Feet First (1930)

Ambitious shoe salesman, Harold, unknowingly meets the boss' daughter and tells her he is a leather tycoon. The rest of the film he spends hiding his true circumstances, in the store and ... See full summary »

Director:

Clyde Bruckman

Writers:

John Grey (story), Alfred A. Cohn (story),

Stars:

Harold Lloyd, Barbara Kent, Robert McWade

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Harold Lloyd	...	Harold Horne
Barbara Kent	...	Barbara
Robert McWade	...	John Quincy Tanner
Lillian Leighton	...	Mrs. Tanner (as Lillianne Leighton)
Henry Hall	...	Mr. Endicott
Noah Young	...	Sailor
Alec B. Francis	...	Mr. Carson - Old-timer (as Alec Francis)
Arthur Housman	...	Drunken Clubman
Willie Best	...	Janitor (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Finlayson	...	Painter

Storyline

Ambitious shoe salesman, Harold, unknowingly meets the boss' daughter and tells her he is a leather tycoon. The rest of the film he spends hiding his true circumstances, in the store and later on a ship. Trying to deliver a letter, he later finds himself dangling high above the street on a building's scaffolding.

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Plot Keywords:

hiding | ship | taxi | mail | height | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Traumtänzer

Filming Locations:

848 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$647,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Harold Lloyd Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The float plane shown picking up the mail is a 1926 Savoia. Savoia-Marchetti, American Aero: American Aeronautical Co, Port Washington NY. Savoia planes were more often called American Marchetti to disguise their Italian origin of design although they were built in the US under license. It was equipped with a 90hp Kinner K-5. Wing span: 34'1" Length: 25'0" Load: 699 lbs. v: 86/75/40 range: 290 miles/ceiling: 7000'. Cost: $7,375 with starter and navigation lights. NC378N was one of only 25 built in this configuration.

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Connections

Featured in Funny Side of Life (1963)

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Soundtracks

"Aloha Oe"
(1908) (uncredited)
Music by Queen Liliuokalani
Played by a band as the ship leaves the Honolulu harbor

User Reviews

Deja Vu

Lloyd's career, like that of Keaton's, was irreparably damaged by the advent of sound, and this film is a fairly good example of why he failed to survive the transition. While the physical comedy is as funny as it was in his silent movies, the verbal comedy is, for Lloyd, one almighty pratfall. He clearly realised he needed something to amend for this shortcoming and, with a hint of desperation, harked backed to Safety Last (1923), one of his greatest silent films, by repeating the entire scaling the outside of a skyscraper sequence.

Lloyd plays a lowly shoe salesman who falls for a woman he believes is the daughter of the wealthy owner of the shoe store he works for but who is actually his secretary. Lloyd inadvertently manages to end up as a stowaway on the boat which his beloved and her boss are travelling and attempts to pass himself off as a wealthy young businessman while trying to avoid the ship's crew.

For most of the film the laughs are pretty strained. To be fair the film isn't particularly bad, but it falls so far below Lloyd's previous standards that you end up believing that it is. The finale in this film is almost as thrilling as the one in Safety Last, but it's just a repeat (without a musical score) and it smacks of desperation on the part of both Lloyd and his studio.