AN EASTERN WESTERNER (director: Hal Roach; screenwriters: story by Frank Terry/H. M. Walker; cinematographer: Walter Lundin; music: Robert Israel; cast: Harold Lloyd (The Boy), Mildred Davis (The Girl), Noah Young (The Bully), Jim Kelley (Card Shark); Runtime: 20; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Hal Roach; TCM; 1920-silent)
“Spoofs the Western.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A two-reel comedy vehicle for silent star Harold Lloyd, that spoofs the Western.Pampered and poorly behaved easterner Harold Lloyd is sent to his uncle’s ranch out west in Piute Pass. In the local saloon Harold gets into an hilarious poker game (one of his great gags) and then rescues the father of the virtuous Mildred Davis, locked in a room until dad gives his consent for his daughter to marry the local bully (Noah Young). Harold uses his wits and frees her dad, but is chased supposedly out of town by the white hooded Masked Angels (a KKK type of gang). But Harold has the last laugh and fools them into thinking he’s on the train while hiding in the bushes. Harold then meets Mildred on the tracks and draws a wedding ring on her finger.
Energetic and funny Lloyd comedy. Three years after the film Harold married Mildred and she retired as an actress.
REVIEWED ON 6/14/2011 GRADE: B
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