A Sailor-Made Man (1921) User Reviews

a decent early Lloyd feature

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 May 2006]

While this film isn't really as long as most feature films, it is longer than a short and really falls in between the two types of films in length.

This film was remade three years later as WHY WORRY? though there were some changes made in the plot--enough that I recommend you see both. However the overall themes and plot elements are interchangeable. In both he's a rich guy who needs to grow up and be more industrious, and in both he ultimately rescues his lady while in a foreign land. In WHY WORRY? the setting was a revolution on a South American island and in this film it was a Muslim nation and its leader who kidnaps the lady to put her in his harem.

The general direction of the plot is pure Lloyd formula--wimpy guy meets girl and somehow rises to the occasion to fight for and win her. This is nicely made but not exactly different from many of his other films in this sense. It's worth seeing, but other films such as THE FRESHMAN, GIRL SHY and SPEEDY are better Lloyd vehicles.

Charm Added To The Humor

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 1 August 2006]

This is Harold Lloyd's first "longer" film, going far longer than what was usual at the time (20-28 minutes per movie) but it moves as fast as movies half the length.

I haven't labeled too many of his films "charming," but that might fit here: charming and funny, of course. It has the usual silent-film wild ending that most feature silent comedies had. Instead of some streets, we have a chase through the Rajah's palace (including a pool) with all kinds of slapstick gags in the mix.

Earlier, rich-boy Harold becomes a common Navy sailor and the scenes on the ship, although not laugh-out-loud comedy, are in that charming category as the big bully seaman winds up being Harold's friend and fan.

All in all, without going into the whole story, it's simply a nice movie: nothing spectacular but definitely worth watching.

Lloyd working his way toward being a master of feature comedies

[mgmax · 7/10 · 1 September 2008]

This early Lloyd feature plays more like an extended short, but shows Lloyd beginning to grasp how to shape material for length and dramatic effect, not just slapstick hijinks. He plays a spoiled rich kid, which is never as sympathetic as when he plays the poor young go- getter, who falls for a tycoon's daughter but somehow winds up enlisting in the Navy at the same time. The early machinations to get him into the Navy aren't that good, fairly slapsticky teens-short stuff. (Mild spoilers ahead.)

For a reel or two the main plot is laboriously hauled into position, with both Lloyd and the girl sailing separately near the same papier-mache kingdom of an eastern Rajah, and friendship established between Lloyd and a big gorilla of a fellow sailor-- which is nothing special in itself, but the kind of quieter, character-driven stuff that features need to feel more substantial than short films.

Finally the girl is kidnapped by the rajah, and Lloyd comes to the rescue in antics rather reminiscent of his short Somewhere in Turkey. This part is fast-paced action with some of his most dexterous physical humor I've ever seen, and my kids and I laughed throughout the second half. A Sailor-Made Man may not be among Lloyd's stronger features, but it clearly shows him as an up-and-comer with the versatility to handle both physical slapstick and credible dramatic/romantic material, and no one who saw it then was likely surprised by the outstanding films that soon followed.

Good Harold Lloyd Comedy

[Snow Leopard · 16 December 2005]

This is one of many funny and entertaining Harold Lloyd comedies that have been somewhat overshadowed by his better-known masterpieces. Certainly, "A Sailor-Made Man" is not on the level of "Safety Last" or "Speedy" or a few others, but it's an enjoyable feature in its own right, with some good material.

The story has a setup that will be familiar to Lloyd fans, with Harold as one of many suitors for the hand of a society girl played by Mildred Davis. Lloyd's character ends up in the Navy, where he meets up with a roughneck played in entertaining fashion by Noah Young. There are some sequences of slapstick aboard ship, and then the main story resumes when Lloyd meets up again with Davis in an exotic port of call.

There are some interesting settings with plenty of good individual gag ideas, and there are a couple of very good sequences. There's a street fight scene, with Lloyd and Young taking on a gang of toughs, that has some clever touches, plus a fun chase sequence in a harem. It doesn't have any of the terrific set pieces that you find in Lloyd's best movies, but it has more than enough to make it entertaining and enjoyable.

Lesser Harold Lloyd Is Still Entertaining

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 7 August 2017]

A pretty unremarkable Harold Lloyd comedy that finds our scrappy hero unwittingly signing on with the U.S. Navy in order to impress a girl. You can probably guess the physical and sight gags that go along with life on a Navy vessel, and then a large portion of the latter half of the film finds Harold in an unnamed Arabian country single-handedly fighting hordes of sword-wielding goons in order to rescue his fair love, who's been kidnapped by a wealthy sultan. There isn't a whole lot to remember about this film -- I had to look it up just to remind myself of what the plot was about -- but Harold Lloyd fans know that even his lesser films provide a good deal of entertainment.

Grade: B

Lloyd rescues his girl from an evil raja.

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 8 October 2018]

This 45 min. Harold Lloyd silent comedy marks the transition between his early period of exclusively comedy shorts of 10-35min. length, and his later period of exclusively feature-length comedies, mostly an hour or more in length........Here, Lloyd begins as a wimpy member of the young idle rich, who immediately falls for the scion of another rich man, she being Mildred Davis: Lloyd's future real wife. He immediately proposes, but she says he must meet the approval of her father. He tells Lloyd that he must prove himself successful in some line of work, before he will give his approval. So, Lloyd decides to join the navy. Actually, he tried to get out of his commitment, when he learned that he was invited on a round the world yacht cruise that included Mildred. But the recruiting officer wouldn't let him. Beginning as a lowly seaman, he snoozes and dreams he is the captain of a large navy ship. But, he quickly returns to reality. Well, he doesn't exactly impress as a seaman, but when he gets shore leave, in a small Middle East country, he demonstrates cunning and physical agility in trying to rescue Mildred from the clutches of an ugly, fierce looking, Maharajah. Dick Sutherland, who played the rajah, suffered from acromegaly, which distorts facial features. Coupled with makeup, he looked very scary, indeed.( Mildred is here because her yacht captain decided to stop at this town exactly when the sailors got shore leave here.). The most exciting part of the film is this section where Lloyd pulls out all sorts of tricks to rescue Mildred.........Unfortunately, Lloyd's shore leave was up as soon as he rescued her. Thus, he didn't get a chance to repropose to her. Fortunately, the yacht people decided to leave at the same time. Thus, Lloyd sent a marriage proposal by semaphore flags, and got a response from someone on the yacht.........I should mention that Noah Young played a seaman who became Lloyd's friend, and sometimes helped Lloyd in his rescue attempt.........See it at YouTube.

First Harold Lloyd Feature Film

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 26 October 2021]

Comedian Harold Lloyd was preparing for just another short film when the plot he and his team of writers came up with was sizzling with a wealth of gags. They were in a quandary whether to shelve some brilliant sequences to be within the restraints of their normal short 30-minute film or expand to a longer version. Producer Hal Roach recommended the later. Lloyd went along with his producer's opinion, and made his first feature film, December 1921's "A Sailor-Made Man." It was a decision that forever changed his movie career.

Clocking in at just 46 minutes, Lloyd's feature was a big money-maker at the theaters, cashing in almost half a million dollars on a $77,000 budget. The movie's plot of a rich playboy who is required to get a job before he marries his popular girlfriend could have easily fit into his previously two-reeler structure. But since his character's enrollment into the Navy required an exotic location, Lloyd expanded upon thrills and laughs to a longer motion picture.

minor Harold Lloyd fun

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 15 November 2021]

It's the Abington Arms, an ultra fashionable summer resort. The Boy (Harold Lloyd) is an idle rich heir to $20 million. He falls for The Girl (Mildred Davis) who is pursued by many suitors. Her steel magnate father demands that he go do something worthwhile like getting a job. He decides to join the Navy.

This is a fun Harold Lloyd film with his classic bespectacled everyman. It doesn't have his building climbing exploits but it does have some slapstick and general physical humor. An extra does some nice magic tricks. It's a fun 45 minutes.

Caught In A Souk With Mr. Lloyd

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 30 September 2003]

A Hal Roach HAROLD LLOYD Film.

A conceited young twerp joins the Navy to impress his girl and becomes A SAILOR-MADE MAN.

Big changes were in store for popular silent comic Harold Lloyd with the production of this film. Up until this point he had specialized in short subjects and his distribution agreement with Pathé allowed him to make only two-reelers. But the gags in A SAILOR-MADE MAN grew to be so funny and complicated that Harold kept adding to the picture until the final cut ran a tad over 45 minutes - extremely unusual for comedies in 1921. Pathé took the chance and released it; audiences were delighted, which pleased everyone. Lloyd was to make only feature-length films from that point on.

The film breaks neatly into three parts, with the insufferably insensitive Harold in the first segment infuriating nearly everyone until his comeuppance in a Naval recruiting station. In the middle segment Harold has a series of shipboard adventures mostly dealing with the big boat's bully. Finally, and rather unexpectedly, the plot throws Harold into a wonderful escapade straight out of the Arabian Nights, as he confronts the mad Maharajah of an Oriental kingdom who has kidnapped Harold's girl. There are plenty of fakirs and scimitars and hairbreadth escapes, all punctuated by Harold's splendid athletic exuberance.

Mildred Davis plays Harold's distressed love. Noah Young, who appeared in many of Lloyd's films, is great fun as the thuggish seaman who becomes Harold's best buddy. Dick Sutherland is properly repulsive as the monkey-faced potentate.

Harold loved filming on location and for this film he took his cameras to the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Port of Los Angeles.

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

Good First Lloyd Feature

[jayraskin1 · 9/10 · 1 January 2011]

At 46 minutes, it is hard to consider this a feature film, but apparently the distributors did and it launched Lloyd's career as a feature film star. It was released ten months after Chaplin released "The Kid," his first feature. However, both of these films were seven years after Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand's "Tillie's Punctured Romance," which was the first comedy feature, albeit not a very good one.

The movie is in three parts with millionaire Harold lazily announcing he is going to marry Mildred Davis in the first part. Her father demands he get a job and so he joins the Navy. The second part takes place at sea with Harold becoming friends with tough sailor Noah Young. The third part takes place in an Arabian Nights like far Eastern land, where Mildred is vacationing and Harold's ship coincidentally lands.

The first two parts are competent and amusing, but nothing special. It is the last part, where the film leaves reality that the film starts to really surprise and glow, as it foreshadows Douglas Fairbanks "Thief of Bagdad" (1924).

Everything here is well done. It is only in comparison to some of Lloyd's more brilliant sequences that the film suffers. Noah Young is excellent as the Navy tough guy who becomes Lloyd's loyal sidekick.

This film is more for Lloyd and silent film fans. As noted by another reviewer, it doesn't have the brilliant sequences that would make newbies embrace Lloyd as a genius or fall in love with silent film art.

Not One of Harold's Best

[JoeytheBrit · 5/10 · 21 January 2010]

Harold Lloyd was quite good at playing the louche man-about-town, even though he's more readily known for the good-natured all-American boy. He swaggers around in the opening scenes of this film, twirling his cane, blithely ignoring anything that bears no relevance to his privileged but cloistered world. He loves Mildred Davis (who else?) but her father tells Harold he must stop being an idle playboy and earn a living in the real world. Harold undertakes the challenge with typical laissez-faire, informing the recruiting officer at the naval office into which he has just strolled, 'I've decided to join your navy.' When he later has a change of mind, and tells the same officer that, 'I've decided *not* to join your navy,' he gets a very rude awakening.

There isn't much of a plot to this one, and you sense there's a quite a lot of padding, which means it perhaps isn't as funny as it could have been. Lloyd was a genius when he was inspired, but when he was going through the motions he could be very ordinary, despite his reputation as a perfectionist. Lloyd and Davis reunite in some middle-eastern bazaar where an evil rajah has his eye on her, and some frantic chases follow but this never comes close to measuring up to Lloyd's best material.

Lloyd's First Feature

[hausrathman · 16 April 2007]

A brash millionaire, Harold Lloyd, impulsively joins the Navy to prove his worth to his girlfriend's rich father in this pleasant if unspectacular comedy. "Sailor Made Man" was Harold Lloyd's first feature comedy, which, according to reports, was originally conceived as a short film which grew increasingly longer. That evolution can be detected in the rather simple plot and lack of sophistication in regard to character development. In this film, Lloyd goes from being an insufferably selfish jerk to a somewhat normal sailor in about the length of one title card. Still, there are sufficient laughs, and a certain innocence to the romance that can't help but bring a smile, even if the film isn't as rich and assured as some of the features that followed. Not the best place to start for someone unfamiliar with Harold Lloyd, but a definite for fans.

Hello, sailor?

[mgunning · 8/10 · 7 September 2008]

One thing I just don't get about this otherwise charming Lloyd film: why do they show the sailors dancing with each other? Any way you look at it, it's bizarre. Have they been at sea too long? Though I doubt if Lloyd was gay (he was a legendary Lothario who photographed nude starlets in 3D), the heavy white makeup, heavily made-up eyes (making them slightly "bedroomy", which women loved) and bee-kissed lips were somewhat androgynous. When Joel Grey chose his makeup palette for Cabaret, I wonder if he consciously or unconsciously was influenced by Lloyd. Also, I am always amazed at the fact that Lloyd in person really didn't resemble his character. He was good-looking in a fine-featured Montgomery Clift sort of way, but his facial expressions were completely different. His brother Gaylord looked more like "the Boy" than Harold did! This wasn't just due to makeup and glasses; I am sure it was done from the inside. His slow-blooming facial expressions (in Why Worry?, when he discovers Jobyna Ralson in his lap, and Never Weaken, when he realizes he is on a beam 30 stories up) are what make him so brilliant. I don't think anyone else in comedy was that subtle. He seemed to know that a closeup was extremely intimate. And what is it with women swooning over him, I mean women NOW? I see messages plastered all over the 'net about how much they love him and wish they could be with him. Now THAT's magic.

Well made and fun, if a tad imperfect

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 30 August 2022]

It's a notable trait characterizing early cinema that pictures were built with clear, distinct divisions between scenes in a way that sometimes made them feel pointedly staged, and stilted. As extraordinary comedic actor Harold Lloyd focused on "full-length" features of four reels or more in the 20s the narratives quickly took on a gratifying fluidity and naturalness. But with 'A sailor-made man' representing his first foray into such longer titles, there's still a slight sense of that more rigid structure - "simpler entertainment for a simpler time." Even at that, however, good comedy never gets old, and little or nothing could meaningfully diminish the value and integrity of Lloyd's movies. If anything this is arguably a tad less sophisticated than its later brethren like 'Dr. Jack' or 'The freshman,' but in the star's oeuvre that means a matter of degrees and not whole numbers. It may not be as completely endearing and enduring as some of Lloyd's other works, but 'A sailor-made man' great fun all the same.

Constructed largely on situational humor, but rounded out with plentiful sight gags and some physical comedy, ultimately this is so solid that there's scarcely a hair's width of difference between this 1921 feature and those to come. If not quite in the same measure, we're also treated to familiar strains of sincere heart, and instances of Lloyd working with animals as he increasingly would in later films. A point could reasonably be made that 'A sailor-made man' is somewhat indelicate and insensitive in its handling of plot elements depicting the people and culture of a distant land, sadly in multiple ways not at all uncommon to cinema and especially earlier in the twentieth century. Still, this can surely be chalked up to unfortunate ignorance and ethnocentrism, and antiquated sensibilities that have since taken steps forward; one can only assume that if this were made today, the production would look very different. And after all, this is the only specific and worst critique that comes to mind here, so I dare say the movie is doing pretty well for itself in the grand scheme of things.

More concretely, in every other way this feature is very well made. The whole cast is excellent, even those in supporting or mere bit parts, and all show a swell sense of comedic timing. Experienced director Fred C. Newmeyer once again demonstrates his skills in orchestrating fabulously entertaining scenes, including some fine stunt work. The production design and art direction are splendid; the sets are terrific, as is the costume design. More so than not 'A sailor-made man' is highly enjoyable; if it isn't quite as wholly exceptional as Lloyd's later features, that says as much about 'Safety last!' or 'Why worry?' as it does about this in particular. Clocking in at a swift 47 minutes, this maybe isn't the most essential comedy, but for fans of the silent era broadly and of Harold Lloyd most of all it's still a must-see. For anyone else, it remains well worth checking out if you have the opportunity.

Silly but amusing.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 24 May 2009]

Harold Lloyd is a wealthy loafer who joins the Navy in order to prove to his beloved that he's a man. He finds himself in some mythical Arabian port with harems and turbans and scimitars at the same time his girl is vacationing there. She's kidnapped by brigands, probably to be sold into the white slave trade, but Lloyd rescues her.

Not too much to be said for Harold Lloyd's first feature. It's more silly than funny for the first two thirds or so. Lloyd imitates an officer, accidentally knocks out the ship's boxing champ, and so forth.

The last reel perks things up considerably as Lloyd runs amok in the Sultan's place trying to get his girl friend to safety -- imitating cushions and hiding under water.

It isn't that Lloyd's acting is weak. He's fine as the loafer, the novice sailor, or the hero. It's just that most of the gags in the first two-thirds are low-level slapstick.

He was to go on to much better things.

A smash hit from the Christmas day '21

[jamesjustice-92 · 10/10 · 25 September 2022]

I have always had fascination for silent movie comedies of the late 1910s and 1920s; they were, in a way, inventors, each and every one of them, bringing each time something new. Harold Lloyd was among the pioneers of the genre mixing straightforward comedy with non-stop action and succeeding in both.

"A sailor-made man" stars Lloyd and his soon-to-be-wife, charming Mildred Davis. The plot is, like the majority of silent comedies, very simple: a spoiled child of a man falls in love with a girl and to prove to her father that he is worth something he joins the Navy. As every young boy on a planet he has troubles of accustoming to new conditions and in trying to make new friends but in the end he figures it all out.

The movie was one of the first feature length films of Harold's, running at just 46 minutes it sucks you in whole and doesn't let go for a second. Intertitles with the hint of irony and sarcasm were also one of the main features of that time and of Lloyd's movies in particular - although at times absolutely unnecessary because everything was crystal clear without them. Harold is a genius who could make you laugh just by raising his eyebrow or making an everyday routine and Mildred Davis, oh I'm sure that woman broke so many poor men's hearts with just her smile.

Being a huge hit for Lloyd "A sailor-made man" shaped his on-screen characters and himself for many years to come. An ordinary story of love and cherishing, loyalty and friendship, caring and fighting for something or someone you care for and never giving up - those were the main motifs in Harold Lloyd movies and were one of the many reasons people (including myself) have loved and will love his eternal works for ever.

Numerous sight gags some dangerous keep this 50 mintue short timeless

[jordondave-28085 · 9/10 · 9 June 2023]

(1921) A Sailor-Made Man SILENT COMEDY

Created by Hal Roach starring Harold Llyod as a wealthy inheritance joining the navy for the intention of marrying the girl he loves who is frequent love interest Mildred Davis. His love interest of course gets wooed by some sheik of some sort upon meeting Harold by chance when going on shore leave and the sheik wanted to include her as one of his many wives already with Llyod making many attempts to save her. Clocking in at almost 50 minutes, this film has many memorable sight gags including a jump flip upon the sheik swinging a sword and the use of may camouflages by using blankets and pillows. This is the twelfth of fifteen movies Harold Lloyd starred with Mildred Davis.

First Lloyd feature, standard Lloyd material

[thinbeach · 4/10 · 13 November 2016]

In order to please the father of a girl he wishes to marry, Harold must find a job. The nearest job being advertised is the navy, and being the whimsical type, that is where he applies. When the girl invites him on a yacht trip he tries to back out of the job, but it is too late, and in sailor's apparel he finds himself. The set up prior to this point is excellent. Set on the palm tree lined, trim lawns of an upper class resort, Harold finds many neat gags playing an obnoxious young millionaire. Unfortunately however once at sea and onto the Island it is Lloyd comedy at its weakest. One excuse after another to get in a fight with people, where he accidentally manages to triumph. This was Lloyd's first feature, but these elements would become a well worn path for him, a path which I have already walked and tired of. It shares similarities to his later film 'Why Worry?' which is a far superior film, so I recommend that one instead.

Subpar and problematic

[gbill-74877 · 5/10 · 8 January 2024]

"It's too hot to play croquet - Let's get married."

Aside from the stereotypes in the latter half of this film, set in the fictional Agar Shahar Khairpura, the "City of a Thousand Rascals," the comedy from Lloyd is subpar, making this a mediocre watch. The rajah (Dick Sutherland in sinister blackface) wanting to kidnap the white woman for his harem is an odious plotline, and while Lloyd shows off his athleticism dashing about to save the day, there never was a bit that stood out. Seeing his real-life partner Mildred Davis is always a plus, but she isn't given a whole lot to do, and because the romance is never built up beyond a snobby rich guy deciding on a whim to marry a popular girl, the sweetness of the ending is diminished.