The first of Harold Lloyd's five reel films, Grandma's Boy was conceived as a
short film. Lloyd had only just made A Sailor-Made Man (1921), the
longest of his short films at around 46 minutes and was reluctant to
begin making feature films. It was only at the insistence of his
producer, Hal Roach, that the story was extended and gradually grew to
a full length film, with well developed characters, an episodic
narrative and an extended flashback (the Civil War
sequence). It was the success of this film that persuaded
Lloyd to switch from making shorts to full-length films.
Grandma's Boy does at times
feel like several short films spliced together and is less well
structured than Lloyd's subsequent features. This doesn't
diminish the film's entertainment value one iota and it makes a
satisfying morality tale that is both amusing and poignant. Lloyd
is as inventive as ever at devising comic routines and gags that are
still hilarious to watch, the best being the scene in which Lloyd
mistakenly eats a mothball whilst courting his girlfriend. The heroine is played by Mildred Davis,
who appeared in many of Lloyd's films and would become his
wife. Anna Townsend would reprise the role of the
unassuming grandma in Lloyd's next film, Safety
Last! (1923).
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Film Synopsis
In the sleepy rural town Blossom Bend, a grandmother lives with her
beloved grandson, whom she has nurtured and taught since he was a
baby. Now 19, the boy is a timid young man who is afraid to
propose to the girl he loves and is tormented by a bully of his own
age. The final humiliation comes when the town's sheriff enlists
his help in arresting a troublesome vagrant and he only succeeds in
making a fool of himself. Moved by her grandson's plight, the old
woman tells him the story of his grandfather. He too was once a
weak, cowardly man, but thanks to a magic talisman he overcame his
timidity and ended up a hero of the American Civil War...
Script: H.M. Walker, Thomas J. Crizer, Hal Roach (story), Sam Taylor (story), Jean C. Havez (story),
Harold Lloyd (story)
Cinematographer: Walter Lundin
Music: Don Hulette, Robert Israel
Cast: Harold Lloyd (Grandma's Boy),
Mildred Davis (His Girl),
Anna Townsend (His Grandma),
Charles Stevenson (His Rival),
Dick Sutherland (The Rolling Stone),
Noah Young (Sheriff of Dabney County),
Roy Brooks (Townsman),
Sammy Brooks (Townsman),
Jack Edwards (Baby Fred Newmeyer),
William Gillespie (Townsman),
Wallace Howe (The Girl's Father),
Mark Jones (Old Lady),
James T. Kelley (Townsman),
Gus Leonard (Farmer),
Gaylord Lloyd (Townsman),
Jack Morgan (Little Boy),
George Rowe (Townsman),
May Wallace (The Girl's Mother)
Country: USA
Language: English
Support: Black and White / Silent
Runtime: 60 min
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