Get Out and Get Under - 1920

Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Director: Hal Roach
Writer: H.M. Walker (titles)
Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis and Fred McPherson
Release Date: 26 September 1920 (USA)
Also known as: Oh! La belle voiture (France)
Plot Keywords: Title From Song | Auto Repair | Dream | Drug Addict | Gardener | Dog
Photographer | Automobile | Amateur Theater | Mouse | Fly | Two Reeler | Train |
Road Repair | Fire Hydrant | Hose | Motorcycle Cop | African American | Hypodermic Needle | Chase
Genres: Comedy | Short
A young man is awakened from a nightmare by the telephone ringing - his girlfriend is calling him, because he is late for an amateur theatrical production. But before he can leave, he gets into an argument with his neighbor. Then, soon after he gets on the road, his car stalls. If he cannot get to the theater quickly, he might be replaced in the play by a rival.
Fair Harold Lloyd short which presents several gags he would re-use and improve upon in his later feature films. It opens with a scene at a photographer's studio where Harold discovers that his girl Mildred Davis is about to marry another man - but it all turns out to have been just a dream. He's involved in amateur theatricals and, being late for a performance, rushes out to the venue in his beloved car: amid the vehicle's breaking down on him, he falls foul of an elderly neighbor and a colored child; the race-against-time, then, culminates in the usual pursuit by a horde of policemen. The automobile trouble eventually gets a bit repetitive, but the film nevertheless includes the occasional inspired and hilarious gag - such as when Harold 'disappears' inside the car's engine compartment, an actor accidentally falling off the stage (after being 'killed') promptly going back up to resume his performance i.e. affecting a typically melodramatic 'exit' and, especially, when Lloyd sees a junkie getting high in the street and reasons that, if he injects his vehicle with the same substance, it will be likewise revitalized - which is what happens, as the car goes off on its own soon after 'taking' its fix!