Tweet Harold Lloyd's "Welcome Danger" (1929) -- any ideas?

Okay, so Harold Lloyd's first talkie "Welcome Danger" (1929) is generally considered to be among his weakest efforts, and the few excerpts I've seen from it have indeed not made me too excited, but being a completist as far as the great silent clowns are concerned, I'd really appreciate any advice as to how to get the film, at a reasonable price...the film is included in the region 2-version of the Estate's Harold Lloyd collection, but I hesitate to buy the entire set one more time for the sake of one film (and presumably one of his lesser films, at that...). I think I've seen pretty much all of Lloyd's films that are at all available on the video market by now, Estate-related and otherwise, and that one exception truly bothers me.

Wasn't there some talk — or was it just loose talk? — of a follow-up set including Welcome Danger, Professor Beware and others that missed the boat on the first one?

Perhaps your best bet is to record it off TCM the next time it is shown. WELCOME DANGER seems only to be available as part of a larger set as far as I can determine.

Okay, so Harold Lloyd's first talkie "Welcome Danger" (1929) is generally considered to be among his weakest efforts, and the few excerpts I've seen from it have indeed not made me too excited, but being a completist as far as the great silent clowns are concerned, I'd really appreciate any advice as to how to get the film, at a reasonable price...the film is included in the region 2-version of the Estate's Harold Lloyd collection, but I hesitate to buy the entire set one more time for the sake of one film (and presumably one of his lesser films, at that...). I think I've seen pretty much all of Lloyd's films that are at all available on the video market by now, Estate-related and otherwise, and that one exception truly bothers me.

Not certain when it will come out, but the Lloyd' pictures will be coming in Blu-Ray in the near future, so there may be ann opportunity for the two versions of Welome Danger to appear.

Smari1989, don't knock yourself out trying to see Welcome Danger and don't purchase a region 2 set just to see it. I am a huge Lloyd fan, but WD is possibly the worst film ever made by a major comedian (and I'm not forgetting What, No Beer or some of Jerry Lewis' lesser efforts). I taped it off TCM years ago and it took me three sittings to get through it once It'll show up again on TCM again one of these days and your curiosity will be satisfied...forever.

[Danny Burk]

Agreed, it really is dreadful - as bad as everyone says.

However, news that a HL blu-ray set is coming soon is reason to celebrate!

Very poor film. It starts out going in one direction and then turns into a totally different film.
However, I can understand a Lloyd fan wishing to see it at least once.

It isn't good. There are scattered good moments but even the potentially good parts are done in by slack pacing. Reaction shots seem to go on forever. On top of it, Lloyd's character is something of a pain in the ass.

Thanks for all replies. Yeah, I definitely don't expect any major experience, but there are certain performers/directors I'll watch in anything at least once, and Harold Lloyd is one of them. Catching the film on TCM is unlikely to happen to me, though, since I live in Scandinavia, where TCM is something totally different than the US version (they show the same films over and over and over, and rarely if ever any work of the great silent comedians).

If you have a region-free player, this is probably well within your budget:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAROLD-LLOYD-MO ... 4ab892a0c9

If you have a region-free player, this is probably well within your budget:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAROLD-LLOYD-MO ... 4ab892a0c9" target="_blank

Thank you so very much! Really appreciated.

The talkie version of WELCOME DANGER is indeed horrible; I couldn't make it past twenty minutes. The silent variant of the talkie version that exists is said to be better (not available on video but has been screened), but unfortunately the real silent version, before the talkie reshoots, we can never see, and I'm betting it would be waaaaaaay better.

The only part that I found endearing because reminiscent of his silent work was the last shot before the fade-out.

Yeah, I was pretty happy when the fade-out came too.

Well, so I got to watch "Welcome Danger" this evening.
Really, what are everyone complaining about? No, it's certainly not on par with Lloyd's silent features, but none of his talkies are. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and think the more serious moments in the latter half added some depth to the film absent from his later talkies, as did Harold's friendship with Noah Young (the cop). The sound synchronization is terrible at times, but I didn't expect less of a feature from '29. Some sequences kind of dragged, but I have no truly major complains. I was entertained.

I think that The Milky Way is very nearly on a par with Lloyd's silent work. It's faster paced than most of his sound work, has a first rate supporting cast, and Lloyd's character isn't yet another retread of his boy with glasses. LLoyd was never really fluid with dialogue but he manages to sound natural here.

It's been several years since I watched "The Milky Way" and I don't remember too much about it, expect the scene with the horse in the cab which made me laugh hysterically... I'd agree Lloyd's delivery of dialogue tended to appear somewhat "forced," but I think it came off as decent enough in "Welcome Danger."

Well, so I got to watch "Welcome Danger" this evening.
Really, what are everyone complaining about? No, it's certainly not on par with Lloyd's silent features, but none of his talkies are. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and think the more serious moments in the latter half added some depth to the film absent from his later talkies, as did Harold's friendship with Noah Young (the cop). The sound synchronization is terrible at times, but I didn't expect less of a feature from '29. Some sequences kind of dragged, but I have no truly major complains. I was entertained.

I think you might very well be on your own with this one.

It's a pity the original silent version was never finished and released, with a couple of sound sequences added later perhaps; I'd much rather have a goat-gland film than what we have now.

WD is not one of his better films, and the "Godzilla-like" lack of sinc when Harold & Noah Young are walking on the street may be the funniest part of the movie. That said, I think it is much better than Diddlebock (most things are).

I loved "The Cat's Paw", which I think may be my fav LLoyd talkie. He Played someone very smart and very decent who out-foxed the bad guys at their own game. Lloyd just seemed to glide flawlessly through the dialog and inhabit the part. He seemed like such a babe-in-the-woods at the begining, but his seeming innocence was far from the truth, and it did trip up the mob.

Professor Beware is also underrated, and Movie Crazy is so clever.

The Milky Way ........he is trying to save Agnes, and in my book he gets points for that ( even if his Agnes is a horse).

Agnes

I kind of like "Welcome Danger," too... it's such a kick seeing the normal "all American Harold" being a complete, utter, unlikeable jerk for the first part of the film.

I enjoy WELCOME DANGER too. Gags are funny and as a whole am amused and entertained throughout the film. One of my favorites of Lloyd's 30's movies along with FEET FIRST and MOVIE CRAZY. PROFESSOR BEWARE is also funny, glad another poster likes that one as well.

Well I'll be, there are now 3 people who like WELCOME DANGER. Crazy. Any more deluded souls out there? :-)

I kind of like "Welcome Danger," too... it's such a kick seeing the normal "all American Harold" being a complete, utter, unlikeable jerk for the first part of the film.

And that's exactly what kills it. Harold as a complete, utter, unlikeable jerk ain't funny...just plain utterly unlikeable.

WaverBoy wrote:

Harold as a complete, utter, unlikeable jerk ain't funny...just plain utterly unlikeable.

And this was decades before Jim Carrey made a career of it.

WELCOME DANGER I can do without; I recorded it off TCM, was amazed at how much Bruckman re-used in his Columbia 2-reelers, then tucked it away. I'd like to see PROFESSOR BEWARE, but I believe it's controlled by Universal along with most pre-1948 Paramounts (it used to be in the MCA TV package).

Hal Erickson wrote:

I'd like to see PROFESSOR BEWARE, but I believe it's controlled by Universal along with most pre-1948 Paramounts (it used to be in the MCA TV package).

Years ago, ages before MAD MEN, I remember AMC aired PROFESSOR BEWARE, and I was able to tape it. It's not my favorite Lloyd talkie (MOVIE CRAZY), but it's certainly better than DIDDLEBOCK.

I loved "The Cat's Paw", which I think may be my fav LLoyd talkie. He Played someone very smart and very decent who out-foxed the bad guys at their own game. Lloyd just seemed to glide flawlessly through the dialog and inhabit the part. He seemed like such a babe-in-the-woods at the begining, but his seeming innocence was far from the truth, and it did trip up the mob.

Agnes

Absolutely agree. The Cat's Paw is my favorite Lloyd talkie for the reasons you've mentioned. I also enjoy his rapport with Una Merkel, a well-chosen leading lady. On top of that, it's clear Lloyd really "got" the style required for sound in this film. I like Movie Crazy too, but it plays like a silent comedy with sound added, whereas The Cat's Paw is a true product of its era: the mid-1930s. As others have noted elsewhere, it feels like a Capra film (i.e. like Mr. Deeds or Mr. Smith.) The tone is natural and relaxed, and I don't recall any reworkings of silent era gags.

A few years ago I saw the silent version of Welcome Danger, i.e. the one that was released to theaters that hadn't yet been wired for sound. (The earlier version he abandoned no longer exists.) It plays better than the talkie version, but that's not saying much. And in the Chinatown sequence there are endless shots of Harold clunking Asian guys on the head, I mean, over and over and over. I came out of the theater with a migraine.

I love the bit in Cat's Paw: "You're so honest about your dishonesty that at heart I think you're really honest"

Well I'll be, there are now 3 people who like WELCOME DANGER. Crazy. Any more deluded souls out there?)

I like it too.
Of course, it's not Harold's best, and it's certainly not my favorite. And of course the silent version is better.
But:
For me, anything with Harold is worth seeing.
And I'm interested in anything from 1929.
And, anything with Barbara Kent!

Well....I'll eat my hat ("Not All of it I Won't" ).

I watched this for the second time tonight and I kinda liked it. I find myself thinking about a third viewing.

Just to check my sanity I've started this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13542&p=97031#p97031