Luke's Movie Muddle

In his days before becoming a mega-star in the 1920s, Harold Lloyd was a very prolific actor in a series of rather shabby comedies where he played a character named 'Lonesome Luke'. Luke was in some ways a knock-off of Charlie Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' but he lacked Chaplin's grace or likability. The public liked these films, but Lloyd yearned to make better films--and the 1920s were wildly successful when he perfected his bespectacled 'Everyman' character. While I have only seen a few of the Luke comedies, there probably aren't too many more out there due to the decomposition of Nitrate stock. In the case of these films, this isn't that great a loss!

Here in LUKE'S MOVIE MUDDLE we find Luke in charge of a movie theater. He not only works the box office but collects tickets and acts as the usher. While this COULD have been cute, the whole thing is handled in a very graceless manner. For laughs, Luke slaps around audience members--throwing them into their seats and hitting them like some sort of boorish jerk. Well, unfortunately, this is the general tempo of the film. While giving it a 3 seems very charitable, it earns this because MANY slapstick films of the day weren't much better--with pointless punching, gouging and bonking. Definitely a product of the times but thankfully his films of the 20s were simply brilliant and today must rank among the very best silent comedies ever. This is ironic, because as a Chaplin knock-off he was terrible but as his own original creation he was on par with Chaplin. Don't believe me? Try THE FRESHMAN or SAFETY LAST (among others) and you'll see what I mean.

Interesting as an example of Lloyd's early "Lonesome Luke" output, although I actually found he reminded me far more of Al St. John than Charlie Chaplin. Intriguing also as an illustration of contemporary cinema-going, at least at the bottom end of the spectrum -- allowing for comic licence.

However, the film itself is nothing very special; the gags are mainly of the falling-over and zany fighting variety which don't really appeal to me at all. (I did enjoy the accompanist frantically tuning his instrument in the middle of the performance... especially as the real-life accompanist happened to be engaged in some fairly frenetic piano-playing at that moment!)

Due to my checking the "American Slapstick" DVD from my library, I finally got to see a "Lonesome Luke" silent comedy short that starred Harold Lloyd long before he got lasting fame for his "glasses" character. By the way, according to the text that was shown prior to showing of this short, he got the inspiration for that by one of the supporting characters here that used spectacles for his portrayal. Anyway, here Luke is the box office, ticket taker, and usher. Snub Pollard is the projectionist. And Bebe Daniels is a female patron Luke takes a fancy to. There's some gags that should have been surefire, like a pipe in one patron's coat causing a disturbance. But the whole thing seems desperate especially whenever we see Pollard messing up the reels since it looks like he's intentionally doing it just to get laughs. And while I was a little amused seeing Luke pushing the male audience while being very nice to some of the female ones, it really doesn't go anywhere. So on that note, I'd only recommend Luke's Movie Muddle if you're really curious to see Lloyd in everything he ever did.

It is interesting to look at the talent involved in this half-reel movie -- Hal Roach behind the camera, Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard in front of it -- and think: Well. Miss Daniels has been in the movies six years at this point. She's the veteran. She was 15 at the time this was released.

Lloyd was doing Lonesome Luke at this point, one of the many Chaplin imitators of the period, and he was making an effort to be somewhat different. Chaplin was short and his clothes were too big. Lloyd was tall and his clothes were too small. When it comes down to it, however, this movie, despite a good set-up, is simply not terribly interesting. If you wish to see everything any of these four people did -- and they later did some excellent work -- then see it. Otherwise, avoid it.

LUKE'S MOVIE MUDDLE (1916) is one of the few surviving "Lonesome Luke" shorts of the great comedian Harold Lloyd. Many of Lloyd's films survive because of his own preservation. Unfortunately, a fire at his estate wiped out many of the Lonesome Luke comedies.

MOVIE MUDDLE begins showing Luke as the owner of a movie theater that shows Pathé (the company that produced this short) films. He does everything—sells tickets, takes tickets, shows people to their seats. His only partners are the piano player and the bumbling projectionist, played by the great Snub Pollard.

When a girl enters (Bebe Daniels), Luke's flirting gets the best of him. The film gets jammed, and via a smoking (literally) patron, the audience rushes out thinking there's a fire.

The comedy in MOVIE MUDDLE is much more refined than your average comedy short from the period, and unlike the of Mack Sennett, creates a situation and THEN mayhem, not vice versa.

I saw this short via a 16mm print that was clear, but not great. Obviously from a lesser source, but not a strain to watch.

Harold Lloyd fans will find this satisfying as a curiosity piece and an idea as to what Lonesome Luke was like (contrary to popular belief, the character was nothing like Chaplin's Tramp past his appearance). To the slapstick fans, a funny short awaits.

7/10 for good effort and satisfying results.