User Reviews

GIRL SHY is one of Lloyd's classics where that tight structure as the trademark of his comedy is most obvious. Every gag is so closed linked to another. It really leaves you marvel at his ability of building up and controlling his work. Besides, it is one of the great romantic comedies of the silent era, full of breath-taking imageries(like the scene when the Boy was dreaming about the Girl while fishing under a bridge..). It is hilarious throughout(especially for those 2 fantasy sequences). The great final chase is full of typical thrills that only Lloyd's comedy can provide(and, as we know it, `inspired' the final chase in The Graduate). Lloyd showed some wonderful drama acting ability too(when he had to dissuade the Girl from seeing him any more).

Long live Harold! This is a charming silent comedy where my hero plays a shy boy writing a book about the ways to seduce a woman. He wants to publish it, but the editor thinks this is a funny book. In his way, Harold fells in love with a beautiful young woman. This love helps him to stop being girl shy. Very funny gags, and also a sensitive way to illustrate love (such beautiful scenes are frequents in Harold's movie). This is also a great opportunity to see the beauty and the talent of the wonderful Jobyna Ralston. See it! And see all the Harold Lloyd movies of the 1920's! He was and still is one of the best comic actors in Hollywood history.

I had watched this for the first time while I was in Hollywood as part of a TCM marathon of Harold Lloyd films in November 2005 (to coincide with the DVD release of New Line's 7-Disc Set). I must say that in the past I had underestimated it, because I did not pick up the "Connoiseur Video" PAL VHS a few years ago (as I had done with 3 other available titles by this great comedian). The plot deals with a painfully shy tailor's apprentice (he stutters terribly at the sight of a woman) who has secretly published a lovers' manual, and himself falls for a wealthy girl (the demure but utterly charming Jobyna Ralston, a frequent Lloyd co-star) who is about to be married off to a bigamist heel.

The film displays dazzling invention throughout and is frequently hilarious, but also laces the proceedings with just the right dose of sentiment: the climactic exhilarating chase is spectacular and one of the very best of its kind, while the disruption of the marriage/abduction of the bride ending might well have inspired THE GRADUATE (1967)! Some of the funniest stuff includes: the fantasy sequences depicting Lloyd as an irresistible ladies' man, illustrating his theories on how to seduce a vamp and a flapper; the car exchange sequence (which sees Lloyd losing the ramshackle vehicle he ended up with down a cliff); and his hitching a clandestine ride on a car which is about to be parked in its garage.

I have not seen very many Harold Lloyd movies, but if this film is any indication of his massive talent, I need to remedy that as soon as possible.

Harold is wonderful as Harold Meadows, a man so shy around women that he stutters until a whistle is blown. He is at work on a book about seducing women strangely enough and the imaginary scenes of him using his "techniques" on both a Vampire (Vamp) and a Flapper are early indications that this is going to be a very funny film.

The plot has been more than ably shared already, I will just add a few short observations.

It was a treat to see some of the earliest Our Gang / Little Rascal kids in this movie. In the opening scene in the tailor shop the wild-haired boy getting his pants stitched is Jackie Condon and the cute, chubby boy sitting on the floor is the first Our Gang "Fat Kid" , Joe Cobb. Later during the chase scene as Harold is riding horses, a freckle-faced boy calls out a cheer, this is Mickey Daniels, also of Our Gang fame.

I enjoyed, as everyone seems to of course, the chase/race at the end. It seems that they purposely used every form of land transport known at the time to get Harold to the place he needed to be.

Early product placement? Crackerjack boxes play a major role in this film.



All in all, this was am excellent introduction to Harold Lloyd for me, it makes me want to see more. I recommend it highly!

Although painfully GIRL SHY, a tailor's assistant uses every ounce of strength to keep the young woman he adores from an unwise marriage.

Harold Lloyd produces another winning entry in his series of silent screen comedy classics. This time there is a healthy dose of old-fashioned romanticism, as Harold and beautiful Jobyna Ralston yearn & commune alongside a bucolic stream.

Such tenderness never cloys, however, as Lloyd makes sure to leaven it with healthy helpings of hilarity. His attempts to hide a small dog on a passenger train are uproarious, as are his demonstrations on how to make love to vamps & flappers. And when the viewer thinks Harold can't possibly top himself, he ends the film with one of his marvelous chase scenes, in which he uses every sort of conveyance (train, jalopy, horse, fire truck, trolley, motorcycle & sand wagon) to stop Jobyna's marriage to a cad.

Throughout, Harold displays the remarkable athleticism for which he was celebrated, made even more astonishing when one remembers that he had lost half of his right hand a few years before in a freak studio accident, a disfigurement he disguised with a prosthetic glove.

Movie mavens will recognize some OUR GANG kids in uncredited roles--Fat Joe Cobb & Jackie Condon in the tailor's shop and Mickey Daniels as a newsboy on the street.

Jim Parker has composed an excellent film score which perfectly complements Harold's antics on the screen.

I initially went to the Film Forum's presentation to experience what going to the movies might have been like 80 years ago. To have an experience like my grandmother had (she used to rave about Harold Loyd). I thought the film was going to be OK. I was astonished at the wit of the film, its emotional content and the joy it brought to the audience. The gags were plentiful and quite clever, the action kept everything moving and the audience enjoyed themselves immensely (obviously a self selected group). The entire experience was enhanced by a live piano player and I think by the communal experience of seeing this film at the movies.

I highly recommend the film.

I have watched very few silent movies over the years, but was very pleasantly surprised by this one. Harold Lloyd plays - as the title suggests - a shy tailor who is deathly afraid of girls (to the point at which he stutters every time he talks to one - interestingly done in a "silent" movie) and yet writes a book to teach young men how to understand and win girls. The book captures the attention of a well-to-do young lady, and we wonder if the two of them will ever manage to get together.

The story was delightful, and although entirely predictable, was fun to watch. The chase scene at the end of the movie as Lloyd attempts to "get the girl" before her marriage was quite well filmed, and the humour throughout, while not outrageous, was amusing. My only criticism is the message that a "poor boy" can't win a "rich girl" unless he has the money (although in fairness this seemed to be a problem for Lloyd's character and not for the girl.) All in all, this was a very pleasant way to spend an hour and a half on a lazy Saturday morning.

The great Harold Lloyd has a total triumph in 1924's Girl Shy. This films is jam-packed with wit, slapstick, and old-fashioned sweetness. Lloyd found his perfect leading lady in Jobyna Ralston, who had just the right amount of prettiness and comic timing. Lloyd, of course, was the master of comic timing in everything from set pieces to still-spectacular chases across Los Angeles downtown streets. I especially liked the daydream scenes where the shy Harold conquers 2 great 1920s stereotypes: the Vamp, and the Flapper. I'd love to know who plays theses women in this film. I think she also appears as the girl with the hole in her stocking. This actress is a hoot as the parody of the vamp and flapper..... Altho I admire Chaplin, Keaton, and Harry Langdon as master comics, Harold Lloyd may have been the most complete of these star performers. His acting range was the broadest and his characters were never quite as vaudevillian--Harold Lloyd's everyman persona still rings true 80 years later. Bravo, Harold Lloyd!

In the small town of Little Bend, girl shy Harold Meadows (Harold Lloyd) is an apprentice tailor working for his uncle Jerry Meadows. He studies the female sex academically and writes a how-to book to meet them, "The Secret of Making Love". There are fantasy sequences portraying the different subsets of women. Mary Buckingham is a carefree rich heiress. Her car breaks down and she walks to the nearest train stop in Little Bend. There she runs into Harold who is going to LA trying to sell his book to a publisher. He immediately falls in love with her. Dogs are forbidden on the train and her dog runs away. Harold manages to retrieve the dog and returns it to the beauty. Neither knew that her boyfriend Ronald DeVore plans to propose marriage.

The fantasy sequences are silly to the point of being insulting. There's a possibility that it's a deliberate spoof although the start doesn't set up the satire well. Right before that, the customer and her city cousins are too broad. Even their makeup seem harsh and theatrical. I wish those minor female characters have more realism. It would separate the real world from his imagined world. I actually love the publisher girls making fun of his book which is akin to those pretend-playboys who teaches using insults to get the supermodels. I also wish that Mary is more thankful about her dog immediately although their story is very cute. There is a pleasant flow to their chemistry development but they don't have the heated exchanges which is the hallmark of the standard rom-com formula. This is a sweet simple romance with Harold delivering the comedy and it works. Harold does his action comedy in the third act.

Slapstick takes a back seat to wit and charm - especially wit. This is the Harold Lloyd film that contains the often-quoted scene where Harold imagines he is a latter day Shakespeare. One episode is so good it was copied decades later in THE GRADUATE. I won't say what it is immediately recognizable.

The only disappointment is that one of the original day-dream sequences was cut following adverse comments at the preview. Apparently the audience wasn't into wit, and got bored waiting for more slapstick. (Nothing changes.)

Kindhearted but nervous around women, a tailor shop apprentice goes to extraordinary lengths to secure the affections of a young lady he helped on a train in this Harold Lloyd silent comedy. Often regarded as one of Lloyd's best films, 'Girl Shy' benefits from frequently letting its star emote in close-up with Lloyd delivering one of his most down-to-earth and touching performances. The film is also capped off by a magnificently choreographed elongated chase sequence, the ingenuity of which puts 'The Graduate' to shame as Lloyd similarly tries to stop a wedding. 'Girl Shy' is an uneven ride though, even with these pluses. A prominent subplot has Lloyd (ironically) writing a manual on how to talk to women and trying to get it published, and while there is a lot of humour to be had in this subplot, it feels like part of a completely different movie, not gelling well with his romance with the train passenger. The gags are also a little hit-and-miss. That said, the ones that work are exquisite. Highlights include Lloyd eating mousetrap cheese to cover up for accidentally sticking his hand in one, Lloyd hiding the woman's dog on the train (and pretending to yelp like the dog) and Lloyd floating away on a turtle without realising it at a later point. The aforementioned concluding chase sequence is very impressive too and provides a charming note for the film to end on.

I must admit that I completely underestimated this film. Though I had enjoyed the Harold Lloyd features that I'd seen previously, somehow I expected 'Girl Shy (1924)' to be a rather tame slapstick comedy. Never would I have anticipated a film of such staggering comedic brilliance, a romantic tale with enough emotional pangs to please Chaplin, and yet an astonishing climactic action sequence that would make Keaton proud. Harold Lloyd, the oddly-neglected genius of 1920s comedy, here justifies his incredible popularity with silent cinema audiences {in fact, he enjoyed more commercial success than both of his famous contemporaries}. The film was the first to be produced under Lloyd's newly-founded production company, The Harold Lloyd Corporation, but both Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor {who had previously collaborated to direct the legendary 'Safety Last! (1923)'} returned to helm this latest production. 'Girl Shy' is what Lloyd liked to call a "character story," as opposed to a "gag film," though the plot does an exceptional job of retaining room for significant elements of both.

'Girl Shy' tells the story of Harold Meadows, a bespectacled young apprentice at a tailor shop who stutters uncontrollably at the sight of a beautiful woman, and yet, ironically, fancies himself experienced enough to write a best-selling instructional manual on how to "make love" with the opposite sex. When Harold unexpectedly meets the girl of his dreams, a modest beauty from a wealthy family, his views on woman suddenly do a somersault, and it's going to take every ounce of his energy to prevent his newfound sweetheart from marrying a coarse and arrogant bigamist. The first half of 'Girl Shy' plays out like a typical silent romantic comedy, with the Harold boarding a train at his hometown of Little Bend to present his completed book to a city publisher. A pretty girl, Mary (Jobyna Ralston), despairs at not being allowed to bring her pet dog aboard, but Harold selflessly aids her in concealing the pooch, even barking frantically and devouring dog biscuits in order to maintain the deception.

After the publishers laugh at the ineptitude of his work, Harold dejectedly decides that he's not worthy of such a lovely woman, and, in the film's most heartbreaking sequence, pretends that their entire romance had been nothing but a callous experiment. Mary reluctantly agrees to marry her long-time suitor (Carlton Griffin), a rich and conceited already-married man, and so Harold, upon hearing the announcement, frantically attempts to prevent the wedding. It is then that the film truly kicks into full stride, temporarily forgetting any notions of romance and embarking on a frenetic cross-country excursion that is, without a doubt, one of the most exhilarating sequences of the silent era. Hijacking every known means of locomotion – a car, a horse, a tram, a motorcycle, a horse-and-carriage – Harold storms towards the wedding ceremony with all his might, confronted by every misfortune imaginable and then defeating it with his incredible resourcefulness and quick-thinking. Storming into the wedding like Benjamin Braddock in 'The Graduate (1967),' Harold lifts the bride over his shoulder and escorts her towards a lifetime of happiness. He's certainly earned it.

Although usually I'm not a fan of silent films, I found Girl Shy to be funny and a good romance story. Even though the beginning started out a little slow, by the end I couldn't stop watching! A classic everyone should watch in my opinion.

This is an enjoyable feature with some good comedy and a good role for Harold Lloyd, giving him plenty of opportunities to show his athleticism and his slapstick skills while developing his character at the same time. The story follows the reliable pattern of pleasant light comedy as the plot takes shape, followed by an extended race-against-time sequence for the finale.

Lloyd's character is easy to sympathize with, despite his flaws and mistakes, and his stuttering and other habits help to make the character work. It's easy to identify with both his shyness and his overly-optimistic dreams, even when the character is completely self-deluded. Jobyna Ralston is effective as the gentle young rich woman, and their relationship's ups and downs are believably portrayed.

The pace is deliberate for the most part, until everything is set up for the climactic sequence. Lloyd gets to do some impressive stunts, and there are a lot of interesting details. One notable feature is that Harold makes use of almost every conceivable form of conveyance available at the time, which adds to the effect.

As is usual for a Lloyd feature, there are a lot of visual details here and there that often set off the main action nicely. The main character is just enough different from Lloyd's best-known roles to make him interesting yet largely familiar. The story is told effectively, with a couple of recurring visual references that work well in wordlessly conveying the characters' thoughts. The romance, comedy, and action make for an entertaining mix.

This particular film was shown on TMC tonight with several other Harold Lloyd films which are being sold in new DVD form. The new film DVDs have full scores that were composed for them. And, at the start of this film (unfortunately just the first five minutes) there is an attempt to show hand tinting of the scene.

Harold Lloyd plays a shy, stuttering country boy who has never had a girl friend (the local girls like to tease him about this), but who has written a ridiculous book about how to get girls, which he is trying to get published. He meets Jobyna Ralston, a wealthy girl from Los Angeles, on the train to that town. He manages to reunite her with her pet dog and she, in turn, is the only girl that he finds himself comfortable enough to talk to. To protect the dog from an intrusive conductor, Harold eats some dog biscuits meant for her pet (he keeps the box). He buys a box of cracker jacks for her, and she keeps the box. They become symbols of the tight feelings they feel for each other. But Jobyna is being pursued by a suitor named De Vore (Carlton Griffin). She does not know of a nasty secret he is hiding.

Due to a personal humiliation, Harold decides he has to break with Jobyna, and she decides to marry Griffin. But Harold learns the secret, and is determined to stop the wedding. In the last half hour he proceeds to go from his village to Los Angeles, using automobiles, horses, buggies, trolley cars, and motorcycles. In the course of the chase he makes comments about prohibition bootleggers and agents, about 1920s automobile driver's training, the way streetcars could accidentally run themselves (if one is not careful), and on the lack of preparation some fire departments showed regarding properly tying down their hoses. It is a well done, amusing chase, and wraps up the film quite conveniently. Only the chases in two later Lloyd silent comedies would duplicate it - but not beat it as the best of the three.

This film is the story of Harold Meadows (Harold Lloyd), an apprentice to his uncle, a tailor. He is very shy in front of girls and stutters uncontrollably in front of them; however, he writes a book entitled "The Secret of Making Love." His heart is caught by a wealthy girl he encounters by chance, Mary Buckingham (Jobyna Ralston). In front of her his stuttering ceases. She is, however, engaged to be married to another, undivorced man, and the plot advances from here. I enjoyed this film very much because of the many funny scenes that had me laughing all the way through; it also had me very nervous waiting for the ending.

To begin, this is a great movie! The plot is well developed: a horribly girl-shy, wanna-be author is writing a book about women, leading to some funny imaginary scenes from his book. He meets a rich woman, Mary, who another sleazy man is dating. The boy and girl go on their way, but end up meeting each other again. However, the boy is too shy to tell her that he loves her. Then Mary is about to be married....leading to an exciting climax. Though there is not as much constant humor in this movie as others, but there are some good points, like the workers at the publishers who are crazy about the boy. The last scene where the boy is racing to the wedding is very nicely shot, considering the time this movie was made. This movie is very enjoyable and fun to watch.

The plot is pretty conventional silent stuff involving tiresome misunderstandings; but in the hands of Harold Lloyd delivers the fun, climaxing with a get-me-to-the-church-in time finale shot on nostalgiacally sparcely populated Hollywood thoroughfares which anticipates 'The Graduate' by forty years

Girl Shy is phenomenal. It really has it all. It is a fantastically funny movie about an innocent "girl shy" everyman who ends up at the end with the big break and, of course, the beautiful girl. The romance is absolutely breathtaking. The pathos is inspiring--practically had me in tears. The comedy is genuine-indeed, the fantasy sequences are very, very interesting to say the least. The ending chase scene is cinematic genius. Its similarity to the ending of The Graduate is eerie. Released 82 years ago, this film had me on the edge of my seat throughout. One of the greatest movies I have ever seen. Harold Lloyd is a forgotten Hollywood icon. With the 2005 DVD release of his greatest films (including Girl Shy), that will undoubtedly soon change.

I usually don't enjoy silent films and never showed interest in watching them; however, in my History of American Cinema class, we were asked to watch and review a silent film outside of class. I chose Girl Shy by Harold Lloyd and I was presently surprised. Girl Shy is a romantic comedy, and even though it is a silent film, Lloyd is able to keep the audience engaged with the tight structure of this movie and how he is able to portray humor without talking. This movie is full of slapstick humor, wit, and the ideal old-fashion love. This film captured the style of film-making of this time and is definitely one of Llyod's best films. I still don't enjoy silent films, but if anyone needs to watch a silent film for a class or wants to see what they are like, I recommend watching Girl Shy.

Predictable at times, Girl Shy was surprisingly funny! I didn't think a silent film could go beyond a certain kind of comedy but this movie was funnier than expected. Harold Lloyd is quite funny in how he acts as being so shy towards women but soon meets one he can really talk to. I wasn't expecting much going in since it's a silent film but this movie was a pleasant surprise!

Harold Lloyd, "third genius" of silent comedy, made his independent debut with Girl Shy after years at Hal Roach studios, Hollywood's premier comedy factory. He chose to take with him his leading lady Jobyna Ralston and his directorial team Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. However the resulting picture is something of a departure from his earlier work – or, at least, it is a development of it. Girl Shy is less about knitting together gag after gag, taking instead the "story first" approach of Charlie Chaplin's full-length movies.

And as with Chaplin, the story though emotionally sincere is never allowed to smother the comedy, and quite often a quick joke is used great effect, puncturing a romantic moment before it becomes too sentimental. The story is a little illogical at times – the flashbacks to Harold's "research" for his book seem at odds with the lack of confidence after which the whole picture is named. But those little vignettes offer some great satire on the romantic melodramas of the era, and generally the whole thing is put together with such a fine balancing of romance and humour that it moves along without the deficiencies ever becoming too apparent.

Directors Taylor and Newmeyer have a great dynamic, it seems trying to make their styles match even though they handle different sections of the movie. Sam Taylor, (who did most of the comedy) uses a lot of close-up gags here, such as the business with the mousetrap, where some little detail will lead to some larger scale shenanigans. And similarly Newmeyer is putting in a lot of discreet close-ups for his non-comedy scenes, such as the shots of the crackerjack box that serve as a symbol for Ralston's memory of Harold. Together the two directors give the whole thing a kind of visual coherence that makes it all seem smooth and flowing. Newmeyer is on particularly fine form here, directing with a subtlety that allows the entire river meeting scene to be played out with no intertitles.

Lloyd's features typically have a fast-paced editing pattern, largely to facilitate the often breakneck pace of his comedy sequences. The dash to the church which forms the finale of Girl Shy is perhaps the most brilliant of any Lloyd picture, mainly because of the rapidity with which it moves from one gag to the next. The way Harold leaps from, say, the back of a car onto a horse is funny in itself – as well as an impressive stunt. And yet, unlike his previous feature Safety Last!, which had quick edits throughout, Girl Shy also features a few longer takes in the romantic scenes, allowing the camera to linger over a facial expression.

Which brings me onto Harold himself. He really makes the most of these close-ups. When he receives the bad news over his book, the camera holds him for a lengthy moment, and he really acts. He stays within the parameters of that comical character, but he emotes with complete dignity. Ultimately, Girl Shy is the complete realisation of the Harold Lloyd comedy character that would stick with him in future features (barring one or two deviations). Even though the story may be a little inconsistent as to exactly how "girl shy" Harold really is, this is the first movie to show him not only as a familiar, sympathetic figure, but one who is at risk of being hurt emotionally, not just by the dangers of his cliffhanging slapstick.