Themes: Success is the Best Revenge, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Harold Lloyd, Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Mrs. Anna Townsend, Charles E. Stevenson, Dick Sutherland
Release Year: 1922
Country: US
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
This rollicking comedy is Harold Lloyd's second feature film and like the first, A Sailor-Made Man was originally conceived of as a short film. During the shooting, Lloyd and long-time collaborator Hal Roach insisted on continually developing his character and moving beyond pure gags into a real story. $100,000 and five reels later the film was ready to preview. Because the entire work was so funny and well-done, it was decided to leave it intact and market it as a feature film. Following the success of Grandma's Boy, Lloyd abandoned short films in favor of full length films. The story centers on Sonny, a flighty young boy who is required to join the rest of the men in his small town on a manhunt for a murderer. Totally frightened by the prospect of finding the killer, Sonny heads for the safety of his grandmother's home. She inspires the cowering youth with a stirring tale about her formerly timorous husband who went to a mysterious old witch for the courage to fight in the Civil War. The old wise woman gave him a magical Zuni charm which made Sonny's grandfather invincible. Armed with his amulet, the newly courageous grandfather rushed out to steal some important Yankee plans. The story enraptures the wide-eyed Sonny. Suddenly grandmother hands him the very amulet that made her husband a hero. Not realizing that the bauble is really only a handle from one of grandma's umbrella's, the emboldened Sonny charges off to single-handedly save the town from the fugitive villain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
What separated the three great silent comedians -- Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd -- from the rest was their ability to create truly memorable characters. Combine this with a good story and great gags and it results in pictures like The Kid, Our Hospitality and this picture. Grandma's Boy was Lloyd's first true feature-length film, albeit a short one -- a runs a scant five reels, or 49 minutes. 1921's A Sailor-Made Man, at four reels, was more of an extended short. Like A Sailor-Made Man, Grandma's Boy began as a two-reeler that just kept on growing. The extra length was completely valid, as it gave Lloyd the ability to explore all the colors of the plot and, for the first time, really build on his "glasses" character. The first ten minutes are used to construct a solid foundation for Sonny (Lloyd), the cowardly young man, and gives the audience time to identify with him. We're shown that Sonny is easily bullied by his rival (Charles Stevenson) for the girl Mildred Davis). By the time the rival dumps poor Sonny in the well, we are on his side completely. Another strong character -- and the real love of Sonny's life -- is his old granny (Anna Townsend), frail looking but with a backbone of steel. It's Grandma who builds up Sonny's courage by giving him the "magic charm of Zuni," which she says was used by his Grandpa in the Civil War. It's gratifying to watch Sonny transform from wimp to hero as he defeats the killer tramp (Dick Sutherland) that is terrorizing the little rural village in which he lives, then to see him fight it out with his rival, ultimately dumping him in the very same well. It's even more gratifying to watch Sonny come to the realization that the charm was a fake and that he performed all these feats himself. Since Lloyd's characters are normal, everyday guys, as opposed to, say, Mack Sennett's grotesque-looking comics, the audience is able to warmly embrace them as their own. The early 1920s marked an important time in comic filmmaking, as Lloyd, Chaplin and Keaton all made this leap from mere caricature to true character. After that, comedy never looked back. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
Noah Young - The Sheriff; Sammy Brooks - Townsman; William Gillespie - Townsman; Wally Howe - Townsman; Gus Leonard - Farmer
Credit
Fred Newmeyer - Director, Walter Lundin - Cinematographer, Hal Roach - Producer, H.M. Walker - Intertitle Writer, Jean Havez - Screenwriter, Harold Lloyd - Screenwriter, Hal Roach - Screenwriter, Sam Taylor - Screenwriter
Grandma's Boy is a 1922comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. The film was highly influential, helping to pioneer feature-length comedies which combined both gags with character development.
Lloyd plays the grandma's boy, a timid coward. When his grandma gives him a magic charm from the Civil War he captures a criminal and wins the girl. The "magic charm" turns out to be the handle of her umbrella.
