User Reviews

Okay, let me get right to the point. I believe there are two ways to enjoy this brief comedy: get yourself ready for some completely undemanding and rough, yet amusing entertainment, or view it as a historical document (or both). As for the latter option, note that I am not taking advantage of that old, old method which so many reviewers use in order to save a dated film; to simplify the artistic value of it while at the same time claiming that it is interesting for buffs of the silents merely because it is, after all, an early piece of celluloid. No, no, that's not quite how it works, not to me, anyway: a film made after the outbreak of the first world war must possess some sort of specialty in order to be fully enjoyable, either it's a performer, director, set-ups, fascinating story or simply funny gags. Harold Lloyd's one-reeler THE FLIRT, released in November 1917, offers some qualities of this kind.

The most obvious element that makes the film worth a notice, of course, is the mere fact that it is Harold Lloyd who appears in it, and what's more, in his sixth appearance (or thereabout) as the Glasses-Character that would soon gain him worldwide fame and admiration. Here's what happens: Harold walks into a café and immediately recognizes the beauty of sweet waitress Bebe Daniels. He does his best to win her affection, but everything works against him. The comedy routines work well, but their only purpose (understandably) is to please the expectations of the audiences that lived ninety years ago; to a person well acquainted with silent comedy as I am, the bits are mostly funny and you may appreciate certain aspects of some decent comic timing.

However, all this does not make THE FLIRT any more special than other Lloyd-comedies of the same time. It is interesting to see how uncaring and rather aggressive his character was at this point compared to later years, but one could say the same about OVER THE FENCE or BLISS. That is, except for one, little detail. At the very end of the film, Harold discovers to his frustration that Bebe is married, and walks out of the café with an expression on his face that could remind of nothing less than doomsday. Right then, however, he glimpses another pretty girl passing by; he does a quick twist with his body and enthusiastically follows her. The End. The spontaneity delivered in Lloyd's turnaround demonstrates the performer's consciousness of the limits of his character at that time; Harold was a pure clown who based his actions upon instincts. This was the common thing to do in comedy at the time and is hence nothing special in itself, but the fact that Lloyd let this film end with such an obvious demonstration of it indicates that he, directly or indirectly, poked fun at his character's own limited emotional capacity (or whatever you want to call it). Because Harold seems so aware of it, he performs the bit with complete control and we are left with a quite amusing ending to a quite amusing comedy. No SAFETY LAST! here, but that was never the intention, either. THE FLIRT is plain and simple a funny little thing made by a brilliant comedian whose talent was clearly in progression at this point.