HAROLD LLOYD is a young man brought up in China who returns to the U.S. where his naive and bumbling ways lead him into a den of corrupt citizens who want to use him for their own purposes. He turns the tables on them by deciding that honesty is his best policy, winning an election he was supposed to lose.
Chief among the crooked politicians is GEORGE BARBIER, whom I had only seen in supporting roles in Warner comedies like IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (as Olivia de Havilland's father) and a number of other screwball comedies where he played a befuddled gentleman. Here he is, just as befuddled as ever, in a larger role than usual, but he soon adopts some of Lloyd's philosophy and helps him rid the city of corruption.
The final act is bound to stir controversy today, dealing as it does with Chinese justice by the sword. NAT PENDLETON is amusing as a man who clearly doesn't want to die by the sword (or lose his head), and ALAN DINEHART and others give Lloyd fine support.
Not quite as funny as intended, it does pass the time quickly in spite of its rather long running time for a comedy of this sort. It should please Harold Lloyd fans who may forgive the lack of chemistry between him and UNA MERKEL, who is nobody's idea of a leading lady. She plays her usual wisecracking dame.
Alfred Newman's busy background score is more apparent than usual in a film of this vintage.
Don't expect the usual slapstick gags to liven up the satire. It's the sort of story Frank Capra or Preston Sturges would work wonders with later on.
Chief among the crooked politicians is GEORGE BARBIER, whom I had only seen in supporting roles in Warner comedies like IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (as Olivia de Havilland's father) and a number of other screwball comedies where he played a befuddled gentleman. Here he is, just as befuddled as ever, in a larger role than usual, but he soon adopts some of Lloyd's philosophy and helps him rid the city of corruption.
The final act is bound to stir controversy today, dealing as it does with Chinese justice by the sword. NAT PENDLETON is amusing as a man who clearly doesn't want to die by the sword (or lose his head), and ALAN DINEHART and others give Lloyd fine support.
Not quite as funny as intended, it does pass the time quickly in spite of its rather long running time for a comedy of this sort. It should please Harold Lloyd fans who may forgive the lack of chemistry between him and UNA MERKEL, who is nobody's idea of a leading lady. She plays her usual wisecracking dame.
Alfred Newman's busy background score is more apparent than usual in a film of this vintage.
Don't expect the usual slapstick gags to liven up the satire. It's the sort of story Frank Capra or Preston Sturges would work wonders with later on.