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 Mary's car goes off the road and in a close shot she takes out the crackerjack box, there is a reflection in the side of the car (bottom left) of a pair of legs standing nearby, then walking away.

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Quotes

Big Publishing Office Girl: I just love cave men!

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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 Fejezetek a film történetéböl: Az amerikai film kezdetei (1989)

User Reviews

One of the Best!

The great Harold Lloyd has a total triumph in 1924's Girl Shy. This films is jam-packed with wit, slapstick, and old-fashioned sweetness. Lloyd found his perfect leading lady in Jobyna Ralston, who had just the right amount of prettiness and comic timing. Lloyd, of course, was the master of comic timing in everything from set pieces to still-spectacular chases across Los Angeles downtown streets. I especially liked the daydream scenes where the shy Harold conquers 2 great 1920s stereotypes: the Vamp, and the Flapper. I'd love to know who plays theses women in this film. I think she also appears as the girl with the hole in her stocking. This actress is a hoot as the parody of the vamp and flapper..... Altho I admire Chaplin, Keaton, and Harry Langdon as master comics, Harold Lloyd may have been the most complete of these star performers. His acting range was the broadest and his characters were never quite as vaudevillian--Harold Lloyd's everyman persona still rings true 80 years later. Bravo, Harold Lloyd!