The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (AKA “Mad Wednesday”)
Written and Directed by Preston Sturges
1947/USA
California Pictures
First viewing/Internet Archive
[box] Harold Diddlebock: As soon as I have a minute, I’ll thank you for hours.[/box]
This Harold Lloyd come-back vehicle lacks some of the sophistication of the best Preston Sturges comedies but has its memorable moments.
The movie starts with a long sequence from Lloyd’s 1925 silent hit The Freshman. That’s the one where Harold sits sadly on the sidelines of the big game as a water boy but goes on to lead the team to victory. Following this triumph, he is given a job at the advertising firm of a big college booster. Segue to twenty years later and we find Harold has been working in the accounting department the entire time. His boss lets him go on the grounds that he is too old for the job. He bids adieu to the latest in the line of coworkers he has fallen in love with.
Luckily Harold has a little nest egg of payroll savings to fall back on. Naturally, the first person he runs into is Wormy (Jimmy Conlon), who is looking for a loan to bet on a horse. He is only too happy to oblige and the next thing we know Harold is taking his first drink and betting his whole wad on the same horse. But lo and behold, his horse wins and Harold is now able to paint the town red.
Somewhere along the line, Harold manages to acquire a circus. Expenses are high, especially to feed the 37 lions, and he is unable to unload this new burden. The highlight of the film has Harold on the ledge of a skyscraper a la Safety Last with one of the lions on the other end.
This has cameos from almost every one of the Sturges stock company and they are all in top form. But it is basically more Lloyd than Sturges. If you enjoy the comic’s physical humor, you will probably like this.
Clip – Edgar Kennedy mixes Harold his first drink – typical of the print quality available to me
