I did not enjoy "Girl Shy" quite as much as Harold Lloyd's most famous feature length film, "Safety Last!", but I still had a good time with it.
Lloyd plays a hapless tailor's assistant who stutters terribly whenever around women (watching Lloyd stutter in silence, by the way, is hilarious). To make up for in fantasy what he lacks in reality, he writes a book about the conquest of his many (fictional) women, and travels to the big city with the dream of having it published to tremendous success. The publisher takes it as a big joke and thinks it will be a hit as a piece of comedy. Lloyd is, of course, crushed that no one will take him seriously, but the joke's on everyone else when he manages in true Lloyd style to win the girl of his dreams.
I'm only a very recent Harold Lloyd convert, but now that I've seen a few of his films, I have to say that I like his brand of silent humour much more than Charlie Chaplin's. Lloyd's physical stunts are stunning, and "Girl Shy" builds to a tremendously fun and exciting climax as Lloyd rushes to claim the girl before she's wed to another, braving every manner of transportation imaginable in ever-increasing outrageous set pieces. But Lloyd's acting impresses too -- he's not just a silly clown with a knack for physical comedy. Lloyd does as much with his face as he does with his rubber limbs.
Another Harold Lloyd winner.
Grade: A