Hot Water (1924)

Hot Water was Harold Lloyd's seventh feature, and it was intentionally loosely constructed. His previous film, Girl Shy, had drawn complaints from distributors. It was lengthy, and for a comedy it was considered to be slow-moving. It made sense, then, for Lloyd to return to his roots. While Hot Water is technically a five-reel film with continuity in its characters, it also had three major storylines that were largely unrelated.

In the first third of the film, henpecked husband Lloyd must bring groceries home to his wife, in addition to a large live turkey that he has received as a gift. The second stage of the film has Lloyd taking his in-law family for a disastrous spin in his new automobile. Finally, Lloyd rebels against the meddling relations, and frightens them into leaving the household.

The studio's intention was that if necessary, the film could be broken into three two-reel films. These shorts could then be shown as a prelude to a dramatic five-reel film. Fortunately, Hot Water was well received by both audiences and distributors. Laughs were expected and were delivered. The success of the film, though, allowed Lloyd to develop more ambitious works, such as The Freshman (1925) and The Kid Brother (1927).

Hot Water grossed 1.7 million dollars, which was an enormous sum in that era. Nonetheless, some contemporary critics were not pleased. They noted the film's lack of continuity and relative shallowness.

For example, the pet turkey disappears for half of the film, and the financial and lifestyle consequences of the ruined motocar is given short shrift. Lloyd's battles with a large spider and a humorless commuter provide much amusement for the other passengers on the train, who would more likely be mortified.

The mother-in-law is much too old to have such a young child as Bobby. Lloyd changes from drunk to sober in a single scene, and his wife seems oblivious to his increasingly bizarre behavior in the third segment.

Of course, as this was a comedy, the audience is expected to laugh at the situations, and not closely inspect them for irregularities. The film works due to the talents of Harold Lloyd and veteran Josephine Crowell, who plays the imposing mother-in-law.

One unintentional consequence of films is that they document their era. The motocar sequence depicts the city life of 1924. Instead of a traffic light, a policeman directs traffic at a busy intersection. The fire truck is propelled by a team of horses. Youthful veterans from World War I carouse in the streets.

While certainly not Lloyd's best or most memorable effort, Hot Water overcomes its thin story and stereotyped characters due to its execution. Whether Lloyd is wrestling with a turkey, hiding in a basket, or wrecking the family dinner, his comic timing is never off, and he has good interplay with Crowell. (67/100)