"Now or Never" is an American 35-minute film from 1921 and as it has its 95th anniversary this year, it is of course a black-and-white silent film. It is one of the more known works starring Harold Lloyd, one of the biggest stars of its time next to the likes of Chaplin, Keaton and Arbuckle. At over half an hour, this one here is not one of his longest or shortest films. Silent films frequently ran for 10 minutes or under too. As usual with Lloyd, this is a comedy film as this is the genre where he is in his element the most when it comes to showing us his talent. Sadly, like many other times too, these early silent film lack in terms of story-telling and the result is that it never feels very realistic or authentic when it comes to how the characters act and behave. This is true here too and the consequence was that I cared little for any of the characters. And the story, which takes place mostly on (or even above) a train, is nothing too special either. This film has not aged very well and I am not speaking about the technical difficulties and lack of development. I give this one a thumbs-down, even if Lloyd once again elevates the material by a lot. Still I have seen better films with the actor. Don't watch.
Review of Now or Never
