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 | runaway streetcar | author | interrupted wedding | 

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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)

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

In addition to the fantasy scenes involving the Vamp and Flapper, a sequence showing Dorothy Dorr as a simple country girl being courted by The Boy (imagining himself dressed as a debonair country gentleman). The sequence was presumably excised during the preview process, before general release, and does not survive. Stills from the sequence exist.

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Goofs

When Harold and Mary are on the train, Mary is wearing white gloves. Harold hands her a book, and the next shot is a closeup of two hands holding the book, only the hands are bare without gloves. The next shot then shows Harold and Mary again, with Mary still holding the book, and she is back to wearing white gloves.

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Quotes

The Rich Girl: [Reads the title of the book Harold has written: "The Secret of Making Love"] I'd love to hear about your book.

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Alternate Versions

In addition to the 'My Vampire' and 'My Flapper' sequences, there was a third interlude involving the girl with the curls, where Harold finds her as a Mary Pickford-type milk maid. The scene does not survive (it was cut after a preview) but a photograph of the scene has appeared in several publications.

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Connections

Featured in Scoring for Comedy (2005)

User Reviews

Great Slapstick Action Romance

I have not seen very many Harold Lloyd movies, but if this film is any indication of his massive talent, I need to remedy that as soon as possible.

Harold is wonderful as Harold Meadows, a man so shy around women that he stutters until a whistle is blown. He is at work on a book about seducing women strangely enough and the imaginary scenes of him using his "techniques" on both a Vampire (Vamp) and a Flapper are early indications that this is going to be a very funny film.

The plot has been more than ably shared already, I will just add a few short observations.

It was a treat to see some of the earliest Our Gang / Little Rascal kids in this movie. In the opening scene in the tailor shop the wild-haired boy getting his pants stitched is Jackie Condon and the cute, chubby boy sitting on the floor is the first Our Gang "Fat Kid" , Joe Cobb. Later during the chase scene as Harold is riding horses, a freckle-faced boy calls out a cheer, this is Mickey Daniels, also of Our Gang fame.

I enjoyed, as everyone seems to of course, the chase/race at the end. It seems that they purposely used every form of land transport known at the time to get Harold to the place he needed to be.

Early product placement? Crackerjack boxes play a major role in this film.



All in all, this was am excellent introduction to Harold Lloyd for me, it makes me want to see more. I recommend it highly!