The Marathon

Before he became the most popular comedy star of the 1920s, Harold Lloyd spent years making comedy shorts. Many of them are rather poor by his later standards, as his Lonesome Luke character was brash and obnoxious...and nothing like his later bespectacled nice-guy. In fact, he did perfect this spectacle look in the 1910s...but he sure didn't act like the nice and lovable guy he'd play in the 1920s. These films aren't as bad as the Lonesome Luke films, but they still are usually second-rate Lloyd.

In these Lloyd films of the later 1910s, Harold usually starred with Harry 'Snub' Pollard and Bebe Daniels...and "The Marathon" is no exception. Like most, Snub plays Harold's rival and both are trying to win Bebe's love.

The story begins with many men trying to woo Bebe, but her father, inexplicably, choosing Snub for her. Soon, Harold shows up and the father calls the police to have him arrested...which is odd. However, the detective who arrives looks a lot like Harold and Harold soon impersonates him. What's next? See the film.

If you wonder who played the detective who looks a bit like Harold, it is his real life brother, Gaylord. As far as the plot goes, it's pretty typical of Lloyd's late 1910s films...with him pursuing Bebe. But in this case, her father has it out for Harold and this makes it very difficult for him. Will he get the girl? See the film.

There are a few laughs in this film, though it really pales compared to his later and better work. Worth seeing if you are already a fan but worth skipping if you've never seen his best work.

Boy (Harold Lloyd), trying to impress girl, gets chased by her father and the police right into an ongoing marathon.

Although many of Harold Lloyd's films around 1920 were directed by Hal Roach, this one has the distinction of coming from a different man: Australian-born American film director Alfred J. Goulding, who also worked with Laurel and Hardy.

There are plenty of gags in this one, including the use of a midget, a small dog, and an impressive mirror joke. Whether the mirror was originated here or not I do not know, but it has been repeated countless times since, most often in cartoons. (Lloyd's comedy could probably be favorably compared to a cartoon.) One website says the definitive version of the joke is in 1933 Marx Brothers film "Duck Soup", who got it from vaudeville... but who first put it on screen?

Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard repeat the success of the previous year's A GASOLINE WEDDING by running through the same plot again.

The differences are the most interesting part. The stakes are not Bebe's hand in marriage, and Harold is no longer the impoverished gold-digger. This time he is solidly and proudly lower middle class -- he is, after all, wearing a derby and not a tall silk hat -- and the goal is to show him and Bebe dancing, which is always a charming sight. However, mostly, it is now about a nice young man who occasionally does strange things instead of the usual heartless slapstick character.

One gag worth mentioning is the "mirror gag", best known from its use in the Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP, in which Harold thinks he is looking in a mirror but is actually looking at someone else; in this case it is his brother, Gaylord Carter, dressed in a similar outfit. This was a standard gag that seems to have arisen in mid-19th century stage farces. It's still a great one.

The Marathon (1919)

*** (out of 4)

Semi-remake of 1918's THE GASOLINE WEDDING features the same cast, a few different story bits but is actually much better. This time out everyone wants to marry the girl (Bebe Daniels) but her boxer father (Bud Jamison) picks a man ('Snub' Pollard) she's not all that crazy about. Enter the boy (Harold Lloyd) who plans on stealing the girl. THE MARATHON contains some pretty big laughs throughout its 10-minute running time so fans of Lloyd and silent comedies will certainly want to check it out. The film starts off with some pretty big laughs as the men are fighting over the girl and this leads to a very short man taking on a very tall man. Follow this up with a very good gag dealing with Lloyd dragging something "heavy" and yet all of this is followed by an even funnier bit involving a broken mirror where Lloyd must act out the person who is standing in front of the mirror. This here is without question one of the better shorts to come from Rolin as Lloyd is certainly at the top of his game here and Jamison also gets some terrific laughs as the former boxer. The sequence where the "grandma" is getting beaten up is just priceless.

Although Harold Lloyd was at the peak of his career in terms of short films, this one was probably one of the most unfunny films that he made. Even a genius has his off day, but this film just proves that he was compromising quality scripts for supplying a demand.