Girl Shy (1924)

A shy, young man, who is completely incapable of talking to women, decides to write a book that details to other bachelors how to find a girlfriend.

Directors:

Fred C. Newmeyer (as Fred Newmeyer), Sam Taylor

Writers:

Sam Taylor (story), Ted Wilde (story)

Stars:

Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Daniels

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Harold Lloyd	...	Harold Meadows
Jobyna Ralston	...	Mary Buckingham
Richard Daniels	...	Jerry Meadows
Carlton Griffin	...	Ronald DeVore

Storyline

Harold Meadows (Lloyd) is a shy, stuttering bachelor working in a tailor shop, who is writing a guide book for other bashful young men, "The Secret of Making Love," chapters from which are portrayed as fantasy sequences. Fate has him meet rich girl, Mary (Ralston), and they fall in love. But she is about to wed an already married man, so our hero embarks upon a hair-raising daredevil ride to prevent the wedding.

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Plot Keywords:

stuttering | tailor | california | publisher | uncle | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1924 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Girl Expert

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$625,466, 8 March 1924

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Harold Lloyd Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min (Turner library print) 87 min (1992)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the exterior shots were filmed at Holmby House, the massive estate owned by Arthur Letts, owner of the Bullocks Departments Store. Harold Lloyd did not move into his Green Acres estate in Beverly Hills until 1929, five years after Girl Shy was released.

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Goofs

When Harold helps Mary out of the boat, the lilting boat is causing a lot of ripples in the water behind them. In the very next shot, the water has become still again, with none of the wake from before.

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Quotes

Title Card: The story of a bashful boy who lived in a world of ideas and ideals. He was so afraid of girls that he made a secret study of them and the more he studied them the more he feared them.

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Connections

Referenced in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

User Reviews

Good Comedy & Frantic Finale, With A Good Character For Lloyd

This is an enjoyable feature with some good comedy and a good role for Harold Lloyd, giving him plenty of opportunities to show his athleticism and his slapstick skills while developing his character at the same time. The story follows the reliable pattern of pleasant light comedy as the plot takes shape, followed by an extended race-against-time sequence for the finale.

Lloyd's character is easy to sympathize with, despite his flaws and mistakes, and his stuttering and other habits help to make the character work. It's easy to identify with both his shyness and his overly-optimistic dreams, even when the character is completely self-deluded. Jobyna Ralston is effective as the gentle young rich woman, and their relationship's ups and downs are believably portrayed.

The pace is deliberate for the most part, until everything is set up for the climactic sequence. Lloyd gets to do some impressive stunts, and there are a lot of interesting details. One notable feature is that Harold makes use of almost every conceivable form of conveyance available at the time, which adds to the effect.

As is usual for a Lloyd feature, there are a lot of visual details here and there that often set off the main action nicely. The main character is just enough different from Lloyd's best-known roles to make him interesting yet largely familiar. The story is told effectively, with a couple of recurring visual references that work well in wordlessly conveying the characters' thoughts. The romance, comedy, and action make for an entertaining mix.