The Kid Brother
| The Kid Brother | |
|---|---|
 US poster | |
| Directed by |
Ted Wilde J.A. Howe (co-director) Harold Lloyd (uncredited) Lewis Milestone (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Harold Lloyd |
| Starring |
Harold Lloyd Jobyna Ralston |
| Cinematography | Walter Lundin |
| Edited by | Allen McNeil |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language |
Silent film (English) intertitles |
The Kid Brother is a 1927 American classic comedy silent film starring Harold Lloyd. It was successful and popular upon release[1][2] and today is considered by critics and fans to be one of Lloyd's best films, integrating elements of comedy, romance, drama, and character development. Its storyline is an homage to a 1921 film called Tol'able David, although it is essentially a re-make of a little-known 1924 Hal Roach feature, The White Sheep, starring Glenn Tryon.
Plot
1877: The most important family in Hickoryville is (naturally enough) the Hickorys, with sheriff Jim and his tough manly sons Leo and Olin. The timid youngest son, Harold, doesn't have the muscles to match up to them, so he has to use his wits to win the respect of his strong father and also the love of beautiful Mary.
Cast
- Harold Lloyd as Harold Hickory
- Jobyna Ralston as Mary Powers
- Walter James as Jim Hickory
- Leo Willis as Leo Hickory
- Olin Francis as Olin Hickory
- Constantine Romanoff as Sandoni
- Eddie Boland as "Flash" Farrell
- Frank Lanning as Sam Hooper
- Ralph Yearsley as Hank Hooper
Production
This was the last of Lloyd's features to star Jobyna Ralston, who starred as leading lady in five of his previous films. She would go on to play a supporting part in Wings.
Lloyd wanted the film to have more gags than any of his previous features, so around eight writers and gagmen worked on the script. Many of these bits were cut from the finished film, and some were incorporated into Lloyd's subsequent films. The rural setting was a contrast to most of Lloyd's urban films of the mid to late 1920s. It was filmed in then-rural Glendale, Burbank, and Altadena (near current-day Pasadena), and the derelict ship scenes were filmed at Catalina Island.
Lewis Milestone directed a majority of the film, in an uncredited capacity. He left the production due to contract problems with another studio.
Restoration
- A restored version of The Kid Brother with a new score by Carl Davis was prepared by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill in the early 1990s. It is now available on DVD.
See also
- List of United States comedy films
- The House That Shadows Built (1931 promotional film by Paramount)
References
External links
- The Harold Lloyd Trust
- Original Program for "The Kid Brother" (1927) is available at the Internet Archive
- The Kid Brother at the Internet Movie Database
- The Kid Brother at AllMovie