February 22, 2013

"High and Dizzy"



"High and Dizzy" (short), 1920. A boy meets a girl who sleepwalks; then he gets very drunk.

Directed by Hal Roach. Written by Frank Terry. Starring Harold Lloyd.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). A slapstick-oriented idea for a slapstick film - surprisingly rare.
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good). I could be wrong, but I think this is the first of Harold's signature top-of-a-building shots.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). The drunk stuff is very funny, featuring a lot of Harold just being an ass. It's been a while since I watched Safety Last, but I'd say the building-scaling stuff in this film is better than that one - the focus here is on being funny, rather than impressing with stunts.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.5/4 (Okay)

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