Movie Crazy (1932)

To me, this movie is perfection.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I watched this the other day for the first time in years, and was disappointed. I had distant memories of this being a very funny film but it just "fair, at best." Some national film critics like Leonard Maltin call this Harold Lloyd's "best talkie," but I disagree. Film critics love any story that has to do with Hollywood.Constance Cummings was more entertaining than Lloyd. Her looks and figure didn't hurt, either. Anyway, Harold plays a small-town Midwestern boy who heads to Hollywood to become a famous movie star. He thinks he's talented enough (which he isn't, of course.) The only reason he got invited, and keeps getting tryouts, is because the producer thinks Lloyd is someone else.Meanwhile, since romance is usually a part of these classic comedies, Harold gets a lot of points with Cummings. She's impressed because he's the only male who doesn't fawn all over him. Since mishaps occur wherever he goes, she calls him "Trouble."Much of the story is a series of events that happen to both of the leads, good things and bad things. There are some funny scenes, such as Lloyd putting on a magician's coat by mistake and squirting people in face, etc. However, if you've seen The Three Stooges, you've seen all the sight gaps you see in this movie. In all, nothing extraordinary.

I recently obtained and watched every film from the huge Harold Lloyd box set recently released by the Lloyd family. So, finally, I was able to watch Lloyd's sound films along side his silents and compare and contrast them. In general, his sound films are far better than I had expected--for years, I only watched his silents as I incorrectly assumed his sound movies wouldn't be very watchable--and in general, reviews for the sound versions of Lloyd and Keaton's films are pretty poor. Of all the sound films, I think I disliked THE MILKY WAY the most--it was pretty dull stuff. However, FEET FIRST, THE CATS-PAW and this film were all quite entertaining and worth seeing--regardless of whether or not you are a fan of Lloyd's silents.MOVIE CRAZY is a cute film about Harold wanting to become a movie star. He accidentally sends someone else's photo to a Hollywood exec (Mr. O'Brien). Well, O'Brien sees the picture and decides to offer him a screen test based only on the picture. But, when Harold comes to the studio he makes a mess of everything--and really annoys O'Brien by accidentally destroying his hat and smashing his glass doors! Despite this, through some silly mistakes (brilliantly executed by the way), Harold is told to still take the screen test. He is horrible, but everyone tells him he was great as sort of a practical joke.Harold then meets a sexy Spanish lady on one of the sets and he mistakenly thinks she loves him. Then, shortly after this, he meets another actress and creates so much havoc helping her that she nicknames him "trouble"--and he is like a walking disaster waiting to happen. Harold likes this other lady as well and doesn't realize she IS the Spanish actress--just without all the makeup and accent. It's extremely funny when he tries to juggle BOTH ladies--seeing one without telling the other! This actually works because they really did look like two different women plus the actress (Constance Cummings) did a really good job in the two roles. Unfortunately, this cute ruse gets out of hand and the lady becomes jealous of "the other woman" (which is herself) and she tells Harold to get out of her life forever.He doesn't realize she told him to get lost because she wrote him a note on the first piece of paper she could find--the back of an invitation to a fancy party. He thinks he's been invited and shows up to meet her. In the process, she accidentally switches jackets with a magician and this results in a wonderful scene where he is dancing and rabbits, pigeons, etc. keep popping out of his coat! It is simply hilarious and strongly reminiscent of the falling apart suit in THE FRESHMAN (which he made several years earlier)--but different enough that it doesn't feel like a cheep knockoff (like the climbing scene in FEET FIRST--it was a cheap effort to re-create the the movie WELCOME DANGER).Well, this time, after he makes a total fool of himself at this swank party, she tells him off for good--but you can see she still feels for him. He admits his defeat and promises to leave her alone once and for all. However, throughout the film, a nasty drunk actor had been threatening Harold and telling him NEVER to see this actress. Now, the jerk of an actor doesn't know Harold has agreed never to see her again. And, the jerk actor beats up Harold and tells him "I'd rather kill her than have her see another man". Harold, after he awakens, responds in his very typical way by rising to the occasion and using both brawn and his brain to teach this guy a lesson. The problem is, all of this is accidentally filmed (the director gets knocked out so no one tells the cameramen to stop filming and Harold doesn't know he's on film). It's a very rousing and fun extended fight scene--one of the best of the era.Later, the studio head sees the fight scene and incorrectly assumes it was all staged. He thinks the scene is great and very funny so he offers Harold a contract. Harold, not wanting to be dishonest (like he had been with his ex-girlfriend), admits it was NOT staged and refuses the big contract. In doing so, he endears himself to Ms. Cummings who now is totally smitten with him after she also finds out WHY he fought with the other actor. In addition, the studio head STILL insists that Harold signs the contract and everyone lives happily ever after (except the director who HATES Harold and the jerk actor who is beaten up).The movie strongly excels at plot development and depth in the characterizations. In this sense, it's really better than his silent films. I also loved how so often little mistakes or misunderstanding snowballed to amazing proportions! However, a drawback (and not a big one at that) was that Harold's character, at times, was too clumsy to be believable. I don't really know why this film hasn't gotten more attention--it IS one of Lloyd's best films and stands up well against any comedy of the age--including Chaplin's. I would go so far to say that although the movie wasn't as technically brilliant as Chaplin's MODERN TIMES or CITY LIGHTS, it was more entertaining and made me laugh more. An undiscovered film and wonderful insight behind the scenes at the studios.

This is a good comedy, possibly Harold Lloyd's best sound movie, and it features a very nice pairing of Lloyd with Constance Cummings. It's also interesting and entertaining as a light commentary on the movie industry of its day, and the ways that it was perceived. The extreme eagerness of Lloyd's character to break into the movies is interwoven with the main romantic plot in some clever ways.The story has Lloyd's character leaving his Kansas home and heading to Hollywood, where he winds up having a chaotic and very funny romance with a star actress played by Cummings. There are a lot of funny gag ideas, some very nice scenes between the two stars, and quite a bit more, capped off by the kind of funny, exciting set piece that you always hope for as the finale in one of Lloyd's movies.Cummings is very appealing and enjoyable, and she has a lot of good material to work with, as the script sets up a good contrast between her screen character and her real personality. This contrast is used very creatively in the plot, and the effect is aided considerably by how well Cummings and Lloyd work together in all of their scenes. The actress's affectionate nickname of 'Trouble' for Lloyd's character works well, too. Their interplay is the best part of a good comedy that also has a lot of other things working for it.

Came upon this movie which I had never heard of while channel surfing during an episode of insomnia. This was one of the most fun & funny movies I have ever seen! You will be constantly riveted as the scenes move fast and the comedy is clever and extremely well done! The cast is excellent and I found myself laughing out loud over and over again! Was disappointed when it was over as it went way too fast! Sort of like going on a great ride at an amusement park and wanting to go on it again! I would highly recommend this movie to anyone as it is refreshing to see such good acting and fun comedy! I can't wait to see it again!