Year: 1927
Director: Hal Roach
Country: US
Language: English
In 1927 the film industry shook as Warner Brothers' The Jazz Singer introduced audiences to "talkie" pictures. Studios changed course from their silent ideals almost immediately, as many could see sound in cinema as more than a gimmick. Some, like Lloyd, Chaplin, and Keaton were less receptive and held onto the silent era even as profits dwindled. The Kid Brother would be Lloyd's first feature in this new world; thankfully it would maintain Lloyd's quality and still be fairly commercially successful.
In this, sheriff's milquetoast son (Harold Lloyd) has a chance to prove himself when a medicine show run by con artists comes into town.
Lloyd's pictures feel less complex than that of his contemporaries; Chaplin and Keaton's pictures were filled with large statements about society as a whole (such as the state of the American immigration system in Chaplin's The Immigrant) , whereas Lloyd's The Kid Brother is charming in its simplicity. It's a romantic comedy wherein the motivation of Lloyd is to prove himself worthy enough to get the girl. Lloyd is lighthearted escapism at its finest.
Filled with clever gags throughout its runtime, The Kid Brother offers imaginative sights without Keaton's sense of real danger. Keaton will break his neck for a laugh, Lloyd can get his humor established in a much safer way. The Black Ghost sequence and the many fights within it prove to be memorable cinema & will leave you asking "how did he shoot it?"
I love the three masters of silent comedy (Lloyd, Chaplin & Keaton) & look forward to every picture I discover of theirs. They are all different (Keaton is more daring, Chaplin is more political & Lloyd is more escapist) and thus I can find myself rooting for any one of them as I watch their pictures. The Kid Brother was a fantastic film and I would certainly watch it again.
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