"The Kid Brother" (1927)

Harold-Lloyd-in-The-Kid-Brother-1927-00

Harold Lloyd

Directed by             Ted Wilde, J.A. Howe and Lewis Milestone
Produced by    Harold Lloyd
Scenario by           John Grey, Lex Neal and Howard Green
Based on    a screen story by John Grey, Thomas Crizer and Ted Wilde
Starring Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Walter James, Eddie Boland, C. Romanoff
Cinematography    Walter Lundin
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date         January 22, 1927
Running time 82 min.
Country          United States
Language    Silent film, English intertitles

"The Kid Brother" is part of our series "Other Favorite Films". This category includes films that do not feature a particular star from our site, but which in our view represent a major contribution of a silent movie to the Arts and Culture of the world.

The film is still under copyright, which prevents us from streaming it live on our site. We will be able to show it to you in 2022.

"The Kid Brother" is a classic silent comedy, considered one of the best films of Harold Lloyd.

Sheriff Jim Hickory and his two elder sons are the pillars of their town. His youngest one Harold, however, does not measure up to their high standards of stature and physical strength. As the story goes, Harold was born on April Fool's Day and the stork that brought him home almost fell from the sky for laughing. Harold is put in charge of such unmanly tasks as doing the laundry, the cooking and the dishes, and does not stand in high regard with his father and brothers.

Thanks to sheriff Jim Hickory's efforts the villagers have collected money to build a dam. When he leaves for a town meeting with his elder sons, Harold is left behind because "the town hall is no place for boys". Harold finds a distraction from his bitterness with some role playing, putting on a sheriff's uniform and a badge. He is caught off guard, however, when the medicine show manager in need of a permit tricks him into signing the papers. In the meantime the sheriff is entrusted to keep the money for the dam at his home until further notice.

Harold soon has a chance to prove his manhood when he meets Mary, the girl from the show. First he protects her from the unwanted advances of another showman, and then eases her fears after an encounter with a snake. His heroics remain unrecognized at home, however, and when his father finds out that he signed the permit, Harold is required to use the sheriff's badge to drive the show out of town. He fails miserably the assignment, but wins Mary's sympathy.

The next day the whole populace gathers around the Hickory's house as it turns out that the money for the dam has been stolen. Harold suffers another disgrace when his father sends his elder sons to look for the thieves, but tells him that he is not fit to do a man's job and must stay at home. In his darkest hour Harold is cheered up and encouraged to be brave by Mary.

Harold soon has a chance to prove his manhood again when he finds himself by an abandoned ship and discovers that the bad guys are on board. He locates the stolen cash and has to wage a fight for life with a much stronger man. Showing a lot of courage, strength and endurance in adversity Harold manages to tie the crook and heads home with the prisoner and the money.

Without Harold's knowledge his successful return acquires much urgency as the villagers go wild and come close to lynching his father, the former sheriff who is forced to resign. Harold gets back with the thief and the money, dramatically declaring to the whole town that he captured the criminal and recovered the funds for the dam. He refuses to give the moneybag to anyone else but his father the sheriff. His father expresses the admiration of all by telling Harold "You are a real Hickory".

In the end the timid but courageous little brother saves his father, brings back the money, earns everybody's respect and wins Mary's love.

The film is ranked number 73 in the list of The Top 100 Silent Era Films of the influential website Silent Era.

It has a strong user rating in IMDB.