Bumping Into Broadway (1919) User Reviews

Restored Version From LLoyd Trust

[DKosty123 · 8/10 · 24 January 2006]

The restored version of this film plays pretty well. The orchestration on the TCM set version is pretty good. A couple of sequences are a little grainy & choppy. As usual, this is a LLoyd Romantic Comedy but the pace in this 25 minute short is more frantic than the features he did later. There are lots of physical stunts packed into this essentially 2 reeler. Bebe Daniels fans should enjoy this as she does very well in her role as LLoyds love. In real life, she was his love at this time as Harold had given her an engagement ring, but she decided to leave Harold for her career.

This restored version even has some shots in Septia tone instead of black & white. I thought septa tone was not used much until the 1920's. Much of the sight gags & situations in this one got worked into later LLoyd films also. In fact, GIRL SHY later borrows from it, as far as how Harold's Character is set up in this one. While I prefer Girl Shy over all, if you like some stunts & comedy in shorts form, this one will make you a happy camper as well. It is not as elaborate as the feature, but great fun just the same.

excellent Lloyd short

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 29 April 2006]

This short had so much going for it and I really have few complaints at all. Harold is an up-and-coming writer--trying to write his first Broadway play. But, he's also broke and unable to pay his rent--which is a problem, as the landlady is planning on having her thug beat the money out of Harold! Well, as a result, there are a lot of chases in the movie--which is true of so many slapstick shorts. At the same time, his neighbor (Ms. Daniels) is also in the same predicament, although she longs to dance on Broadway.

Later in the film, after she is fired, Ms. Daniels goes with a rogue to a restaurant. However, he instead takes her to a gambling den and has plans on seducing our heroine. So, it's Harold to the rescue. In the end, naturally, he gets the girl. However, it's how well it all works together that makes this a very good and worthwhile movie.

Very amusing Harold Lloyd two-reel short...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 29 September 2008]

There are three segments to this two-reel short, and each one has their highlight. It begins with HAROLD LLOYD as a struggling writer who can't pay the rent (a flimsy amount of $3.70 is overdue!!) and this leads to a boarding house sequence that has him avoiding the grim landlady and her strong partner bent on giving deadbeats rough treatment. Lloyd excels in this segment as he narrowly avoids detection when they try to track him down.

BEBE DANIELS makes little impression as "the girl," also unable to pay her rent until Lloyd comes to her aid. Thereafter, there's a backstage Broadway scene that has Lloyd trying to sell his story to a producer with dismal results.

And finally, a gambling joint scene climaxes the film with a wild chase as the dumb cops try to nab Lloyd, who comes up with an ingenious coat rack trip that has to be seen to be believed--or described.

This all plays very quickly--fast and funny throughout with nary a lapse of pace, making it one of the most enjoyable of all the Lloyd silent shorts that I've seen. The TCM showing has it accompanied by a brisk musical score.

Very Entertaining

[Snow Leopard · 21 October 2005]

This is a very entertaining Harold Lloyd comedy, with some good settings and good joke ideas. There is lots of action, with Bebe Daniels, Snub Pollard, and Noah Young all adding to the fun. Much of the emphasis is on the various characters chasing each other or attempting to elude one another, and Hal Roach is in his element, keeping the pace and the timing on track.

There are basically three sequences, first at a boarding house, then backstage, and then at a gambling club. The first sequence, with Young as the landlady's enforcer, and the third one, with lots of manic chase action, are both very good, and the middle sequence also has some good moments.

The settings and many of the story developments must have been highly contemporary at the time, and yet the enthusiasm from Lloyd and the cast makes it seem fresh and up-to-date. When Lloyd was in his best form, he made you feel as if you knew his characters and understood their troubles, and that's one of the things that makes this one fun to watch.

BUMPING INTO Broadway (Hal Roach, 1919) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 18 December 2006]

Despite the title, the plot of this Harold Lloyd short is evenly distributed among three different settings: a boarding-house, a theater and an exclusive club. As in FROM HAND TO MOUTH (1919), comedy emerges out of the characters' desperation - but there's no denying the assuredness of the gags (in fact, I'd say that this one's an even better film) and, in any case, H.M. Walker's title cards are among the wittiest for a Silent that I've come across! Lloyd is in his element as the perennial dreamer, a novice playwright, and Bebe Daniels is an ideal co-star as an aspiring Broadway star. Still, the best scenes are probably those set in the casino - where the penniless Lloyd accidentally cops himself a large sum of money but, needless to say, he's not allowed to reap the rewards of his fortune because the joint is raided soon after by the Police!

Tricks, arguments and romance

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 29 July 2015]

Back in 1919, almost 100 years ago, Harold Lloyd was already a big star and lucky enough to not have to work on Broadway never knowing when his next engagement comes up or when he gets his next salary. I have to say I really like him, probably more than Chaplin and Keaton, although these two are still more popular than him, probably because Lloyd almost never wrote and directed his movies. I would only put Stan and Ollie above Lloyd in terms of personal preference. His nerdy (intellectual) looking style combined with the clumsiness is always good for a few laughs and even if this film is not much different compared to other Lloyd movies where he is also running all the time from people he offended for whatever reason, it is still a decent watch. I also usually like the romance parts in his films. There is something sincere and heartwarming to these usually, here as well. Hal Roach and H.M. Walker made this film and they worked a lot with Lloyd, but also with Laurel and Hardy for example. Snub Pollar is also a regular in Lloyd's films and same can be said about Bebe Daniels who is still very young in this one, a lot younger than Lloyd, who himself is not even 30 here. All in all, a decent silent comedy movie and I recommend it.

Zany Harold Lloyd Frantically Looks For Rent Money

[CitizenCaine · 6/10 · 29 September 2008]

Zany Harold Lloyd, who is always willing to help out a pretty girl, helps Bebe Daniels pay her rent at a boarding house, and Harold soon finds himself on the outs with his landlady and her assistant because he has no money to pay for himself. Harold runs around trying to avoid both, back and forth and up and down the stairs. He gets reeled in by a homely looking woman (played by Gus Leonard) underneath his room when he tries escaping out the window. Later he hits the jack pot gambling in a speak-easy, which is soon raided by the police. Chaos ensues as Harold must shake the cops and rescue Bebe Daniels from an overenthusiastic masher. During the chases, Harold finds imaginative ways to elude the police, like utilizing a coat rack several times. It's a fast paced fun farce. **1/2 of 4 stars.

Seeking Love & Fortune With Mr. Lloyd

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 21 April 2004]

A Hal Roach HAROLD LLOYD Comedy Short.

An impoverished young fellow finds himself BUMPING INTO BROADWAY when he falls in love with a pretty showgirl.

This fast-moving romp gave Harold Lloyd an early success for his Glasses Character. Antic chases and sight gags abound, and Harold gets to showoff his buoyant physical dexterity in this film made before a freak accident so badly damaged his right hand. Swiftly moving from boardinghouse to street, on to the theater, and finally to an elaborate speakeasy, the plot gives Harold plenty of opportunity to amuse.

Bebe Daniels is his love interest. Helen Gilmore is the fierce landlady; tough guy Noah Young is the boardinghouse bouncer. In a brief role, Gus Leonard, in drag, is hilarious as the man-crazy spinster who lives one floor below Harold.

Robert Israel has composed an excellent film score which perfectly complements Harold's antics on the screen.

Almost Chaplinesque

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 8 January 2010]

You could almost imagine Chaplin making this film. Lloyd plays a down-at-heel playwright living in a flop house in the wrong part of Broadway who is barely able to scrape together the money for his rent. When he does manage to gather enough small coins and crumpled notes to meet his final demand he meets his equally impoverished neighbour (Bebe Daniels, exuding an irresistible earthy charm) and gives it all to her instead so that she can pay her rent. He has a change of heart when he sees his curmudgeonly landlady's stooge beating yet another neighbour in a quite remarkable sequence, but by then it's too late and he has to spend the next five minutes of screen time acrobatically avoiding both the landlady and her thug.

The second part of the film takes place in the rundown Broadway theatre where Daniels' works and where Lloyd makes ingenious attempts to sell his comedy play. A relationship seems to be developing but Lloyd then spies her climbing into a cab with a stage-door Johnny. Lloyd steals a lift on the back of the cab and follows them into a nightclub where he gets lucky on the roulette wheel just as the police arrive to break things up. There then follows a lengthy chase sequence and it's at this point that the similarities with Chaplin's work really shine through – even though there's no feeling that Lloyd was copying his fellow comic's work.

It's strange how penury was such a popular subject for comedies of the 20s, a time when America was enjoying an unprecedented boom. With the exception of Laurel & Hardy, comics of the 30s, when the world was enduring the worst depression it had ever known, largely steered clear of any reminders of the hardships their audiences were suffering. I suppose it's an escapism of sorts, only while it doesn't pander to audience wish-fulfilment in terms of wealth and happiness, the likes of Chaplin (and Lloyd here) cheer up their audiences by winning against the odds while thumbing their nose at authority. The police, in particular, are the targets here: they vigorously club a colleague over the head in the mistaken belief that he is Lloyd, and, in a time of prohibition, they sample the Casino's cache of alcohol whenever they think no-one is looking.

With it's frenetic pace and intricately choreographed chase sequences, I defy you not to laugh at this early example of Lloyd's work.

Bumping Into Broadway was a very funny Harold Lloyd short

[tavm · 9/10 · 3 August 2009]

This is the third comedy short I watched on the Kino DVD "The Harold Lloyd Collection" starring Lloyd in his famous "glasses" character with Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard. Ms. Daniels plays a showgirl to Lloyd's playwright and they both now have to pay the $3.75 rent since they both got the same typed warning for the third time. Lloyd gives Bebe his money since she's broke but now Harold has to run from the landlady and her bouncer. Pollard has a brief part as a choreographer who's mean to Lloyd when they meet. There's also another funny chase scene involving cops infiltrating a gambling den where Lloyd meets Lady Luck. Very funny with all those chases and avoiding certain people. And what a sweet romance between Lloyd and Daniels. So on that note, I highly recommend Bumping Into Broadway.

Bumping Into a Raft of Laughs

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 17 March 2007]

The first of Lloyd's two-reelers featuring his "glasses" character neatly presents its story in a brief Prologue and Three Acts. After a rose-tinted glimpse of Broadway as a playground for the rich, the First Act amusingly establishes the boy as a struggling playwright with just enough cash on hand to pay his $3.70 overdue rent. He has a crush on the girl next door (the beautiful Bebe Daniels). Her rent is behind too, but she has zilch to pay it with. So what does Harold do? Needless to say, the rest of the Act is heartily devoted to the many diverting stratagems Harold is forced to adopt to avoid the landlady's vicious bouncer.

Act Two takes place in the theater where brash Harold contrives to elude a vigilant doorman to present his play to the producer. The lovely Bebe is employed in the chorus. Snub Pollard exhibits some fancy footwork in this sequence in an unusual role as the show's choreographer. He's funny but he's more of a heavy than a comic in this story. It's the only occasion I can recall where Snub played a totally unlikable character.

Act Three is set in a posh speakeasy where the action is in illegal gambling rather than drinking. To my surprise, New York's finest are presented in a most unflattering light. All our sympathies are directed towards the boy as he struggles to escape the vicious convoy of burly flatfeet. Does he win out? Does he save the heroine? You'll have to see the movie to find out how he manages it.

Clever, witty, fast-paced with an accent on slapstick but still with time out for some more fanciful rib-tickling routines and snappy character-building, Bumping Into Broadway is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining of Lloyd's two-reel shorts.

Perfect!!!

[raskimono · 10/10 · 23 April 2004]

Lloyd is a struggling broadway writer while Bebe daniels is a show girl aspiring to be a star. They live next door to each other in a boarding house struggling to make ends meet. They meet one day and Lloyd offers to pay Bebe's rent while forsaking his own rent, thus setting off the hijinks. Three sets are used in this smart and insightful comedy; the boarding house, the broadway stage and set and an underground speakeasy which is raided by the cops. As Lloyd is chased up and down the boarding house eventually ending up in an old woman's home who was crying out for a man, you cannot help but smile. On the broadway set, as he tries to meet the director and sell his story before being forcefully thrown out, you grin. And after following Bebe to protect from the playboy star of the show who has dragged her along to the speakeasy where all hell breaks loose and harold uses a coat hanger to great comic effect, you must applaud. Final scene is perfect denouement to an enjoyable mish-mash.

aka: my amazing introduction to the work of Harold Lloyd

[RainDogJr · 9/10 · 7 October 2008]

During this same year, 2008, I had my introduction to both the work of Buster Keaton (with the marvelous and perfect film "The General") and to the work of the Marx Brothers (with the memorable and perfect film "Duck Soup"). Unfortunately I haven't watched another Buster Keaton film and neither another Marx Brothers film but fortunately the 10-disc box set "The Definitive Collection: Harold Lloyd" is available. I came across some Harold Lloyd films on DVD but for some reasons I never got any of them even I do had desires to watch something of his stuff and finally when I saw the box set I decided to wait in buying Harold Lloyd stuff until I could get the box set. The past week was my birthday and my dad gave me lots of hours of Harold Lloyd. The box set consists of two "seasons" each of them with 5 discs and "Bumping Into Broadway" is the first from the disc 1. It is a great, nearly perfect 26 minutes film that was nothing but an amazingly funny and absolutely pleasant introduction to the work of Lloyd.

It begins as a story about the differences between classes in a same place. Meanwhile in Broadway famous actresses spend hundreds of dollars just for a dinner other people can't afford $3.75 for the their rent. Classic stuff and one of the persons who can't afford the rent is the boy that Harold plays, the boy who is a writer but who's wonderfully old typewriter is practically unusable. The desperation is there, they could be outside without a place to say but the boy is one of those persons. He, with some difficulties, found the money for his rent but there's the neighbour, the girl (Bebe Daniels) who doesn't have any cent, the boy give her his money, she kiss him and he has to run.

Mostly is a hilarious escape of the boy, first he is just again the woman, who is the owner of the building, and her helper who had just given the beating of his life to another man in the same position of the boy, without any cent. But our protagonist is not like that man, he is quite agile and clever enough to can fool those who want the money. There are some memorable and hilarious moments; I think my favourite of the "first part" is when the boy is seated but just apparently. And the final encounter with the police is great and not just for the moment when it happens (just after the boy wins lots of money!) but for everything; Lloyd against many many cops and eventually making fool of all of them to be finally with the girl, his girl.

"Bumping Into Broadway" is a short film of 20 and so minutes of pure silent fun. Absolutely recommend to any film lover out there. 9.5 out of 10

Harold wants the girl and some fame

[Petey-10 · 10/10 · 11 May 2010]

The Boy is a writer.The Girl is a chorus line girl.They both want to make it big but find it hard.But they do find each other.Bumping Into Broadway (1919) is directed by Hal Roach and its star is Harold Lloyd.Its female star is Bebe Daniels.Together they really hit it off.Snub Pollard plays Director of Musical Comedy and he's hilarious.Helen Gilmore does great job as 'Bearcat' the Landlady.Same thing with Noah Young who plays her Bouncer.Harold's brother Gaylord Lloyd is seen in the movie.This short has many funny moments.Harold's writing efforts is funny to watch.He moves on very slowly, letter by letter.And when he tries to escape the landlady and the bouncer.It's funny to watch Harold trying to get in the theater with his never-say-die way.And it also makes you laugh when Snub shows to his actors how those dance moves are done.Robert Israel's music (made in 2004) and Harold Lloyd's comedy skills make this movie a hilarious experience.

Clever And Energetic

[atlasmb · 9/10 · 20 January 2020]

This short provides a lot of what I like in a Harold Lloyd film---risky stunts, clever comedy, and an engaging story.

Harold is a poor tenant who can't pay his rent, but he gives his few dollars to an attractive neighbor played by Bebe Daniels, landing him in trouble with the landlady and her thuggish enforcer. Harold and Bebe spend the entire film running from everyone, allowing him to display his acrobatic prowess and his imagination.

At the end, Lloyd charmingly breaks the fourth wall for a kiss.

Lloyd's First Two-Reeler

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 27 September 2021]

Harold Lloyd was fast becoming cinema's most prolific comedian, and his star power was rising to new heights in 1919. The studio he was contracted to, Pathe Exchange, wanted to capitalize on his escalating popularity by making longer movies than his normal one-reeler 12-minute shorts. The company signed Lloyd to a nine-movie deal for expanded 30-minute films. His first two-reeler was November 1919's "Bumping Into Broadway." When seeing "Broadway," a viewer might think the movie is two separate one-reelers placed back-to-back. The first half deals with Lloyd trying to evade paying the $3.75 a month in rent by attempting to escape the cluthes of the landlord's enforcer. The second part deals with his trying to sell his play to a theater manger, only to end up in an illegal gambling house, where he breaks the bank by his successful bets on the roulette wheel. But a Keystone-like squad of police raids the place just as he's pocketing the dough.

"Bumping on Broadway" co-stars Lloyd's regular female sidekick, Bebe Daniels. The actress reached out to Cecil B. DeMille to seek out the possibilities of expanding her acting talents towards more dramatic roles. The famous director did hire her for his 'Male And Female' production as well as a number of movies for Paramount Pictures. "Broadway" was her second to last film with Lloyd after appearing with him in over 150 films.