Today is 4/20, and slackers, college students, scofflaws, and other disreputables are marking the occasion the way they always do: quietly contemplating the comedic legacy of Harold Lloyd, born on April 20, 1893. And what better way to celebrate, today of all days, than by watching him in his groundbreaking 1920 short, entirely coincidentally titled High and Dizzy?
The film, directed by Hal Roach, stars Lloyd as a young doctor who, along with his bootlegging friend (Ray Brooks), drinks 44 pints of some sort of godawful homemade raisin liquor and then wanders around Los Angeles while avoiding hassles from the Prohibition-era cops (a familiar template). Eventually, he ends up attempting to save a sleepwalking patient (Mildred Davis, who Lloyd married in 1923) from the ledge outside a building high over downtown. The stunt work would be impressive from any actor in any era, but Lloyd had lost several fingers to a prop bomb the summer before he dangled from the ledges in this film. This was the first time Lloyd attempted the skyscraper stunts that he made famous in 1923’s Safety Last and recreated, far less successfully, in his 1930 sound film Feet First. (It’s the only time Mildred Davis did the same stunt—and she does it in heels.)
But nobody worries too much about the historical context when celebrating 4/20. The important question is this: Is High and Dizzy the right film to watch at your Harold Lloyd birthday party? Well, Lloyd’s drinking, but his inebriated shenanigans are especially amusing on April 20, for some reason. The gags are perfectly executed and hilarious. (If Lloyd’s trenchcoat-with-mannequin-head disguise doesn’t crack you up, you clearly aren’t celebrating Lloyd’s birthday hard enough.) There isn’t much of a plot, so it’s easy to drop in and out of the film and still find each joke funny, if your attention span is shorter than normal. The intertitles (by the legendary Beanie Walker) are illustrated, so you don’t have to focus on them too much. And there’s an adorable puppy. So get your traditional Harold Lloyd’s birthday refreshments and enjoy!
