A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob

I really wanted to like "A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob". After all, the great silent comedian Harold Lloyd was the producer of this film...and I love Lloyd. But, sadly, I found the film to occasionally be tedious...mostly because it seemed to try too hard to make the audience laugh. Subtle, it wasn't! And, overall, it's more a pleasant (albeit loud) time-passer and not much more.

The film starts off well--with a rich guy, Stephen (Edmond O'Brien) in an awkward situation at the symphony. A family is in his box and try as he might, he cannot convince the staff that they are in his place. Not surprisingly, Stephen is mad.

Later, Dot (Lucille Ball) realizes that her family WAS in the wrong...it was Stephen's box after all. However, shortly after realizing it, she's assigned to be Stephen's new secretary. Imagine how awkward this might be!

Along the way, Stephen finds himself falling for Dot. But there's a hitch...she's got a fiance who is a sailor (George Murphy)...and Stephen likes the couple and doesn't want to horn in on their relationship. But what about Dot....what does she want?!

The problem with this film is that in many scenes it tries way, way too hard to be kooky. In the process, it lack subtlety and is a bit shrill. Terrible? No...but these annoying scenes do negatively impact the film and it's an easy film to skip....or not.