Pistols for Breakfast

You latch on to Harold Lloyd in this short film as a value centre. He is easy to identify with, and you want to get behind him in his endeavors. He brought a dignity to the role which only Charles Chaplin equaled or surpassed.

Harold and Snub are about to take the train when they are rolled by two tramps, who steal their money, exchange clothes with them and dump them on the rods of a train. By the time they are conscious again, they are way out west where Bud is the crooked owner of a bar, Bebe is the post mistress and anyone who tries anything is shot -- several times -- and dumped on the street.

When Lloyd had abandoned his moderately successful Lonesome Luke character the previous year, he did it so he could participate in a wider variety of comedies. Occasionally, however, he liked to go back to the occasionally disgusting situations that Luke had found himself in. Here, dressed in rags and treating a corpse like a pointless prop, he does so. Yet his timing and gags had improved immeasurably, so while this one may make the tender-hearted wince, it is actually quite funny.