Standard boy meets girl and elopes slapstick. Harold and Bebe's ballroom skills, for which they won awards, is used to good effect. The most interesting thing about this silent short was that the version I saw had Czech intertitles!
7 Reviews
Entertaining
gbill-7487730 January 2020
A Harold Lloyd short that's worth it to see a glimpse of the beachwear of the period and the toughs in the Bowery Café, a place "so rough even the sandpaper has to sand in line." The periscope snorkeling bit under the sand was clever, the dancing, pickpocketing, and fighting in the Bowery were entertaining, and Bebe Daniels was pretty cute too. It's not the greatest thing ever but there were no lame bits and it's a good short for the period.
Mildly enjoyable.
planktonrules4 August 2016
"Young Mr. Jazz" is a Harold Lloyd film made just before he became an international sensation. So, the familiar and wonderful sort of character he played in the 1920s isn't exactly what you see in this one...though it is quite enjoyable. And, like these Lloyd films before his uber-fame, this one co-stars Snub Pollard...in a most peculiar sort of role.
It begins on the beach. Harold and a lady see each other and become infatuated. However, her father just as quickly takes a strong dislike for Harold and does his best to dissuade him. However, soon Harold and the lady (Bebe Daniels) run away and the father is close behind. The pair dodge into a clip joint (a bar that specializes in robbing its patrons) and soon they cannot escape...and Daddy arrives as well.
The film has a mildly interesting plot...not as deep as the later and better Harold Lloyd shorts but still worth seeing because there are a few clever gags here and there. Nothing that would speak of Lloyd's later genius, but pleasant and enjoyable...and it holds up very well today.
It begins on the beach. Harold and a lady see each other and become infatuated. However, her father just as quickly takes a strong dislike for Harold and does his best to dissuade him. However, soon Harold and the lady (Bebe Daniels) run away and the father is close behind. The pair dodge into a clip joint (a bar that specializes in robbing its patrons) and soon they cannot escape...and Daddy arrives as well.
The film has a mildly interesting plot...not as deep as the later and better Harold Lloyd shorts but still worth seeing because there are a few clever gags here and there. Nothing that would speak of Lloyd's later genius, but pleasant and enjoyable...and it holds up very well today.
Dancing On
boblipton24 May 2013
Harold Lloyd had been working at finding the right vehicles for himself. He had abandoned the bizarre costumes worn by most movie clowns in the 1910s in favor of of his glasses character. However, his comedy construction was still bone-breaking slapstick and his stories were little more than frames to hang the gags on.
It was in 1919, when he slowed down production a trifle that he began to catch his breath and to allow his natural charm to begin to shine through. In this one, he and Bebe are running away from her father, played by Bud Jamison and their car breaks down in front of a low dance hall where Snub Pollard is a waiter. And it is that dance hall that we finally begin to see the Harold Lloyd of the 1920s as he and Bebe are given medium close up reaction shots when things happen and as they step out on the dance floor -- apparently the two of them would go out dancing after production wrapped. There's a charm in the way they react to each other, instead of to the treatment-dictated script; and the way they suddenly break loose in defense of Bud Jamison makes perfect sense.
It's not a classic Harold Lloyd picture, but the sudden revelation of the elements that will make classic Lloyd pictures makes it very important.
It was in 1919, when he slowed down production a trifle that he began to catch his breath and to allow his natural charm to begin to shine through. In this one, he and Bebe are running away from her father, played by Bud Jamison and their car breaks down in front of a low dance hall where Snub Pollard is a waiter. And it is that dance hall that we finally begin to see the Harold Lloyd of the 1920s as he and Bebe are given medium close up reaction shots when things happen and as they step out on the dance floor -- apparently the two of them would go out dancing after production wrapped. There's a charm in the way they react to each other, instead of to the treatment-dictated script; and the way they suddenly break loose in defense of Bud Jamison makes perfect sense.
It's not a classic Harold Lloyd picture, but the sudden revelation of the elements that will make classic Lloyd pictures makes it very important.
"The place was so rough . . . "
cricket3019 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
" . . . sandpaper had to wait in line." Thus the title card describes the "Bowery Cafe" in New York City where most of the 10-minute short, YOUNG MR. JAZZ, takes place. (The term "jazz," by the way, was used during the post-WWI era running into the early 1930s to denote virtually anything, with everybody and their brother--no matter how "square"--trying to jump onto the "jazz bandwagon," not unlike today, where the heirs of Lawrence Welk--Eminem, Anderson Cooper, Jimmy Kimmell, and others of that ilk--try to associate themselves with "Rap" or "Hip-hop"-themed elements in their public personae.) This Bowery dive is overrun with pick-pockets, hookers, thugs, and women who triple up as all three (played by Marie McSweeney, primarily). When the daughter catches her rich Daddy out on the town "wh*ring" around, the fur REALLY begins to fly! Throw in a few transvestites plus a piano, and you have a recipe for mayhem that would put the Three Stooges to shame. Though one might wish to see more of the "Apple Sisters" (Seedy and Core-y, of course), you get enough bang for your minute here to surely earn your nickel.
Dancing and Fighting: 1919 Style
Michael_Elliott5 June 2013
Young Mr. Jazz (1919)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A boy (Harold Lloyd) falls for a girl (Bebe Daniels) on the beach but her father (Bud Jamison) hates him. The two kids decide to meet at a dance hall but they must avoid her father as well as a couple crooked people at the club. Fans of Lloyd are certainly going to eat this one up as there are several funny moments that makes it worth watching. There are some rather creative scenes here even with the ones that don't have laughs. One involves the girl and her father sitting on the beach and the boy swimming up to her under the sand. Another gag that uses some nice imagination is when Lloyd uses a waiter ('Snub' Pollard) to have the girl's father kicked out of the club. Once we get inside the dance hall we get a couple cute dances between Lloyd and Daniels but the real highlight comes when the two of them must avoid not only the father but a waiter who is wanting money for some drinks. I think overall this here falls a tad bit short of a "classic" Lloyd picture but there's just no question that the actor had a comic gift that comes across here and Daniels also just had something magical about her. Jamison is also very good in his role.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A boy (Harold Lloyd) falls for a girl (Bebe Daniels) on the beach but her father (Bud Jamison) hates him. The two kids decide to meet at a dance hall but they must avoid her father as well as a couple crooked people at the club. Fans of Lloyd are certainly going to eat this one up as there are several funny moments that makes it worth watching. There are some rather creative scenes here even with the ones that don't have laughs. One involves the girl and her father sitting on the beach and the boy swimming up to her under the sand. Another gag that uses some nice imagination is when Lloyd uses a waiter ('Snub' Pollard) to have the girl's father kicked out of the club. Once we get inside the dance hall we get a couple cute dances between Lloyd and Daniels but the real highlight comes when the two of them must avoid not only the father but a waiter who is wanting money for some drinks. I think overall this here falls a tad bit short of a "classic" Lloyd picture but there's just no question that the actor had a comic gift that comes across here and Daniels also just had something magical about her. Jamison is also very good in his role.
It Has Some Very Clever Funny Moments
atlasmb21 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels star in this short that includes some very clever elements.
Harold finds her on the beach with her very protective father. He manages to abscond with the girl, but the father is in pursuit. They all end up in the Bowery Café---a rough dive if ever there was one.
The action in this film reminds me of a Popeye cartoon, though the muscle-bound sailor had not been invented yet. Harold glides under the surface of the sand like a submarine, complete with a periscope. A pickpocketing scene is choreographed to perfection. The dancers slither around the dance floor like boneless beings. It's all very cartoon-like, as are the chases and fight scenes.
There is a short but hilarious dance by two sisters, Seedy and Corey.
This is not Lloyd's best work, but it includes some very enjoyable bits.
Harold finds her on the beach with her very protective father. He manages to abscond with the girl, but the father is in pursuit. They all end up in the Bowery Café---a rough dive if ever there was one.
The action in this film reminds me of a Popeye cartoon, though the muscle-bound sailor had not been invented yet. Harold glides under the surface of the sand like a submarine, complete with a periscope. A pickpocketing scene is choreographed to perfection. The dancers slither around the dance floor like boneless beings. It's all very cartoon-like, as are the chases and fight scenes.
There is a short but hilarious dance by two sisters, Seedy and Corey.
This is not Lloyd's best work, but it includes some very enjoyable bits.
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