Feet First
| Feet First | |
|---|---|
 Original US release poster |
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| Directed by | Clyde Bruckman |
| Produced by | Harold Lloyd |
| Starring | Harold Lloyd (Harold Horne) Barbara Kent (Barbara) Robert McWade (Mr. Tanner) |
| Music by | Mischa Bakaleinikoff (uncredited) Claude Lapham (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Henry N. Kohler Walter Lundin |
| Editing by | Bernard W. Burton |
| Distributed by | Paramount |
| Release date(s) | November 8, 1930 (USA) |
| Running time | 93 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
Feet First is a 1930 comedy film starring Harold Lloyd, a very popular daredevil comedian during the 1920s and early 1930s. It was Lloyd's second and most popular sound ('talkie') feature. It is also one of his 'thrill' comedies, involving him climbing up a tall building. Harold Lloyd was one of very few actors who successfully adapted to sound. Others included Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Harold Horne, an ambitious shoe salesman in Honolulu, unknowingly meets the boss' secretary (played by Barbara Kent) and tells her he is a millionaire leather tycoon.
The rest of the film he spends hiding his true circumstances, in the store and later as an (accidental) stowaway on board a ship. Trying to deliver a letter, he becomes trapped in a mailbag, which is taken off the ship and falls off a delivery van onto a window cleaner's cradle, which is hoisted upwards. Escaping from the bag, he finds himself dangling high above the street. After several thwarted attempts to get inside the building, he climbs to the very top, only to slip off - unaware his foot is caught on the end of a rope, which rescues him inches from the ground.
[edit] Cast
- Harold Lloyd as Harold Horne
- Barbara Kent as Barbara
- Robert McWade as John Quincy Tanner
- Lillian Leighton as Mrs Tanner
- Henry Hall as Endicott
- Noah Young as Sailor
- Alec B. Francis as Mr Carson
- Arthur Housman as Drunken Clubman
- Willie Best as Janitor
- Nick Copeland as Man Arguing With Friend
- James Finlayson as Painter
- Buster Phelps as Little Boy
- Leo Willis as Truck Driver
[edit] Production notes
[edit] Co-star
This was the second film with Barbara Kent, and the last occasion on which Lloyd would appear with the same leading lady.
[edit] Stunts
The "hanging outside of the skyscraper" sequence used techniques similar to those on Lloyd's most famous film, the silent Safety Last! (1923). Contrary to some Hollywood lore, this scene did not utilize special effects or back projection. Before the scene in the 1962 compilation film Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy (produced by Harold Lloyd himself), a title card reads:
- This sequence was made without trick photography and before process was perfected. The action — at all times — actually occurred as high up as you see it happen.
[edit] Re-releases
In the original release, Lloyd's character's name was "Harold". For reasons unknown, in the 1960s re-release Lloyd overdubbed his own voice to change the name to 'Charlie'.
The film was re-released again in segments as part of Time-Life's Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy television series in the 1970s. However since the majority of the clips in the series came from silent films, the sound track was removed as if to imply that it too was a silent film. It has since been released on DVD in its correct format.
[edit] Period characteristics
This film contains a classic example of Hollywood's use of African Americans in comic shiftless and slow stereotyped roles. While hanging outside of a skyscraper window, Lloyd's character attempts to obtain the assistance of a janitor, whom he nicknames "Charcoal", played by Willie Best, billed as "Sleep 'n' Eat". (Another African American actor of this era in Hollywood was known as Stepin Fetchit.)
