The 13th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns this weekend, more fantastic than ever, with something for everyone and surprises guaranteed. Opus thirteen begins Friday night with the bespectacled boy, and a gem from Old Hollywood.

The Kid Brother (1927)
Friday July 11, 7:00 pm, The Castro Theater, San Francisco

Produced in what collectively became the greatest year of the silent era, Harold Lloyd considered The Kid Brother (1927) to be lacking sufficient action and humor. In reality, his tenth of eleven silent features was the synthesis of all his acquired talents. It was Lloyd’s greatest success in blending his trademark gags with well-developed characters, and a thoughtful, engaging story.

The story of an introspective and bullied younger son, who surprises everyone with his unassuming strength, The Kid Brother suggests numerous popular sources, including, The White Sheep (1924) produced by Hal Roach, Henry King’s Tol’able David (1921), and in certain respects even Cinderella.

Young Harold Hickory lives in a motherless home with his father the town sheriff, and two terrorizing older brothers. The bucolic country setting recalls Grandma’s Boy (1922), but is far more beautifully realized. To survive the dominance of his larger and stronger siblings, a multitude of gags cleverly demonstrate Harold’s mental superiority and physical agility over them as the films greatest source of humor. When a travelling medicine show rolls into town, Harold and Mary (Jobyna Ralston in her final appearance with Lloyd), the pretty daughter of the deceased owner, share an instant attraction, and a fear of the two thugs who have taken over the show. Constantine Romanoff as the murderous strong man is nearly as frightening in this comedy as the villain of Tolerable David, Ernest Torrance. Harold’s hometown rival Hank Hooper (Ralph Yearsley, who also starred in Tol’able David) is bigger, maliciously cruel, appropriately oafish, and the perfect foil for several amusing confrontations.

In the end, with his family reputation at stake, Harold is forced to show his true mettle. Hiding aboard an abandoned ship in the final reel, Harold puts his shoes on the medicine show monkey to draw the strong man away. The monkey waddles up the stairs and on deck, with the strong man in pursuit.

The Kid Brother is a seamless, well-balanced combination of humor, romance and peril. It is atypically coordinated Lloyd. The pleasantly sentimental story is complimented by excellent casting and production design. What Lloyd saw as insufficient humor was actually a lighter treatment, increasingly reliant and more fully demonstrating his acting abilities (something many comics lacked) in what is arguably his best work.

Live musical accompaniment for this screening of The Kid Brother will be performed by the always spectacular, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.