Two-Gun Gussie

While Harold Lloyds works date back to 1916 or so, this one is where Harold is still working on developing the form that would make him a top star of silents in the 1920's. The film shows its age and production values of this era.

While Lloyd is very good, & Beebe Daniels & a lot of his regulars from the 1920's are here, I'd suggest this film is for the die hard Lloyd fan. It is good, & has inspired moments, but is not up to even films he did a year or two later and not anywhere near the apex of Girl Shy, Why Worry, & Safety Last.

During the 1960's, Lloyd did attempt to revive his 1920's popularity releasing this and some of his other silents. His most effective project in the 1960's before his 1971 death is his consulting on the Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft classic "The Graduate". The ending of this film, and the comic hotel sequences are no doubt prime Harold Lloyd material with the ending borrowed from Girl Shy.

Considering that film won a lot of Oscar fame, anyone who wants to understand why that film is so brilliant should visit Harold Lloyds film work. Even this old film is worth a look.

A successful pianist, Harold Lloyd goes west, where he is less appreciated, to tickle the ivories at the "Howling Poodle Tango Bar". There, dastardly gunslinger William Blasdell (as Dagger-Tooth Dan) makes Mr. Lloyd's life difficult; he steals Lloyd's earnings and makes time with Bebe Daniels. Then, to avoid the attentions of sheriff Charles Stevenson (as Whooping-Cough Charlie), he infers Lloyd is the tough "Two-Gun Gussie". The funnier film moments follow, with Lloyd pretending to be a fearless hombre. "Snub" Pollard is good, as the bartender.

*** Two-Gun Gussie (5/19/18) Alf Goulding ~ Harold Lloyd, William Blasdell, 'Snub' Pollard

An excellent early short comedy for Harold Lloyd's 'Glass' character. He plays a meek conservatory graduate who wows the matrons and winds up playing in a western saloon, where Snub is the bartender and Bebe the Salvation Army lass. Harold is, of course, confused for a dangerous character and the gags flow fast and free for a while. Even Snub gets one or two funny ones.

At the beginning of his career, Harold Lloyd copied other comedians' styles (such as his "Lonesome Luke", which was a derivation of Chaplin's "Little Tramp"). However, by 1917 Lloyd had perfected the look of his later characters (the glasses, hat and suit), but it took him another 'three or four years to soften and improve upon the character. You see, up until about 1920 or 1921, Harold Lloyd's characters in film were not especially sweet or likable--a far cry from his decent "everyman" character he later played to perfection in films like SAFETY LAST and THE FRESHMAN. Here in TWO-GUN GUSSIE, Lloyd is slightly more likable than he had been in many previous films, but still he isn't quite the sweet guy we're used to seeing in later films.

Lloyd is a piano player and for some odd reason, he leaves his society home and goes West. Here he is mistreated until he is mistaken for a dangerous criminal. While this is excellent material for the comedian, his "fat-headed" reaction to his new-found respect makes him less than lovable, as he begins believing the stories and starts pushing people around for no particular reason. Also for no particular reason the film comes to an end with no real resolution. Sadly, Snub Pollard and Bebe Daniels are pretty much wasted in this rather forgettable film.

By the way, don't assume I hate Lloyd. He is, in fact, my favorite of the silent comics. It's just that his early stuff, like Chaplin's, is very rough and relies too much on slapstick.

This amusing short comedy is not bad, and it is at least a decent version of a familiar idea that has been used in similar form by many comics. It also shows Harold Lloyd as the kind of character that he was soon to develop further in the years just ahead.

The story has a western setting, and it starts with the local sheriff confusing Lloyd, who plays a mild-mannered piano player, with a tough criminal who has just arrived in town. The idea was probably a little less shopworn in 1918 than it would be now, and it furnishes more than enough material for a one-reeler.

Lloyd gets decent mileage out of the material, and while some of it is predictable, there are a couple of good gags as well, and there is always a good energy level. Snub Pollard gets a couple of good moments, and he looks as if he is enjoying himself. Bebe Daniels is also in the cast, but unfortunately her role is rather limited. Overall, a decent short comedy, and certainly one of the more efficient versions of the idea.