Movie Crazy (1932)

Director:

Clyde Bruckman

Writers:

Agnes Christine Johnston (story) and
John Grey (story) ...

Release Date:

23 September 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Romance

Plot:

Harold Hall, an accident prone young man with little or no acting ability, desperately wants to be in pictures...

Plot Keywords:

Screen Test | Actress | Screening Room | Fistfight | Jacket

Cast

Harold Lloyd	...	Harold Hall aka Trouble
Constance Cummings	...	Mary Sears
Kenneth Thomson	...	Vance
Louise Closser Hale	...	Mrs. Kitterman
Spencer Charters	...	J.L. O'Brien
Robert McWade	...	Wesley Kitterman, Producer
Eddie Fetherston	...	Bill (assistant director)
Sydney Jarvis	...	The director
Harold Goodwin	...	Miller
Mary Doran	...	Margie
DeWitt Jennings	...	Mr. Hall
Lucy Beaumont	...	Mrs. Hall
Arthur Housman	...	Customer who didn't order rabbit

Runtime:

USA:81 min (re-release) | USA:84 min | USA:98 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Center Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

The Harold Lloyd Corporation

Trivia:

This was the first film that Harold Lloyd worked with a full script of prepared dialogue.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: As Harold leaves Mary at the Kitterman party, she is sitting on the steps on the patio. As she watches Harold walk off, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen against the wall behind her as it swings over her head.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Funny Side of Life (1963)

Soundtrack:

Indiana

Mr. Lloyd's Talkie Triumph

A MOVIE CRAZY young klutz comes to Hollywood and tries to become a film star in the worst possible way.

Harold Lloyd had a solid success with this, his third talking film. Not only is he still a very funny fellow with outstanding athletic abilities (especially considering that half of his right hand was a prosthetic) but the film itself is remarkable for its feeling of natural realism. It doesn't look or sound like most of its other contemporaries. The dialogue has a true ring to it and much of the acting is perfectly straightforward & unaffected. Much credit must go to the fine work done by the director, writer & cameraman.

The production values are of a very high order, offering glimpses of back lot Paramount Studios as a bonus. Harold's gags are often hilarious and he has some tremendous sequences, creating unintended havoc about the movie lot, attending a fancy dance party while wearing a magician's coat maliciously intent on disgorging its contents, or engaging in a climactic battle with the bad guy around a flooded set.

Constance Cummings, as the actress who captures Harold's heart, gives a remarkably naturalistic performance, sweetly bringing the viewer under her spell. You want Harold to fall for her, even while he only has eyes for her Latin alter ego. Here is a performer who deserves to be rediscovered.

DeWitt Jennings & Lucy Beaumont are enjoyable in their very short opening sequence as Harold's Kansas parents. Kenneth Thomson, as the villain of the film, is effective as the drunken brute who wants Miss Cummings for himself. Spencer Charters is fun as a highly temperamental studio executive. Arthur Housman is on hand playing the patented inebriate he performed so often. And marvelous Louise Closser Hale shines in her only scene as a Hollywood matron who shares a disastrous dance with Harold.

Movie mavens will recognize Noah Young, a familiar face from Harold's silent films, as an upset cop & a hilarious Grady Sutton as a nervous fellow who's terrified of mice--both uncredited.