Hal Roach Studios
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Anna Townsend
Directed by: Fred C. Newmeyer

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Sonny (Harold Lloyd) is a young man who has always been timid as a child but as a man his timidity comes across as cowardice.  But when Sonny is called upon to be brave, his loving Grandma (Anna Townsend) helps him find the courage he needs.

Kitty Cameos: Early in the film the central characters are being introduced as young adults.  In addition to Sonny and his girlfriend (Mildred Davis) there is His Rival (Charles Stevenson), a nasty bully who is first seen walking down a sidewalk with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a stick in the other.  He stops as he spots a white Persian cat with a ribbon around its neck sitting nearby.

The Rival nastily chucks his stick at the cat.  The stick misses and the cat runs away.  Clearly this guy is supposed to be a baddie.

Late in the film Sonny is on the trail of a vicious tramp (Dick Sutherland) who is a fugitive from the law.  Sonny is right outside a doorway, not knowing the tramp is waiting to hit him.  A black cat walks across the doorway in front of Sonny.

Not wanting to incur bad luck, Sonny moves away from the door and follows the cat until he can walk around in front of it.  This inadvertently keeps Sonny from being clobbered by the huge man.

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): The highlight of the film (cat-wise anyway) is when Sonny arrives at the Girl’s house for an evening.  His grandma has shined his shoes with goose grease.  As we have seen in other silent films, the grease attracts the attention of a kitten, which wanders in from the other room.  The kitten licks Sonny’s shoes and Sonny keeps pushing it away with his foot.

The kitten exits the room, only to return with the rest of the litter!

The kittens gather eagerly around Sonny’s shoes, licking away happily.

Sonny suggests that he and the Girl sit elsewhere but the kittens simply follow them and continue to lick Sonny’s shoes.

Kitty Carnage Warning! The Girl shows Sonny a little toy dog.  Sonny takes the dog and when the Girl isn’t looking he lowers it towards the kittens and makes it bark at them.  The kittens react by jumping away and arching their backs.  They then run into the other room.  This is only a mild warning since the kittens weren’t hurt but they were definitely frightened.

Final Mewsings: Cats must have lived for goose-greased shoes in those days!

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