Movie Crazy (1932)

After a mix-up with his application photograph, an aspiring actor is invited to a test screening and goes off to Hollywood.

Directors:

Clyde Bruckman, Harold Lloyd (uncredited)

Writers:

Vincent Lawrence (screenplay), Vincent Lawrence (dialogue)

Stars:

Harold Lloyd, Constance Cummings, Kenneth Thomson

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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 (as Eddie Fetherstone)
Sydney Jarvis	...	The Director
Harold Goodwin	...	Miller
Mary Doran	...	Margie
DeWitt Jennings	...	Mr. Hall (as De Witt Jennings)
Lucy Beaumont	...	Mrs. Hall
Arthur Housman	...	Customer Who Didn't Order Rabbit

Storyline

Harold Hall, an accident-prone young man with little or no acting ability, desperately wants to be in pictures. After a mix-up with his application photograph, he gets an offer to have a screen-test and goes off to Hollywood. At the studio, he does everything wrong and causes all sorts of trouble, but he catches the fancy of a beautiful actress. Eventually, the studio owner recognizes him as a comic genius.

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Plot Keywords:

man wears eyeglasses | screen test | actress | drunkenness | gay slur | 

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Taglines:

The Funniest Man in the World!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dinner guest who jumps atop a table and comically over-reacts to a mouse is character actor (and frequent W.C. Fields foil) Grady Sutton.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Miller: What kind of parts do you play?
Harold Hall aka Trouble: Aw, heroes.
Miller: Well, that means we gotta get a dame.

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Alternate Versions

1953 re-release version through Monarch Films is edited to 79 minutes. This was the only version shown on television for years. In April 2003 Turner Classic Movies channel premiered the newly restored version, mastered by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from the original film elements. This version is fully restored and runs 98 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Mini Biographies (2005)

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Soundtracks

Indiana
(1917) (uncredited)
Music by James F. Hanley
Whistled by Harold

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Movie Crazy

Filming Locations:

Santa Fe La Grande Railroad Station Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$675,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Harold Lloyd Corporation (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min (re-release) 98 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1