A Sailor-Made Man

Harold Lloyd’s first feature, A Sailor-Made Man follows a lazy playboy (Lloyd’s The Boy) as he agrees to join the Navy to impress Mildred Davis’ The Girl. (Wacky shenanigans ensue, naturally.) Filmmaker Fred C. Newmeyer delivers an erratic yet mostly entertaining comedy that benefits from Lloyd’s completely captivating and often hilarious performance, as the movie, which runs a brisk 47 minutes, progresses through a series of hit-and-miss vignettes that are consistently elevated by Lloyd’s go-for-broke turn as the affable protagonist – with the inclusion of several memorable visual gags and set-pieces, including a character’s encounter with a playful monkey, enhancing the compulsively watchable atmosphere. And while the lack of plot and forward momentum generally prevents the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the narrative, A Sailor-Made Man builds towards an unexpectedly exciting climax, in which The Boy must save The Girl from an evil Maharajah, that ensures the whole thing concludes on a memorable, agreeable note – with the positive vibe cemented by a genuinely sweet and affecting final scene.

**1/2 out of ****