Movie Crazy (1932) User Reviews

If You're Looking for Trouble

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 16 March 2008]

Littleton, Kansas resident Harold Lloyd (as Harold Hall) is "Movie Crazy", much to the dismay of his parents. He writes to a film studio after reading, in a movie magazine, that "Hollywood is looking for new faces." Mr. Lloyd mistakenly sends the wrong face to "Planet Film Company"; and, they invite the handsome hunk to Hollywood, for a screen test. In tinsel town, Lloyd falls for not only the cameras, but also starlet Constance Cummings (Mary Sears).

Lloyd sounds great, in a worthy talkie… at last. It's not the best (or most original) story around, but "Movie Crazy" has some terrific moments. Lloyd's early adventures on the set, and losing a shoe in the rain are very nicely done. Ms. Cummings is a cunning attraction, delightful in almost a dual role; she and Lloyd make a good couple. An even better partner helps lighten the film considerably, when Lloyd makes "magic" with dancing partner Louise Closser Hale (as Mrs. Kitterman). Rats!

******* Movie Crazy (8/12/32) Clyde Bruckman, Harold Lloyd ~ Harold Lloyd, Constance Cummings, Kenneth Thomson

One of the best Lloyd's Talkies

[gelatoflo · 7/10 · 19 October 2000]

MOVIE CRAZY certainly is one of the best Lloyd's Talkies. From the opening gag on there are so many enjoyable moments only Lloyd knows how to provide. The screen test scenes are among the highlights. As always gags are very tightly built. Lloyd also handles the dialogue and timing pretty well; but Constance Cummings portrays a dominating, intelligent female lead that is rare in Lloyd's movies. Only complaint: if the high rise sequence in Feet First is recycled from Safety Last, the fighting-in-the-water scene here certainly looks familiar as well-from The Kid Brother. It's also a bit long and excessive.

Entertaining romantic comedy

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 7 August 2018]

An entertaining little film. I recommend watching it without thinking of the silent film star Harold Lloyd, or measuring his performance to some expectation you may have. Just enjoy a nice little romantic comedy with a beautiful leading lady, some behind the scenes looks at Hollywood sets from the day, and some funny gags. Nothing hysterical, but clever and had me chuckling at times.

Constance Cummings is fantastic in what is practically a dual role here. She plays a Hollywood actress that Lloyd falls for in her Spanish makeup, and befriends in her 'normal life'. Of course, the latter isn't until after he's lost a shoe in the rain, splashed mud all over her, and wrecked the top of her convertible, in a very nice sequence. She takes pity on him, nicknaming him 'Trouble', and is drawn to his unaffected, honest way. That honesty is put to a test, however, when she questions him about his interactions with the 'Spanish actress', knowing full well what he's said and done with her. These scenes where she tests Lloyd's loyalty are excellent, and the dialogue and emotions between the two are highly authentic. There is a certain sweetness to the film, but it's not cloying.

As for gags, the attempts Lloyd's character makes to get into the film industry are amusing, starting with being an extra in a scene practically moments after he's gotten off the train into town (lol), and continuing on to a screen test with 26 takes. The actress in the screen test with him (Mary Doran) is motivated because of a past slight on her sex appeal, but after she says to the director "Then lead me to it, baby! I'll show you flame enough to burn that bird up alive", he proceeds to stumbles all over, and can't manage to even answer the phone in the scene without destroying the set. The scene at the party where Lloyd is inadvertently wearing the magician's coat is probably the funniest, as its contents (eggs, mice, rabbits, etc) are dispensed one by one.

The film is well put together and has some interesting camera angles. I found it interesting that Lloyd had to direct quite a bit of it because credited director Clyde Bruckman was regularly intoxicated. The film isn't the pinnacle of Lloyd's career or the best of the pre-Code comedies you'll find, but it's solid and worth seeing.

A GENUINE COMEDY CLASSIC

[bensonj · 13 November 2001]

MOVIE CRAZY is one of Harold Lloyd's very best films, and that includes his silents. Sound complements his visual gags and adds depth to the story's characters without slowing down the humor.

What really makes this film singular is his relationship with the femme lead. Constance Cummings, one of the great, forgotten thirties performers, provides a complexity of character unique in this kind of comedy, certainly for the time. She's not a tacked-on "love interest;" her relation to Lloyd is integral to the story and essential to the success of the film. Her character is cosmopolitan, and an interesting aspect of it is her relationship to her slim, attractive and cultured black maid (NOT your usual thirties movie maid!) who seems more of a companion than a maid. At first Cummings finds Lloyd ridiculous, then irritating, but after a while she finds his natural affinity for disaster strangely interesting and she becomes fond of him. She's amused by him, and toys with him in an affectionate way.

Laughter is a mysterious, fragile thing. Among other things, it can be injured by too big an advance expectation. And some comedy needs an audience for fullest effect: Lloyd's comedy is that type. (Keaton, on the other hand, works as well in solitude.) Seeing this film with a large audience, I was helpless with laughter at numerous points in the film. The effect may not be the same if you see it on television, alone.

This is not a perfect film (but then really great films are rarely perfect). The sequence where he accidentally dons a magician's coat is funny, but too long and a bit too mechanically calculated. His battle with the villain on a waterlogged movie set meets the requirements for an action-filled finale, but is not the film's most inventive sequence. But the best sequences are terrific.

Partly because of the long-time unavailability of his films until recent years, Harold Lloyd has received critical short shrift from the silent comedy mavens. Keaton and Chaplin are demi-gods, and Laurel & Hardy and Langdon have been fully rehabilitated (if ever they were in disrepute), but Lloyd is still in the shadow, and that's unfair. Whatever else he is, Lloyd was consistently the FUNNIEST of them all, and his gags are always fresh, inventive and original. (I say this having seen nearly all the films of all these great performers.) The Lloyd character, too, though it varied from film to film, was never just a cipher, but a real, fully developed persona.

Seen in the right circumstances, MOVIE CRAZY can hold its own with filmdom's greatest classic comedies.

Lesser Talkie

[Maleejandra · 6/10 · 12 August 2006]

Harold Hall (Harold Lloyd) is movie crazy, so much so that he sends a photo of himself (or so he thinks) to a movie executive hoping for a chance to get his foot in the door. With a photo of a different man, the executive encourages to come to Hollywood for a screen test, but Hall's anxiousness does not translate well to the people there. He ruins films in which he is simply an extra, destroys the executive's office, and yet somehow manages to win over a budding actress (Constance Cummings).

Movie Crazy is a disappointment after hearing rave reviews and seeing several wonderful Lloyd talkies. It has its moments, but it is by no means a great film. As an early talkie, it shines. There are some silent moments, but the camera is hardly static and some of the dialogue is very funny. However, as a film from master comedian Lloyd, it lacks. Too many of the jokes seem familiar and dull, some having been used in silents. Also, the timing is completely off for most of them, making them difficult to laugh at.

Watch this film expecting to have fun, but not expecting to see a favorite. It will entertain you for the night at least.

Harold Lloyd encounters a series of unfortunate events...

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 10 March 2023]

... and seems to get blamed for all of them. Sure, he's clumsy, but he isn't the cause of half the bad things that happen to his character.

Lloyd plays Harold Hall, a guy who is "movie crazy" - he wants to be an actor in Hollywood. First unfortunate event - He writes a letter to a movie producer stating his desire to become an actor and has a photograph of himself he plans to mail with the letter. His father looks at the letter and mixes up a photo of a much more handsome fellow with Harold's photo, and the handsome fellow's photo is what gets mailed, unknown to Harold. So when he gets a letter back saying to come to Hollywood for a film test he has no idea what has happened.

Once in Hollywood, there are more mix-ups, the main one being that he doesn't realize that the beautiful Spanish girl he meets on a film set is actually actress Mary Sears (Constance Cummings) in make-up with a fake accent. He can't figure out how Mary knows everything he says to the Spanish girl. The dark side of things is that Mary has an actor boyfriend who has made it clear to Harold that he'd kill Mary before he'd see somebody else have her.

Lloyd was always the optimistic young man of the roaring 20s during the silent era, and by keeping things in the rather make believe land of Hollywood he manages to avoid setting this film in the depths of the Great Depression.

Lloyd was very successful monetarily - a very good businessman. As a result he could afford to outright retire from filmmaking after 1938 and never worry about money. This made his films - and in particular his sound films - become rather obscure and hard to find. Ironically, Buster Keaton stayed much better known because he was bad at the business end of filmmaking and had to keep working.

This film is very funny and I highly recommend it.

Not As Good As Advertised, Sorry To Say

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 30 September 2006]

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.

Mr. Lloyd's Talkie Triumph

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 26 February 2004]

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.

a silent clown icon no longer in his comfort zone

[mjneu59 · 6/10 · 9 December 2010]

The story of a disaster-prone movie buff who crashes Hollywood and becomes a star in spite of himself might have been lifted from erstwhile silent clown Harold Lloyd's own rags-to-riches autobiography. The film is widely considered Lloyd's best 'talkie', but it can't hope to match his silent classics, and doesn't try to approach the dizzy verbal pace of screwball comedy just then coming into vogue. Ironically, Lloyd himself is the weak link in the film; his (considerable) pantomime talents and optimistic go-getter personality were better suited to Jazz Age silent comedy, and didn't translate well to the Great Depression. Only the somewhat bizarre love interest, between the typically shy Harold and a temperamental actress (who doesn't tell him she's also the Spanish bombshell he's infatuated with) seems more in step with sophisticated sound-era comedy conventions. Technophiles take note: the climactic backstage battle, in which Harold finally proves himself, was clearly shot silent, but the clumsy telegraphing of each gag well in advance kills the tempo.

MOVIE CRAZY {The 2003 Restored Edition} (Clyde Bruckman, 1932) ***1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 9/10 · 2 January 2007]

This is surely Harold Lloyd's most satisfactory Sound film and, while it's hardly ever discussed in this context, one of the best comedies to emerge in the early Talkie era. As a matter of fact, ill-fated director Clyde Bruckman was a master handler of comedy (before booze got the better of him!) who guided the likes of Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields and Lloyd himself through some of their finest vehicles.

Anyway, the film finds the star at perhaps his most accident-prone - while the enchanting Constance Cummings is easily the strongest (and most talented) leading lady Lloyd ever had! As the title suggests, it provides a rare behind-the-scenes look at a Hollywood studio during its Golden Age and features a running-gag with Harold falling foul of a pompous studio executive. However, the film also involves typical situations for him such as mistaken identities (Lloyd unwittingly sends out to Hollywood the photo of a handsome guy, Cummings 'doubles' as a Spanish diva who ensnares our hero), romantic complications (the couple's frequent break-ups occurring as much through the intrusion of a rival as by the stars' individual character flaws) and disillusionment (Harold believes his disastrous screen-test was a triumph).

Amazingly, according to the IMDb, the film was shot with a Silent-movie camera to re-create the trademark Lloyd technique - with the the dialogue and sound effects added in post-production: sure enough, the energetic fistfight which caps the picture is highly reminiscent of the extended climactic bout in THE KID BROTHER (1927); similarly, the havoc caused by a magician's coat mistakenly worn by Harold during the uproarious party sequence recalls the suit-ripping gag from THE FRESHMAN (1925) - this scene, then, features very brief bits by amiable character actors Grady Sutton (as an overtly effeminate guest scared by a roaming mouse) and Arthur Housman (as, you've guessed it, a drunkard).

By the way, I wasn't aware that the PAL VHS released by the British Film Institute I previously owned (and which is how I had watched it) was actually the 80-minute re-issue version - though I couldn't quite tell what constituted the 'new' material!

At Last, I've Seen "Movie Crazy"

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 20 April 2009]

With my seeing MOVIE CRAZY I have finally seen the last of Harold Lloyd's sound films. My opinion of them remains the same - the best of them are not as good as his silent films. But on their own they are entertaining enough.

MOVIE CRAZY was a vast improvement over FEET FIRST. Done about a year after, Lloyd realized now that he had to control the use of sound when certain strenuous sequences (i.e., climbing the side of a skyscraper, or here fighting in a flooding movie set). The visual got reemphasized, and the results were better.

Lloyd comes to Hollywood having won a screen test. This is an old plot ploy where the hero/heroine thinks fame and fortune beckons, but that the reality is far less wonderful as there are thousands trying to break into films with them. Oddly Lloyd's two leading silent rivals (Chapln and Keaton) never did a spoof of the film industry in a feature (Chaplin did a Mutual short film in 1917 called BEHIND THE SCREEN that did spoof the budding young industry). Keaton's SHERLOCK JR. spoofs the magic of film making, but not the production of film itself. Harry Langdon did appear as himself in the film ELLA CINDERS where the heroine was trying to break into film.

The film follows two plots, of Lloyd getting his film test (which is typically a disaster, though the film crew maliciously tells him it was a success), and his meeting movie star Constance Cumming, which leads to a romantic involvement with her (and the growing jealousy of her co-star, Kenneth Thompson). The best portion of the film is the dinner party and the fight. Lloyd believes he was invited to a party with the Hollywood elite, and ends on the dance floor with the Louisa Closser Hale (the wife of Robert McWade, the studio head). He has accidentally changed his tales with a magician. The result is an onslaught of little animals (unfortunately including mice) that wreck the dinner dance. A highpoint: a drunk waiting his meal is surprised to find it being nibbled on by a rabbit!

The finale is the fight between Lloyd and Thompson. Thompson is an extreme egomaniac who would kill Cummings before losing her (he thinks he is her man). He helps humiliate Lloyd earlier, and when he finds Lloyd accidentally on an empty movie set beats him up. But Lloyd later thinks he sees Thompson threatening Cummings and the real fight begins.

It is actually on the set of a film where a ship is flooding, but Lloyd does not notice this (as he is concentrating on Thompson). There was a comment on another review of the film on this thread that it was reminiscent of the concluding fight in a flooded ship of Lloyd and Constantine Romanoff in THE KID BROTHER. That's true, but it also reminds one a bit (given how the water just gushes onto the set) of one of the last major silent spectacular films NOAH'S ARK. That film was famous for the massive flood on the set - supposedly so intensely flooded that some people were actually drowned in it.

The film does end well, with Harold leaving with girl and contract, and accidentally pulling one last victory over the director of his movie test (Spencer Charters), with the director's own help.

way underrated--this is a wonderful film and among Lloyd's best.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 15 May 2006]

I recently obtained and watched every film from the huge Harold Lloyd box set recently released by the Lloyd family. So, finally, I was able to watch Lloyd's sound films along side his silents and compare and contrast them. In general, his sound films are far better than I had expected--for years, I only watched his silents as I incorrectly assumed his sound movies wouldn't be very watchable--and in general, reviews for the sound versions of Lloyd and Keaton's films are pretty poor. Of all the sound films, I think I disliked THE MILKY WAY the most--it was pretty dull stuff. However, FEET FIRST, THE CATS-PAW and this film were all quite entertaining and worth seeing--regardless of whether or not you are a fan of Lloyd's silents.

MOVIE CRAZY is a cute film about Harold wanting to become a movie star. He accidentally sends someone else's photo to a Hollywood exec (Mr. O'Brien). Well, O'Brien sees the picture and decides to offer him a screen test based only on the picture. But, when Harold comes to the studio he makes a mess of everything--and really annoys O'Brien by accidentally destroying his hat and smashing his glass doors! Despite this, through some silly mistakes (brilliantly executed by the way), Harold is told to still take the screen test. He is horrible, but everyone tells him he was great as sort of a practical joke.

Harold then meets a sexy Spanish lady on one of the sets and he mistakenly thinks she loves him. Then, shortly after this, he meets another actress and creates so much havoc helping her that she nicknames him "trouble"--and he is like a walking disaster waiting to happen. Harold likes this other lady as well and doesn't realize she IS the Spanish actress--just without all the makeup and accent. It's extremely funny when he tries to juggle BOTH ladies--seeing one without telling the other! This actually works because they really did look like two different women plus the actress (Constance Cummings) did a really good job in the two roles. Unfortunately, this cute ruse gets out of hand and the lady becomes jealous of "the other woman" (which is herself) and she tells Harold to get out of her life forever.

He doesn't realize she told him to get lost because she wrote him a note on the first piece of paper she could find--the back of an invitation to a fancy party. He thinks he's been invited and shows up to meet her. In the process, she accidentally switches jackets with a magician and this results in a wonderful scene where he is dancing and rabbits, pigeons, etc. keep popping out of his coat! It is simply hilarious and strongly reminiscent of the falling apart suit in THE FRESHMAN (which he made several years earlier)--but different enough that it doesn't feel like a cheep knockoff (like the climbing scene in FEET FIRST--it was a cheap effort to re-create the the movie WELCOME DANGER).

Well, this time, after he makes a total fool of himself at this swank party, she tells him off for good--but you can see she still feels for him. He admits his defeat and promises to leave her alone once and for all. However, throughout the film, a nasty drunk actor had been threatening Harold and telling him NEVER to see this actress. Now, the jerk of an actor doesn't know Harold has agreed never to see her again. And, the jerk actor beats up Harold and tells him "I'd rather kill her than have her see another man". Harold, after he awakens, responds in his very typical way by rising to the occasion and using both brawn and his brain to teach this guy a lesson. The problem is, all of this is accidentally filmed (the director gets knocked out so no one tells the cameramen to stop filming and Harold doesn't know he's on film). It's a very rousing and fun extended fight scene--one of the best of the era.

Later, the studio head sees the fight scene and incorrectly assumes it was all staged. He thinks the scene is great and very funny so he offers Harold a contract. Harold, not wanting to be dishonest (like he had been with his ex-girlfriend), admits it was NOT staged and refuses the big contract. In doing so, he endears himself to Ms. Cummings who now is totally smitten with him after she also finds out WHY he fought with the other actor. In addition, the studio head STILL insists that Harold signs the contract and everyone lives happily ever after (except the director who HATES Harold and the jerk actor who is beaten up).

The movie strongly excels at plot development and depth in the characterizations. In this sense, it's really better than his silent films. I also loved how so often little mistakes or misunderstanding snowballed to amazing proportions! However, a drawback (and not a big one at that) was that Harold's character, at times, was too clumsy to be believable. I don't really know why this film hasn't gotten more attention--it IS one of Lloyd's best films and stands up well against any comedy of the age--including Chaplin's. I would go so far to say that although the movie wasn't as technically brilliant as Chaplin's MODERN TIMES or CITY LIGHTS, it was more entertaining and made me laugh more. An undiscovered film and wonderful insight behind the scenes at the studios.

Harold Lloyd continues

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 22 April 2018]

In Littleton, Kansas, accident prone Harold Hall (Harold Lloyd) is desperate to be in the movies but is lacking in acting skills. He sends in a photo but accidentally sends in the picture of a heartthrob. The movie studio offers him a screen test. He arrives and causes havoc on set. He befriends actress Margie after a bumbling attempt at fixing her convertible in the rain. He stumbles his way through his screen test. Studio head O'Brien is angered at getting fooled with the wrong photo but Harold mistakenly thinks the screen test went well. He gets involved in the life of movie star Mary Sears.

This is Harold Lloyd in one of his early talkies. He made the transition well and continued his stardom. He has his physical comedy. He makes a sympathetic leading man. I think it could have done better to spend time with Harold and Margie together. There's a bit of romance but I would like more. I love the whole slapstick in the rain and I want more with the pairing. Overall, this has plenty of good physical comedy from Harold Lloyd and his appealing manner makes him a great leading man.

Sad to say, disappointing

[paston · 4/10 · 26 March 2006]

I've been working my way through the wonderful DVD box set of Harold Lloyd, and I have to say that his silents are superb and I love them to bits. Until the advent of DVD, the only sound Lloyd I'd seen was 'The Milky Way', which was surprisingly enjoyable. So I figured that Lloyd had made the silent-to-sound transition reasonably well, and was eager to see more of the sound features.

Alas, 'Movie Crazy' is a particular disappointment, probably because it's been hyped as Lloyd's best sound film. Lloyd seems to fall into the same trap that Buster Keaton succumbed to - the lead character has become a dimwit. One of the greatest joys of the Lloyd silents is seeing his character think up some nimble bit of wit to get out of a jam - think hitching an ambulance ride to work in 'Safety Last' or rounding up a gang of crooks to come to prayers in 'For Heaven's Sake' - but this Harold, this audible Harold, is an unrelenting klutz. It's hardly plausible that he couldn't distinguish between Mary in her civilian clothes and in make-up on set; the kid must need glasses... oh.

Maybe it's because the character is moving at the speed of sound, rather than having the slightly fantastic under-cranked zip of silence; maybe it's because this Harold is a stuttering, stumbling, unsure boob rather than the confident, intelligent boy of yesteryear; maybe it's just because Lloyd was running out of ideas; but this is far from his best sound film, let alone being his best film of all. This was the last film with his characteristic young-go-getter persona, although by this time all the go had already got up and gone, and Lloyd himself was a less than youthful 38. Things improved a bit once Lloyd started playing a different kind of role in a different kind of film, in 'Cat's Paw' and 'Milky Way' but it was too late for a full-scale revival of his stardom.

The annoying thing about 'Movie Crazy' is that you can see how the gag sequences could have been shot in a silent film, and would have been much funnier if performed with a bit more pace and without the awkward dialogue. A prime example is the scene towards the start of the film where Harold first smashes up O'Brien's straw boater. It's just too slow and the dialogue is unnecessary. Ditto for the later scene of Harold destroying O'Brien's office - a scene which is very reminiscent of one in Keaton's 'The Cameraman' of 1928.

Apparently the original US release of this film was only 84 mins. The restored DVD version is 98 mins, and I can't help thinking that knocking a quarter of an hour out of it could help a great deal. It may well be that the reason the film has received such exalted praise in the past is because people have hitherto only seen the shorter edit. Lloyd was noted for previewing his films to bring them to perfection, and if he decreed that it should have been trimmed to 84 mins in 1932, it should have been kept that way on DVD.

I'd be keen to see the short version and give 'Movie Crazy' a second chance. This long version wears out its welcome far too quickly, and I can't believe that this cut is what Harold Lloyd wanted audiences to see.

Good Comedy, Wonderful Pairing of Lloyd With Constance Cummings

[Snow Leopard · 20 February 2006]

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.

harold lloyd talkie... pretty good.

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 11 March 2018]

Stars and directed by Harold Lloyd. (brother Gaylord Lloyd was assistant director, just to keep it all in the family.) Regular guy Harold Hall wants to get into showbiz, and when there's a mixup in the photos, he is on his way to a screen-test. It's a harold lloyd comedy, so there are mixups, falls, smashups, and unspoken gags all along the way. Unlike Lloyd, Constance Cummings had just broken into hollywood, so this is one of her earlier roles as "Mary". Many old-timey actors in uncredited roles as "dinner guest" listed in the cast list. The broken glass door gag and some of the other bits got a bit annoying, but over-all, it's quite good. Fun to see Lloyd at the top of his game... he had done silents for YEARS, but came out of favor, and didn't make so many talkies. Just for laughs, in the cast list, Arthur Housman is listed as "customer who didn't order rabbit".

A laugh a minute!

[Pollen-2 · 9/10 · 25 September 2005]

Came upon this movie which I had never heard of while channel surfing during an episode of insomnia. This was one of the most fun & funny movies I have ever seen! You will be constantly riveted as the scenes move fast and the comedy is clever and extremely well done! The cast is excellent and I found myself laughing out loud over and over again! Was disappointed when it was over as it went way too fast! Sort of like going on a great ride at an amusement park and wanting to go on it again! I would highly recommend this movie to anyone as it is refreshing to see such good acting and fun comedy! I can't wait to see it again!

Movie Odyssey Review #065: Movie Crazy

[Cyke · 7/10 · 20 January 2007]

065: Movie Crazy (1932) - released 8/12/1932; viewed 6/12/06.

DOUG: Harold Lloyd's third sound film, and probably his best. The good news is that Harold Lloyd did pretty well for himself in the sound era. This one is ALMOST as good as any of his silents, although the transition to sound doesn't always quite gel. According to the trivia, this film was shot silent, and the sound was added later so as to re-create Lloyd's silent technique. If only Buster Keaton had been so lucky. The film would have benefited greatly from a musical score. When Harold is fighting the bad guy, and it's just sound and no music, it just doesn't feel the same. I thought that Mary, played by Constance Cummings, came off as extremely cold and manipulative. She's spending so much energy pretending to get mad at Harold for lying to her, while she's being the biggest liar of all. Somehow Harold's character manages to be even dumber than usual. The best scene is midway through when Harold accidentally dons a magician's coat and has all manner of tricks popping out of it while he's on the dance floor. Pure Lloyd.

KEVIN: Harold Lloyd did surprisingly well enough through the sound era, considering Keaton's career died when he became a studio player and Chaplin just refused to do sound film at all. The story is familiar: Lloyd plays Harold Hall, an accident prone young man who really wants to be in pictures even though he's a lousy actor. While running afoul of the studio heads, he falls for budding actress Mary (Constance Cummings). As always, Lloyd has no pity on his character, putting him through endless mishaps, many of which are not related to his innate clumsiness. As in Lloyd's previous work, most of the comedic beats have nothing to do with the main love story, such as when Harold goes to a party and accidentally picks up a magician's jacket. One problem with the story is that Harold and Mary aren't likable enough. My biggest problem is this: when Mary realizes that she loves Harold, and tells him so in that moment, why then does she continue to play games with him? Why doesn't she just cast aside her lying ways and hold on to this guy?

Last film: Horse Feathers (1932). Next film: Love Me Tonight (1932).

One of Lloyd's BEST films!

[Norm-30 · 10/10 · 25 May 2000]

This film, along with "Safety Last" (and a couple of other silents) is one of THE funniest films he ever made!

This is quite unusual, in that he is primarily known as a silent-screen comedian, and this is a SOUND film! It is by far his best "talkie"!

Movie Crazy could've easily been made into a silent, but the sound adds a new dimension to Lloyd's comedy! The gags come fast & furious - his "riding in a limo", his antics at the movie studio, and the commotion he raises in a fancy restaurant when he dons a magician's coat (with props!) by mistake.

The latter is one of THE funniest sequences in a comedy film!

This film is to Lloyd as "Sons of the Desert" is to Laurel & Hardy.....simply, his BEST!

SEE IT....and, prepare to split your sides with laughter!

Norm

Episodic comedy

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 31 March 2023]

"Movie Crazy" is a loosely strung together succession of gags, some of which are funny and cleverly constructed. There is not much plot, and what little there is is pretty stupid (we are supposed to buy that Harold Lloyd does not recognize Constance Cummings in a dark wig and tanned makeup (I'm not sure if her "movie" role is meant to be Mexican or Spanish, or if Hollywood could tell the difference at that time)). The film lacks purpose or novelty, but it is interesting to observe how much Lloyd's voice and mannerisms resemble.... Woody Allen! And given that Woody (obviously) came much later than Harold, it is logical to assume that Lloyd was among his movie influences. **1/2 out of 4.

One of the funniest films ever made!

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 22 February 2007]

It's hard to imagine what initial U.S. and Canadian viewers did without, for "Movie Crazy" is all marvelously funny slapstick, featuring Lloyd as an engrossingly sympathetic victim of circumstances. Many really hilarious scenes should put Movie Crazy firmly on anyone's list of must-see Lloyds. True, some critics have complained that Lloyd's skit on movie-making didn't always follow obviously conventional lines, but explored some rather odd by-ways (including the double role mix-up brilliantly acted by the superb Constance Cummings). What these critics don't bother to tell us is that Lloyd was constrained by Paramount's "Make Me a Star". There was no way Lloyd wanted to produce an imitation of the Erwin picture. As the contemporary Variety reviewer commented: "Lloyd's resourcefulness not only circumvents any suspicion of sameness, but develops along a new tangent — although this must have been an intra-studio headache right throughout production — and emerges with some brand-new comedy wrinkles."

Despite the above critic's enthusiasm, however, there are in fact a number of duplicate plot situations, although the tone in Lloyd's movie is far less grim. In fact, Lloyd's studio is almost entirely make-believe. It's the sort of fanciful place that most moviegoers would feel represented real Hollywood, although in fact its procedures and the inter-action of its personnel are far removed from actuality. Not that this matters a hoot. In fact just about all the film's humor is hilariously built on the fact that it's not the least bit realistic. Movie Crazy is a super-delightful fairy tale from beginning to end, complete with frog prince (Lloyd), magical enchantress (Cummings), evil suitor (Thomson), easily beguiled king (McWade), self-important chamberlain (Jarvis), and comic courtier (Charters). With a line-up like this, it should come as neither a surprise nor as far-fetched that the hero enjoys a wonderful fling in the role of magician. (In fact, I found this the movie's funniest sequence. I laughed until it hurt).

Although the film is credited to Clyde Bruckman (a clever and rather handsome guy who tended to be rather moody and introspective), producer Lloyd (who usually worked in tandem with the credited director anyway) was forced to handle most of the film himself. As he explained in a later interview: "I directed practically the whole thing. Bruckman was one of my gag men, but he had a little difficulty with the bottle. We practically had to wash him out and I had to carry on."

Slow , Surprisingly Sweet and Sexy

[jayraskin1 · 10/10 · 31 December 2010]

The knock on Harold Lloyd is that he is a rather mechanical artist and that he gives us long sequences of deftly executed physical gags with one dimensional characters and thinly developed plots. I think this film manages to put in more plot and more developed characters without sacrificing the brilliance of the strings of gags that are delivered like musical notes in a song.

What makes this film unique is the great performance of Constance Cummings. She plays an actress named Mary Seers. Lloyd falls in love with her while she's playing the part of a dark haired Spanish Senorita shooting a movie scene. He falls in love with her again when he meets her later as a blonde. Thus she becomes her own rival for Lloyd's affection. She manages to upset and torture the poor fellow in both roles.

One could well argue that Cummings is the real star of the film. She starred in 18 released films between 1931 and 1933, while this was the only one that Lloyd made during that period. Her character (or characters) is really fairly complex and well developed. One understands why she loves Harold and also why she gets angry at him.

In a way this is really two films, about 60 minutes contains the usual brilliant slapstick of Lloyd and the other 35 minutes explore the relationship between two young actors, Harold and Mary, trying to be successful in Hollywood. At a couple of points in the movie, Mary pleads with Harold to just be his bumbling self and not to try to change to please Hollywood honchos. One can't help but feel that she is giving advise to Lloyd himself. Fortunately, he took it and we great one of his most touching and delightful comedies.

There are two classic gag sequences. The first is the pouring rain sequence where Harold loses his shoe while trying to protect a coat he has borrowed from a movie studio and must return. As he hops around on one shoe, holding the coat, he tries to help Mary put up the hood on her convertible car. It is simply a wonderful sequence. There is also a scene in a dinner party where he mistakenly exchanges coats with a magician. One can compare it to the terrific nightclub scene in Chaplin's "City Lights," that Chaplin had done the year before.

Disappointing Lloyd comedy would have worked better as a silent film...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 15 March 2008]

Stripping MOVIE CRAZY of its awkward dialog and reducing the running time to perhaps an hour and fifteen minutes, would have improved the film considerably. HAROLD LLOYD seems a bit ill at ease in a role clearly meant for a much younger man, but CONSTANCE CUMMINGS is assured and poised in what is, unfortunately, an unlikeable role. Her manipulative and scheming ways when she decides to play a trick on him, makes the character colder than it ought to be in a comedy of this sort. Thus, the happy ending for their relationship seems contrived.

Some of the physical comedy and sight gags are worthy of a better film and makes me think that the whole story would lend itself better to the silent comedies Lloyd made before the advent of sound.

I liked the rainy day scene with the convertible top refusing to operate properly--and his efforts to improve the situation only making things worse. His relationship with the heroine gets off to a bumpy start right then and there.

But that's the trouble with the whole film. His hapless inability to do anything right gets tiresome by the time he's practically demolished every set piece in sight. The cleverest bit comes at the fancy dinner where he inadvertently puts on the wrong jacket belonging to a magician. Somehow, mice, bunnies and eggs keep popping out while he's trying to dance with an executive's wife--and, of course, it's the sort of thing Lloyd carries off effortlessly, without words.

I enjoyed other Lloyd comedies from simpler times, without a weak script offering dull dialog. This is probably why the last big scene without need of talk provides the best moments--a big fight on a studio set between Lloyd and KENNETH THOMSON, his rival for Cummings. It's staged brilliantly and at least gives the story a wallop for the ending that it seriously needed.

Otherwise, the overall effect would have been a bit tedious.

Tired comedy saved by Constance Cummings

[jimjo1216 · 21 April 2012]

MOVIE CRAZY (1932) isn't one of Harold Lloyd's greatest comedies, or even, in this reviewer's opinion, his best talkie. It's a cliché story: small-town boy comes to Hollywood for stardom and falls flat on his face. Nincompoop wreaks havoc on movie studio. It's been done countless times, from Buster Keaton in FREE AND EASY (1930) to Red Skelton in MERTON OF THE MOVIES (1947).

Harold Lloyd plays the part of the fool, who ruins everything he comes in contact with. This type of character (similar to the talkie roles MGM would write for Buster Keaton) is sometimes hard to watch. Hopelessly naïve and pathetic. Viewed as a freak and played for a sucker. Always knocking over stacked objects or falling in puddles.

The gags are old and predictable (at least nowadays) and there are no groundbreaking stunts or anything. How many times have we seen the "oops, we must've switched hats" routine? And what do you think happens when Lloyd offers to help a woman unfold the top to her convertible? Or open an umbrella? Does that trick magician's jacket look just like Harold's, hanging in the restroom? (You bet it does.) This comedy just isn't all that funny, lacking some of the magic evident in Lloyd's silent classics.

The best thing in this movie is the beautiful Constance Cummings, who gives a rather impressive naturalistic performance as a Hollywood starlet whose path is crossed by Lloyd's accident-waiting-to-happen character. Cummings grows fond of Lloyd (whom she nicknames "Trouble") and her character manages to bring a cute romantic element to the film.

The first half-hour or so is pretty dull, but there's a fun little twist where Lloyd cannot recognize Cummings in her exotic on-set make-up and falls in love with the same woman twice. Cummings realizes this and plays around with Lloyd's heart. But does she actually love him, or is it all part of some game? This interesting "love triangle" is the strongest part of the script, and Cummings manages the dual role beautifully.

MOVIE CRAZY isn't all bad, but it is something of a letdown. Most of the "comedy" is tiresome, although certain bits work better than others. Interestingly, this talkie lacks some of the wit of Harold Lloyd's silent films. The story is nothing special, but Constance Cummings shines in her role and anchors the sweetness that makes the film's second half worth watching.

Harold Lloyd's Best Film! Charming and Pleasant Comedy.

[www-vitaphone-org · 10/10 · 1 May 2003]

This is one of my all time favorite comedies. Harold Lloyd was open-minded and progressive and was eager to make sound films (unlike conservatives such as Chaplin and Keaton who were stuck in the past and whose careers quickly went down the drain). Lloyd was eager to make his first talkie in 1929 and it was a huge success. (On the other hand Keaton was practically forced to make his first talkie and Chaplin refused to make one - showing that he lived in a fantasy world of the past by releasing a silent in 1931!) This is by far the best of Harold Lloyd Comedies - This is one of those films you can watch over and over again and still be entertained. Constance Cummings is perfect as the woman Harold Lloyd falls in love with and it's a shame this was to be the only film she and Lloyd would make together. Harold Lloyd's other leading ladies were for the most part forgetable. If your going to watch a Harold Lloyd film make sure you watch this one! :)