A revolving door of film directors was taking place in the creation of one of Harold Lloyd's most admired film, January 1927's "The Kid Brother." First, Lewis Milestone sat in the director's chair and began the production about the youngest (Lloyd) of three brothers, sons of the town sheriff. Harold's looked down by the other two brothers and the dad as a wimp. Since Milestone was under contract by another studio, he had to pull out on it called him to work on one of its films. Then came Ted Wilde. The gag writer for Lloyd directed a few scenes before he was stuck down with a minor stroke. Wilde gets the director's credit on the film. But in reality it was Lloyd who called most of the shots for camera placement, movement and scene structure.
"The Kid Brother" was the one film Lloyd, in his vast body of work, was most proud of. In his retirement, this was the movie he would show at film festivals and film school lectures. Loosely connected with a 1924 Hal Roach feature, 'The Whip Sheep," Lloyd's plot describes how, despite being portrayed as a wimp by his family and the townspeople, he singlehandedly pursues the thief who stole the village's tax money entrusted in his dad's hands for the payment of a nearby dam construction. At first his female admirer, Mary (Jobyna Ralston), was accused as part of a plot to steal the funds. But then Harold stumbles upon the real robber.
"The Kid Brother" differs from Lloyd's other feature films in a number of ways. The comic hired eight writers to draw up a plot that contained not only comedy, but romance, drama, and most important to him at this period of his career, character development. Adopting elements of Henry King's admired movie 1921 "Tol'able David," Lloyd's film uses a number of ingenious camera traveling shots to emphasize the movement of the plot. In one specific scene, when Harold first meets Mary, he's shown climbing a high tree, stopping periodically to yell something to her as she's walking away down a hill. A specially-constructed elevator was built to carry the camera as it follows Lloyd up the tree. There's no doubt "The Kid Brother" is one of Lloyd's most sophisticated shot movie in his portfolio.
This would be Ralston's final movie with Lloyd, ending a string of collaborations from 1924's "Girl Shy." Her next film was an appearance in the Academy Awards Most Outstanding Picture, 1927's "Wings." Ralston starred in another ten films. But her acting ended in 1932 when she decided to concentrate on her family after she married actor Richard Arlen, whom she met while making "Wings."
"The Kid Brother" was the one film Lloyd, in his vast body of work, was most proud of. In his retirement, this was the movie he would show at film festivals and film school lectures. Loosely connected with a 1924 Hal Roach feature, 'The Whip Sheep," Lloyd's plot describes how, despite being portrayed as a wimp by his family and the townspeople, he singlehandedly pursues the thief who stole the village's tax money entrusted in his dad's hands for the payment of a nearby dam construction. At first his female admirer, Mary (Jobyna Ralston), was accused as part of a plot to steal the funds. But then Harold stumbles upon the real robber.
"The Kid Brother" differs from Lloyd's other feature films in a number of ways. The comic hired eight writers to draw up a plot that contained not only comedy, but romance, drama, and most important to him at this period of his career, character development. Adopting elements of Henry King's admired movie 1921 "Tol'able David," Lloyd's film uses a number of ingenious camera traveling shots to emphasize the movement of the plot. In one specific scene, when Harold first meets Mary, he's shown climbing a high tree, stopping periodically to yell something to her as she's walking away down a hill. A specially-constructed elevator was built to carry the camera as it follows Lloyd up the tree. There's no doubt "The Kid Brother" is one of Lloyd's most sophisticated shot movie in his portfolio.
This would be Ralston's final movie with Lloyd, ending a string of collaborations from 1924's "Girl Shy." Her next film was an appearance in the Academy Awards Most Outstanding Picture, 1927's "Wings." Ralston starred in another ten films. But her acting ended in 1932 when she decided to concentrate on her family after she married actor Richard Arlen, whom she met while making "Wings."