Movie Crazy
Original Poster
Directed byClyde Bruckman
Harold Lloyd (uncredited)
Written byVincent Lawrence
Produced byHarold Lloyd (uncredited)
StarringHarold Lloyd
Constance Cummings
Kenneth Thomson
CinematographyWalter Lundin
Edited byBernard W. Burton
Music byAlfred Newman (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • August 12, 1932 (1932-08-12)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$675,353[1]
Box office$1,439,000[2]

Movie Crazy is a 1932 American Pre-Code comedy film starring Harold Lloyd in his third sound feature.

The film's copyright was renewed in 1959.[3]

Plot

Harold Hall, a young man with little or no acting ability, desperately wants to be in the movies.

Harold Lloyd in "Movie Crazy" ad from The Film Daily, 1932

After a mix-up with his application photograph, he gets an offer to have a screen-test, and goes off to Hollywood. At the studio, he does everything wrong and causes all sorts of trouble. But he catches the fancy of a beautiful actress, and eventually the studio owner recognizes him as a comic genius.

Cast

Production

This was the first film for Harold Lloyd in two years. Clyde Bruckman, who had directed Lloyd in his first two talkie films along with the sound version of Speedy, was recruited to direct Lloyd, who also served as producer. However, Bruckman soon fell ill to a lingering problem with alcoholism, which led to Lloyd stepping into direct, although he did not take credit for it.[4]

Background

The film was a major box office success. An estimated $675,000 was spent on the production and the film grossed over $1,439,000 in the United States alone.[2] The film also proved to be a major critical success as the vast majority of film reviewers praised the picture highly.[5] Cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller provided gags for the film.[6]

Renewed interest in Harold Lloyd

In 1962, scenes from this film were included in a compilation film produced by Harold Lloyd himself entitled Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and created a renewal of interest in the comedian by introducing him to a whole new generation.

See also

References

  1. Vance, Jeffrey and Suzanne Lloyd. "Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian" New York: Harry N Abrams. p 177
  2. 1 2 Box Office Gross for Movie Crazy
  3. "Catalog of Copyright Entries 1959 Motion Pictures and Filmstrips Jan-Dec 3D Ser Vol 13 PTS 12-13". U.S. Govt. Print. Off. 1959.
  4. https://www.chicagofilmsociety.org/2011/03/17/movie-crazy/
  5. Los Angeles Times – April 10, 1932 – Page B15; New York Times – September 15, 1932 – Page F5; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – October 17, 1932 – Page 16 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UZEnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZWkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5933,1391741&dq=1932+movie-crazy&hl=en
  6. Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers: 1945 - 1980, by Moira Davison Reynolds; published 2003, by McFarland & Company (via Google Books)


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