The Kid Brother (1927)

Directors:

Ted Wilde
J.A. Howe (co-director)

Writers:

Thomas J. Crizer (story)
Howard J. Green (scenario)

Release Date:

22 January 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

Plot:

The most important family in Hickoryville is (naturally enough) the Hickorys, with sheriff Jim and his tough manly sons Leo and Olin...

Plot Keywords:

Abandoned Ship | Brother Brother Relationship | Bully | Churn | Clothes Line

Cast

Harold Lloyd	...	Harold Hickory
Jobyna Ralston	...	Mary Powers
Walter James	...	Jim Hickory
Leo Willis	...	Leo Hickory
Olin Francis	...	Olin Hickory
Constantine Romanoff	...	Sandoni (as C. Romanoff)
Eddie Boland	...	'Flash' Farrell
Frank Lanning	...	Sam Hooper
Ralph Yearsley	...	Hank Hooper (as R. Yearsley)

Also Known As:

The Mountain Day (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Placentia, California, USA

Company:

The Harold Lloyd Corporation

Trivia:

The list of "Subscribers to County Dam" shown in a meeting scene contains the actual names of the supporting cast members.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Backgrounds changes when the billy goat is eating the laundry.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "American Masters: Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius" (1989)

The Greatest Silent Film!

Probably Harold Lloyd's Greatest Achievement!

The most important family in Hickoryville is (naturally enough) the Hickory's, with sheriff Jim and his tough manly sons Leo and Olin. The timid youngest son, Harold, doesn't have the muscles to match up to them, so he has to use his wits to win the respect of his strong father and also the love of beautiful Mary. A Harold Lloyd Masterpiece! It was now long after Lloyd left Hal Roach and he had opened his own film company, The Harold Lloyd Corporation where at first he distributed many of his film including Girl Shy (1924), Hot Water (1924) & The Freshman (1925) through Pathe but he had now made an agreement to distribute his films through Paramount. Lloyd had already distributed one film through Paramount entitled For Heaven's Sake in 1926.

Just like For Heaven's Sake, The Kid Brother is a very well staged film as well as being a hilarious picture. No Silent film director before Lloyd could use his camera to it's full extent with long-panning shots and track shots. D.W. Griffith had invented many well known camera techniques although Lloyd was one of the first recognised for doing it. The Cinematographer for most of Lloyd's films was Walter Lundin a very talented cameraman who was later also known for shooting Laurel & Hardy's Oscar-Winning The Music Box in 1932. In one scene where Harold says goodbye to his girl (Jobyna Ralston), Lloyd placed Lundin on a special lift so when Lloyd is climbing a tree higher and higher to say goodbye the Camera follows him very exceptionally and it's one of the best treats in the film. Although the most famous moment in the film is the fight with the villain on the derelict ship at the end. The Original director of the film was Lewis Milestone who went on to direct All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Milestone was then replaced by Lloyd Gagman Ted Wilde and J.A. Howe. Of course many people acknowledge Lloyd as being the director of his films to some extent although he was only credited as producer. For instance Lloyd directed most of Movie Crazy (1932) but he was never credited as director. However he was credited as directing some of his first "Glass Character" films in 1917 and 1918. Sam Taylor said "He Always had the Final Word" and that's definitely true.

Lloyd works very well with is co-stars Jobyna Ralston who had played his leading lady in 6 of his films was now to leave Lloyd and go and star in Wings (1927). Also in the cast are Walter James who also appeared in Keaton's Battling Butler (1926), Leo Willis famous for his films with Laurel & Hardy and Olin Francis. In the 20s Keaton borrowed gags from Lloyd's films and Lloyd borrowed gags from Keaton's film so they practically swapped but Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd were very good friends. Watching Lloyd's films and Keaton films, it is very evident the gags the both re-produced. The Train station scene in Safety Last! (1923) was practically copied from Keaton's Cops (1922). And The Navigator (1924) inspired The Kid Brother's ship scenes. The Finale is excellent where Lloyd and Ralston are walking down the countryside when suddenly his bully comes and want to fight they do and it becomes a sepectacular ending where the camera is surrounded by dust and when it all clears the bully is on the ground and Harold and Mary walk off into the distance. Check out www.daniel-d.com for more information on Harold Lloyd!

The Kid Brother is one of the best of Lloyd's features and a must see for fans of cinema of long ago.