Harold's neck, the cigar is now in her left hand.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "American Masters: Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius" (1989)

Good Harold Lloyd Comedy

This is one of many funny and entertaining Harold Lloyd comedies that have been somewhat overshadowed by his better-known masterpieces. Certainly, "A Sailor-Made Man" is not on the level of "Safety Last" or "Speedy" or a few others, but it's an enjoyable feature in its own right, with some good material.

The story has a setup that will be familiar to Lloyd fans, with Harold as one of many suitors for the hand of a society girl played by Mildred Davis. Lloyd's character ends up in the Navy, where he meets up with a roughneck played in entertaining fashion by Noah Young. There are some sequences of slapstick aboard ship, and then the main story resumes when Lloyd meets up again with Davis in an exotic port of call.

There are some interesting settings with plenty of good individual gag ideas, and there are a couple of very good sequences. There's a street fight scene, with Lloyd and Young taking on a gang of toughs, that has some clever touches, plus a fun chase sequence in a harem. It doesn't have any of the terrific set pieces that you find in Lloyd's best movies, but it has more than enough to make it entertaining and enjoyable.