Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Get Out and Get Under" is a 25-minute short film from 1920, so 4 more years and this one will have its 100th anniversary. The names Roach and Walker should be known to silent film fans in general and if you read the name of lead actor Harold Lloyd you will know for sure what to expect. This is the story of a young man who needs to get to theater in time or else he will lose his role to another actor. Lots of chaos ensues of course in Lloyd's character's attempts to be on time. I mentioned four factors in the title of this review and all these are very common frequently in silent (short) films, so you can basically call this movie the epitome of a silent short movie from around that era. But you can also call it generic, stereotypical and uncreative and it's hard to argue against it. I think this one here was not really such a good watch. I have seen Lloyd do better on several occasions. The script probably isn't helping him much this time.

tavm Get Out and Get Under is Harold Lloyd's first film after an exploding accident that caused him to lose a two fingers and a thumb in one of his hands requiring him to wear a prosthetic glove in movies for the rest of his career. This is a very funny short in which Harold is hurrying to get to the theatre for his performance. Lots of hilarious scenes concerning ways to fix his car, his dealings with a kid (Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison of the original Our Gang) who keeps hanging around while he's working, a dog, some engineers of a train ferry the car accidentally goes on, a parade, a banana peel (no surprise there), a steep hill, a water tower, a fire hydrant, a "road closed" sign, and some motorcycle cops. His leading lady is played by his eventual wife, Mildred Davis. Produced and directed by comedy mastermind Hal Roach. The music I heard in this version was provided by Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks Orchestra. Highly essential viewing for silent movie comedy fans especially those of Harold Lloyd.

MARIO GAUCI Fair Harold Lloyd short which presents several gags he would re-use and improve upon in his later feature films. It opens with a scene at a photographer's studio where Harold discovers that his girl Mildred Davis is about to marry another man - but it all turns out to have been just a dream. He's involved in amateur theatricals and, being late for a performance, rushes out to the venue in his beloved car: amid the vehicle's breaking down on him, he falls foul of an elderly neighbor and a colored child; the race-against-time, then, culminates in the usual pursuit by a horde of policemen. The automobile trouble eventually gets a bit repetitive, but the film nevertheless includes the occasional inspired and hilarious gag - such as when Harold 'disappears' inside the car's engine compartment, an actor accidentally falling off the stage (after being 'killed') promptly going back up to resume his performance i.e. affecting a typically melodramatic 'exit' and, especially, when Lloyd sees a junkie getting high in the street and reasons that, if he injects his vehicle with the same substance, it will be likewise revitalized - which is what happens, as the car goes off on its own soon after 'taking' its fix!

boblipton Tin Lizzie, that is, a model T. This is a beautifully constructed silent comedy of a Man and His Car. Lloyd Lloyd was the model for later Hal Roach comedians, and his plots and situations were recycled for later comedians. Here, it is done in its pure form.