What a beautiful movie!

Sadly Over-hyped

Don't Believe the Hype

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Put on a silent comedy with any music in the background, and you'll find all ages of audiences. As long as the visuals are silly, unrealistic and delightfully dangerous, people will stare. This has the lamest of plots, but the action is fast and hysterical. Beds flying outside for no apparent reason, wacky automobiles in a race, dangerous curves and fast camera movements keep this one going at a breakneck speed. There's always the urge to squint and say ouch because of what happens on the screen, and this is filled with many moments like that. You can see the influences of this style of comedy in classic cartoons, on sitcoms and in films made today. But this has the innocence that most of those genres don't, all over in less than 15 minutes.

Lizzies of the Field (1924) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Rival auto repair shops who own spots across the street from one another enter a car race and it's clear from the start that both are willing to do whatever it takes to win. LIZZIES OF THE FIELD is a pretty mindless film as there's really not too much story but did this ever really stop Mack Sennett? For the most part silent film fans are going to enjoy this thing because it's really fast paced and it never slows down for a second so if you really get caught up in what's going on then it's doubtful you'll even realize or miss the story. I thought the cast was extremely good in their parts and you could really feel that both sides hated one another. Billy Bevan, Sidney Smith and Andy Clyde are all familiar faces to those who watch these films so fans of theirs will be happy to see them working together here. One of the best gags actually happens right at the start of the film as we see Bevan speeding down the road somewhere and then we see that he's actually driving a car that's really a bed. The last five or so minutes really didn't strike me as being funny but there's no question that the car chase was extremely well done and contained some very impressive stunts.

As I was about to write this review, I just realized that perhaps no one will ever read it. After all, LIZZIES is not easily available and few have heard about silent comedian Billy Bevan. This is probably about the sixth film of Bevan's I have seen and although he made gobs of films, there just aren't that many out there.This film isn't deep or sophisticated and that isn't a problem. Instead, it abounds with wonderful sight gags and stunts. My favorite appears at the beginning, as you see Billy riding along at a very brisk pace in a bed-mobile (called a "Snoozenburg"). Additionally, the film really finished well--with yet another crazy stunt.The only minor quibble is the pickax scene. This is because I have seen variations on this scene in many movies, so it wasn't as original or exciting as the rest of the film.

This is a brilliant slapstick comedy, the climax of which is one of the greatest car race sequences ever filmed. Part of the wonder of this film is how on earth they did the stunts with those fragile old jalopies. Equally baffling is how they managed to film those stunts - some of the camerawork is astounding. From the opening sequence, when a bed is racing down the street, to the literally explosive finale, this film does not let up in action or laughs. Do not miss this one, it is a classic!