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The Kid Brother



Silent-comedy legend Harold Lloyd goes west in this irresistible blend of action, romance, and slapstick invention. The bespectacled everyman is at his inimitable best as Harold Hickory, the gentle son of a prominent lawman who lives in the shadow of his rough-and-tumble brothers. When a traveling medicine show rolls into town, it brings with it excitement, the possibility of love, and a chance for Harold to prove his mettle. Deftly balancing Lloyd's brilliant sight gags and thrilling set pieces—including an epic, knock-down, drag-out fight aboard an abandoned ship—with one of the actor-filmmaker's most fully realized, root-for-the-underdog narratives, The Kid Brother is a hilarious and heartwarming high-water mark of early screen comedy.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration
• Orchestral score by composer Carl Davis from 1989
• Alternate archival organ score performed by Gaylord Carter
• Audio commentary from 2005 featuring filmmaker and Harold Lloyd archivist Richard Correll, film historian Annette D’Agostino Lloyd, and Harold Lloyd’s granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd
• Harold's Leading Ladies, a new conversation between author Cari Beauchamp and Suzanne Lloyd
• Anatomy of a Gag: Monkeyshoes, a new video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns
• Behind-the-scenes stills gallery curated by Harold Lloyd archivist Richard Simonton Jr.
• Close to Home, a new video essay on the film's shooting locations by author John Bengtson
• Dutch television interview with Lloyd from 1962
• Featurette from 2005 about Greenacres, Lloyd's estate, hosted by Suzanne Lloyd
• Two restored rare early Lloyd shorts: Over the Fence (1917) and That's Him (1918), with new Wurlitzer theater pipe organ scores and a discussion of their early film formats by archivist Dino Everett
• New tour of the Wurlitzer organ with composer Nathan Barr and organist Mark Herman
• PLUS: An essay by critic Carrie Rickey

This film seems to get little love on the forum. Maybe the silents are not the big attention grabbers (long before my days) but saw this one years ago and found it very entertaining and so smart. Look forward to seeing these many supplements.

This is my least favorite of Lloyd's silent features, though it's still a pretty good film. The big fight on a ship mentioned in the ad copy is impressive, but it also goes on for a very very long time and halts the narrative. The interaction with the family and the girl are topnotch Lloyd though. But as far as I'm concerned, this is just another step toward the release of Girl Shy.

I've never seen this except for the "tree" bit (which I won't give away, it's very sweet to see it unfold for yourself). But I was under the impression that this was one of Lloyd's essential works?

hearthesilence wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 6:47 pm I've never seen this except for the "tree" bit (which I won't give away, it's very sweet to see it unfold for yourself). But I was under the impression that this was one of Lloyd's essential works?

Me too. For what little it's worth, it is the only Lloyd film included in any edition of Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which (silly concept or not) has turned me on to a lot of great films I may have overlooked otherwise.

This is definitely one of his most popular works though it doesn't tickle me. I am excited for the shorts though.

There have been complaints about The Kid Brother getting so little love on the Forum. It's about to receive even less. Criterion seems to have not just put a delay on the release, it seems to have been cancelled. Anybody know what the story is?

Where are you seeing that? Their site still shows a release date of 3/12/2019...

isakorg2 wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:11 am There have been complaints about The Kid Brother getting so little love on the Forum. It's about to receive even less. Criterion seems to have not just put a delay on the release, it seems to have been cancelled. Anybody know what the story is?

What delay? I haven't seen anything about a delay let alone a cancellation.

isakorg2 wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:11 am There have been complaints about The Kid Brother getting so little love on the Forum. It's about to receive even less. Criterion seems to have not just put a delay on the release, it seems to have been cancelled. Anybody know what the story is?

It’s still available for pre-order on Criterion’s website, and it’s slated for its original release date (March 12th).

Where did you get the idea that it was delayed or cancelled?

I think this is in reference to Amazon cancelling a few March title pre-orders, which is more than likely just Amazon's algorithms being screwy. Nothing to worry about until Criterion comes out and says the release is cancelled.

Beaver

It may be the best looking Silent Era film I've seen on Blu-ray -

He also says better than City Girl, which is far from the blu ray that could be said to hold that title previously

Yeah, I can't imagine anything looking as good as the The Kid and other Chaplins from that era, imho.

Variete is the best tinted one I have seen to date. And I would put the 4k restoration of The General at the top of the non tinted ones I have seen so far.

Agreed about the Cohen THE GENERAL -- it looks like it was shot yesterday.