Hot Water (1924 film)

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Hot Water is a 1924 silent comedy film starring Harold Lloyd.

Directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, it features three episodes in the life of Hubby (Lloyd) as he struggles with domestic life with Wifey (Jobyna Ralston) and his in-laws.

Episodic in nature (effectively three short films merged into one), the first episode features Hubby struggling with shopping (and an unwanted live turkey) on the way home. The second features Hubby grudgingly taking the family en masse out on his brand new Butterfly Six automobile, and the third is an escapade with his sleepwalking mother-in-law.

Hot Water was a light comedy with minimal character development, and followed Lloyd's early 1920s pattern of alternating what he called "gag pictures" with "character pictures". Some distributors had complained about the length of his previous elaborate feature Girl Shy, and Hot Water was the response. Its storyline was also interesting as a unique departure from most of Lloyd's 1920s features, because his character was married with a family, and was not striving for success, recognition, or romance. It was popular at the box office and grossed almost $2,000,000, an excellent return for a film of the period.