Lloyd Hamilton, largely forgotten these days because most of his films are gone, was the comedian's comedian during the 1920s. When Charley Chase needed a gag, he would imagine what Hamilton would do. When asked if he admired any screen comedians, Chaplin mentioned Max Linder and Hamilton.
Hamilton's screen character in the 1920s was a man to whom everything happened. He fought back, but never really won. With his duck-like gait -- supposedly caused by a real life leg injury -- and his pursed look of disappointment, he waddled his way through some very funny situations.
Here the set-up is that he is pursued by a cop for vagrancy and the jokes largely consist of imaginatively conceived and impeccably timed gags as he avoids arrest. In the middle is the prototypical Hamilton gag: he is trapped between a canoe and a dock, about to fall into the water and a man rushes up -- and snaps his picture then rushes off and reappears -- with a larger camera. In Hamilton's world, no one cares and still it is excruciatingly funny.
Most of Hamilton's shorts are gone and far too many of the survivors are in poor shape. This one is rare but is in good shape. If you get a chance, see it. Or anything else that Hamilton did in the 1920s.
Hamilton's screen character in the 1920s was a man to whom everything happened. He fought back, but never really won. With his duck-like gait -- supposedly caused by a real life leg injury -- and his pursed look of disappointment, he waddled his way through some very funny situations.
Here the set-up is that he is pursued by a cop for vagrancy and the jokes largely consist of imaginatively conceived and impeccably timed gags as he avoids arrest. In the middle is the prototypical Hamilton gag: he is trapped between a canoe and a dock, about to fall into the water and a man rushes up -- and snaps his picture then rushes off and reappears -- with a larger camera. In Hamilton's world, no one cares and still it is excruciatingly funny.
Most of Hamilton's shorts are gone and far too many of the survivors are in poor shape. This one is rare but is in good shape. If you get a chance, see it. Or anything else that Hamilton did in the 1920s.
