Hot Water

Most of his films find Harold Lloyd struggling for success against impossible odds in order to make good and win the girl. HOT WATER is atypical, for here we find that Lloyd has already made good and won the girl--but now he has to put up with his in-laws, and his wife's family is enough to daunt the bravest man: a nasty baby brother, a free-loading older brother, and a battle-ax mother who has "a natural gift for destruction." This short film--which finds Lloyd dismayed when he wins a live turkey at a raffle, the victim of some truly savage back-seat-driving, and then convinced that he has accidentally killed his hateful mother-in-law--abounds with one sight gag after another, and easily equals any of the longer and better known films Lloyd made later in his career.

With his signature straw hat, round glasses, and innocent enthusiasm, Lloyd personifies the go-getter spirit of the 1920s, and he is generally regarded as one of the three great male silent comics; sadly, however, his films have been somewhat neglected over the years and seldom receive the attention showered on the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. If you've never been exposed to Lloyd beyond his famous SAFETY LAST, you'll find HOT WATER an excellent place to begin--a film sure to make you want to see more and more.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer