Ask Father (1919)
Very Entertaining, With A Lot Of Good Gag Ideas
14 December 2005
This one-reel Harold Lloyd comedy packs a lot of good gag ideas into its short running time. There is a good variety of slapstick, sight gags, running jokes, and gadgetry, and even a brief version of the 'human fly' routine that Lloyd later made so memorable in "Safety Last". Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, and the rest of the cast all do a good job with the material.

Lloyd plays a young suitor for the hand of a rich and very preoccupied businessman, the kind of person who has a legion of assistants whose purpose is to keep everyone else away from him. Lloyd's ever-hopeful character, determined to see him to ask for his daughter's hand, is helped in his efforts by Daniels, who plays an upbeat office worker amidst all of the drudges. It's impressive how much material they squeezed out of this fairly simple setup. After a somewhat slow start, there are non-stop funny moments the rest of the way.

There are a lot of imaginative gags, and a number of them are also tied together in clever ways. The cushion gag by Daniels's character, the treadmill gadget, and the confrontations with the two tough guys who guard the entrance are all repeated in a variety of different and creative ways. It's enjoyable both for the comedy and for the ingenuity that it reveals.
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