This is How Movies Should Be Made

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Blistering performances.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Yet more proof that Harold Lloyd was a much better silent comedian than a sound one.In "Movie Crazy," Lloyd plays Harold, a star-struck country boy who, due to a case of (sort of) mistaken identity, lands a screen test in Hollywood. He falls for both a starlet (an engaging Constance Cummings) and a sexy Spanish actress, not realizing that the Spanish actress is really Cummings herself playing a character in a movie. The film could have been a major entry in the "movies about making movies" genre, but it instead opts for blandness and convention. It's not very funny; Lloyd and his collaborators seemed to think that there was no place in a sound film for Lloyd's remarkable acrobatics and physical comedy antics, the things that made his silent films so much fun, but they don't replace them with anything but scene after scene of sluggishly paced, wooden dialogue.Grade: C-

I watched this the other day for the first time in years, and was disappointed. I had distant memories of this being a very funny film but it just "fair, at best." Some national film critics like Leonard Maltin call this Harold Lloyd's "best talkie," but I disagree. Film critics love any story that has to do with Hollywood.Constance Cummings was more entertaining than Lloyd. Her looks and figure didn't hurt, either. Anyway, Harold plays a small-town Midwestern boy who heads to Hollywood to become a famous movie star. He thinks he's talented enough (which he isn't, of course.) The only reason he got invited, and keeps getting tryouts, is because the producer thinks Lloyd is someone else.Meanwhile, since romance is usually a part of these classic comedies, Harold gets a lot of points with Cummings. She's impressed because he's the only male who doesn't fawn all over him. Since mishaps occur wherever he goes, she calls him "Trouble."Much of the story is a series of events that happen to both of the leads, good things and bad things. There are some funny scenes, such as Lloyd putting on a magician's coat by mistake and squirting people in face, etc. However, if you've seen The Three Stooges, you've seen all the sight gaps you see in this movie. In all, nothing extraordinary.

This is a good comedy, possibly Harold Lloyd's best sound movie, and it features a very nice pairing of Lloyd with Constance Cummings. It's also interesting and entertaining as a light commentary on the movie industry of its day, and the ways that it was perceived. The extreme eagerness of Lloyd's character to break into the movies is interwoven with the main romantic plot in some clever ways.The story has Lloyd's character leaving his Kansas home and heading to Hollywood, where he winds up having a chaotic and very funny romance with a star actress played by Cummings. There are a lot of funny gag ideas, some very nice scenes between the two stars, and quite a bit more, capped off by the kind of funny, exciting set piece that you always hope for as the finale in one of Lloyd's movies.Cummings is very appealing and enjoyable, and she has a lot of good material to work with, as the script sets up a good contrast between her screen character and her real personality. This contrast is used very creatively in the plot, and the effect is aided considerably by how well Cummings and Lloyd work together in all of their scenes. The actress's affectionate nickname of 'Trouble' for Lloyd's character works well, too. Their interplay is the best part of a good comedy that also has a lot of other things working for it.

A MOVIE CRAZY young klutz comes to Hollywood and tries to become a film star in the worst possible way.Harold Lloyd had a solid success with this, his third talking film. Not only is he still a very funny fellow with outstanding athletic abilities (especially considering that half of his right hand was a prosthetic) but the film itself is remarkable for its feeling of natural realism. It doesn't look or sound like most of its other contemporaries. The dialogue has a true ring to it and much of the acting is perfectly straightforward & unaffected. Much credit must go to the fine work done by the director, writer & cameraman.The production values are of a very high order, offering glimpses of back lot Paramount Studios as a bonus. Harold's gags are often hilarious and he has some tremendous sequences, creating unintended havoc about the movie lot, attending a fancy dance party while wearing a magician's coat maliciously intent on disgorging its contents, or engaging in a climactic battle with the bad guy around a flooded set.Constance Cummings, as the actress who captures Harold's heart, gives a remarkably naturalistic performance, sweetly bringing the viewer under her spell. You want Harold to fall for her, even while he only has eyes for her Latin alter ego. Here is a performer who deserves to be rediscovered.DeWitt Jennings & Lucy Beaumont are enjoyable in their very short opening sequence as Harold's Kansas parents. Kenneth Thomson, as the villain of the film, is effective as the drunken brute who wants Miss Cummings for himself. Spencer Charters is fun as a highly temperamental studio executive. Arthur Housman is on hand playing the patented inebriate he performed so often. And marvelous Louise Closser Hale shines in her only scene as a Hollywood matron who shares a disastrous dance with Harold.Movie mavens will recognize Noah Young, a familiar face from Harold's silent films, as an upset cop & a hilarious Grady Sutton as a nervous fellow who's terrified of mice--both uncredited.