The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
by Preston Sturges
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DVD details
Actor: Frances Ramsden, Harold Lloyd, Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, Rudy ValleeDirector: Preston Sturges
Brand: Bayside ENT Dist
Cinematographer: Robert Pittack
Producer: Preston Sturges
Writer: Preston Sturges
Editor: Stuart Gilmore
Editor: Thomas Neff
Producer: Howard Hughes
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-27
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Alpha Video
DVD Reviews of The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
DVD Review: Harold Lloyd exits with a yowl
Summary: 4 Stars
After doing a string of talking pictures in the 30's (some well received, others, not so lucky), silent comedian Harold Lloyd quietly retired from the big screen. Then came one last hurrah: Writer-director Preston Sturges lured Lloyd back with "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" (later retitled "Mad Wednesday"), a sort of screwball comedy which didn't do that well upon its initial release, but has gained cult status over the years as the last Lloyd film.
It begins promisingly; showing footage from the classic football game climax of 1925's "The Freshman", an ad boss in the crowd is so impressed with Harold that he offers him an office job at his firm, believing that the young man will do nothing but excel. Lloyd's films usually showed unyielding optimism as his character strived to be a success, one way or another. Isn't it ironic that here, the passage of time reveals Diddlebock has done nothing more than toil away at his desk for 20 or 30 years, a stoop-shouldered man who has lost his passion & idealism. Dysappointed that he hasn't progressed in such a long time, the boss fires a stunned Diddlebock, and on a chance encounter with diminutive Jimmy Conlin, H.D. has his first drink. But it's no ordinary drink, as it causes H.D. to black out for several hours. Soon, it's revealed he went on an uncharacteristically wild bend, during which he bought a circus! Transformation of character was always one of Lloyd's staples, and here, it's no different as H.D. is turned from mouse into man, throwing caution to the wind.
It's amazing that physically, Lloyd has hardly changed at all in 20-odd years since his silent days; he looks fit & youthful here. It's also helped that Sturges has armed each & every scene with sterling dialogue & surrounded Lloyd with a top-notch cast of supporting actors: Conlin, Rudy Vallee, Margaret Hamilton (already famous as the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz"), Franklin Pangborn, and Edgar Kennedy (remember him from the Laurel & Hardy comedies and the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup"?). The climax with Lloyd dangling from the chain of his pet lion Jackie over a building ledge is surprisingly well done, a pleasing echo of his silent work from such films as "Safety Last".
Not a perfect film, as the film loses momentum for a while after "The Freshman" footage (which is so energetic & funny in comparison) but recovers with the infamous bar scene as Lloyd yowls his head off with the first drink. Also, too bad they didn't digitally restore this film, as it looks dark in places. Still, not a bad movie for Lloyd to exit on!
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Description of The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK - DVD MovieAlso known as The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, this collaboration between silent comedy star Harold Lloyd and screwball comedy genius Preston Sturges was meant to be a splashy comeback for both. Unfortunately, it sank at the box office. It's not surprising, because the movie's story line is a wayward tangle, and every scene is a strange mini-movie of its own--but that's exactly why it's worth watching today. Mad Wednesday starts with footage from Lloyd's 1925 classic The Freshman. Because of his success on the football field, Harold Diddlebock (Lloyd, who seems to have hardly changed in 22 years) is offered a job. Full of hope and promise, the former gridiron champ finds himself in a bookkeeping position that consumes the next 30 to 40 years of his life, until he's abruptly fired. Stunned, Diddlebock takes his first drink; when he awakes two days later, he has no idea what he's spent the last 48 hours doing. It turns out he's bought a circus and... well, you get the idea. Every scene is its own little gem of delirium, including one in which an artistic bartender invents the drink that launches Diddlebock into his drunken spree. But the scene in which Diddlebock explains to a lovely coworker how he fell in love not only with her, but with her six or seven older sisters before her, is almost as delightful. Lloyd isn't always adept with Sturges's madcap dialogue, but the sterling supporting cast of character actors makes that language spin like a top, including Rudy Vallee, Franklin Pangborn, Lionel Stander, and Margaret Hamilton (better known as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz). --Bret Fetzer
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