He is given an 18 karat Swiss watch that is 'properly inscribed "with gratitude and love and kisses for 20 years devoted services"' and a check for $2,946.12, the remains of his company investment plan. But losing his job destroys that dream, and when he finds a particularly potent drink at his local bar, he goes on a very strange and funny rampage (with a lion in tow). Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. In the excitement of the moment, Waggleberry, an advertising tycoon, offers Harold a job upon his graduation, but when Harold appears in the executive's New York office four years later, Waggleberry fails to remember him. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock Attired in the same strawhat and black-rimmed specs in his silent flickers, neither Harold Lloyd's person nor his comedy has changed much. See MAD WEDNESDAY for producer Howard Hughes's edited version, released nine years later. Kathy Li. Description Absent from films since 1938 (except as producer of a brace of RKO Radio features), silent-screen comedy favorite Harold Lloyd returned before the cameras in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock. After completing his college studies a few months later, Harold meets with Mr. Waggleberry at his advertising office for the job offer. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock would’ve been one of the last films I saw by Preston Sturges years ago when he was becoming a cinematic hero of mine. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Twenty years after his triumphs as a freshman on the football field, Harold is a mild-mannered clerk who dreams about marrying the girl at the desk down the aisle. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) MAIN Links. Carrying a filled Thermos, Wormy gives shot drinks of the potent "Diddlebock" cocktail to each of the bankers they visit so their inhibitions will fade and convince them to put in bids for ownership of the circus. Approved | 1h 29min | Comedy | 4 April 1947 (USA) Twenty years after his triumphs as a freshman on the football field, Harold is a mild-mannered clerk who dreams about marrying the girl at the desk down the aisle. He then buys a circus and uses a lion to frighten investors into backing him. A few days later, Harold wakes up on the sofa inside the house of his widowed sister Flora (Margaret Hamilton) where she chastises him for his wild, irresponsible behavior. data from AFI catalog. See MAD WEDNESDAY for producer Howard Hughes's edited version, released nine years later. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock ★★ ½ Mad Wednesday 1947A man gets fired from his job, stumbles around drunk, and wins a fortune gambling. Take a look ahead at some of our most anticipated superhero series arriving in 2021 and beyond. In the final scene, Harold wakes up another day or two later in the horse-drawn cab with Miss Otis where he learns that he received $175,000 for the sale of the circus, he is now an executive at Waggleberry's advertising agency, and that he and Miss Otis are married. Miss Otis bails them out the following day, and they find that the publicity has attracted a mob of bankers at the jail who want to buy the circus – but Ringling Brothers outbids them. Memorial Stadium - Stadium Rim Way, Berkeley, California, USA. Movies Like The Sin of Harold Diddlebock Revolt in the Big House A crime boss tries to cause a riot and prison break while behind bars. Jumping forward 22 years later to the year 1945, the now middle-aged Harold, who has been stuck in his dull, dead-end book-keeping job, is let go by Waggleberry for old age and not being an ideas-man. Twenty years after his triumphs as a freshman on the football field, Harold is a mild-mannered clerk who dreams about marrying the girl at the desk down the aisle. The project began as a labor of love between Lloyd and the … [3], In 1951, Harold Lloyd received a Golden Globe nomination as "Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy", and the film was nominated for Grand Prize at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival. The way it's shot, the acting, the brilliant casting, the writing all work together in a way that has no equal in cinema; the silent version of "The Thief of Baghdad" comes to mind for its sense of unbridled fun and its soaring spirit. [1][6], The film premiered in Miami, Florida on 8 February 1947, and went into general release on 4 April. THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK became a film discussed with a wagging of the head, an object lesson in what happens when two geniuses collide, an alleged artistic disaster. Twenty two years go by and Harold gets canned. Harold Diddlebock: Miss Otis, when your eldest sister Hortence came to work here seventeen or eighteen years ago, I fell in love with her. (1947). User Reviews Other Reviews Articles Money Awards Quotes Trivia Home Video Reviews Misc Notes Alternate Versions Theatrical Aspect Ratio Fan Sites. He wanders out, aimlessly through the streets, his life's savings in his trouser pocket. Read Full Synopsis. The project began as a labor of love between Lloyd and the brilliant, innovative producer/writer/director Preston Sturges. After a drunken spree and a series of hilarious and unforeseeable events, Harold finds himself the owner of a bankrupt circus. Seeing no future with the ownership of the circus, Harold then gets the idea to sell the circus to a Wall Street banker. I'm telling you, this film is BRILLIANT. Product Identifiers. THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK is considered actor Harold Lloyd's most hilarious work in the postsilent film days. Title: 19 of 24 people found this review helpful. Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Golden Globes Emmys San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film … Overview Full Credits Full Synopsis Notes Music Screenplay Info. There’s an old Preston Sturges movie called “The Sin of Harold Diddlebock.” Harold Lloyd is the star of it. California Pictures was a new company and didn't have adequate facilities to make the film, so Sturges attempted to buy Sherman Studios. Biography, Certificate: Passed The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. After Harold Diddlebock, a bumbling freshman water boy, scores the winning touchdown for his college's football team, he is approached by alumnus E. J. Waggleberry. Some location shooting (for the hansom cab scenes) took place on Riverside Drive in Los Angeles. To get past the bank guards, Harold dresses up in his plaid suit and brings along Jackie, a tame circus lion, who incites panic. After an all-night send-off party for the troops, a small-town girl wakes up to find herself married and pregnant, but with no memory of her husband's identity. [3][4], After writer-director Preston Sturges left Paramount Pictures in 1944, he and millionaire Howard Hughes formed California Pictures, and in July of that year it was reported that Sturges had tempted one of his idols, Harold Lloyd, out of retirement to become a producer-director at the new studio, with his first project to be "The Sin of Hilda Diddlebock", a story written by Sturges about a girl's adventures in Hollywood, and their second project a film called "The Wizard of Whispering Falls" (Lloyd had not appeared on film since 1938's Professor Beware). While looking through the newspaper want ads for another job, Harold is approached by Wormy (Jimmy Conlin), a local con artist, petty gambler, and racetrack tout, who asks Harold for some money so he can place a bet. With his cashed out savings, he bumps into Wormy (Conlin) who taps him for a loan for a bet. Wagglebury, with nothing but a tiny pension. Written by A fired bookkeeper (Harold Lloyd) gets drunk, gambles and buys a circus. Harold Lloyd and Preston Sturges on the set of The Sin of Harold Diddlebock. Seeing the large amount of cash that Harold has, and hoping to get him drunk enough to acquire some of the cash, Wormy takes the depressed and unemployed Harold to a local bar for a drink. Sturges claimed that producer Howard Hughes used the reviews as an excuse to re-make the film. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is a 1947 comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring the silent film comic icon Harold Lloyd, and featuring a supporting cast including female protagonist Frances Ramsden, Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, Rudy Vallee, Arline Judge, Edgar Kennedy, Franklin Pangborn, J. Farrell MacDonald, Robert Dudley, Robert Greig, Lionel Stander and Jackie the Lion. Reassuring Harold that she truly loves him, Miss Otis gives him a big kiss, and Harold finally remembers what he was doing all day on Wednesday. When Harold tells the bartender, Jake (Edgar Kennedy), that he has never had a drink in his life, the barkeep creates a potent cocktail he calls "The Diddlebock", one sip of which is enough to release Harold from all his inhibitions. The effects of the alcohol causes Harold to yowl uncontrollably. Preston Sturges wrote and directed. This is so much more than a comedy, at some point the movie glides past that label and really grabs the brass ring, you know what I mean? Overview of The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, 1947, directed by Preston Sturges, with Harold Lloyd, Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, at Turner Classic Movies Major Thompson, an Englishman living in France, comments in his memoirs on the peculiarities of his French wife and friends. Harold and Wormy visit the circus-loving Wall Street banker Lynn Sargent (Rudy Vallee) to ask him to purchase their circus, but he turns them down because he is trying to unload his own bankrupt circus. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock Harold Lloyd Frances Ramsden Jimmy Conlin (1947) After being fired from his office job, Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd) gets drunk, goes on a … when asked to prepare Harold's very first alcoholic beverage, Cummings' Ten-Year Death Anniversary: From Minor Lloyd Leading Lady to Tony Award Winner (Revised and Expanded), American Masters: Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius. When the co-workers of an ambitious clerk trick him into thinking he has won $25,000 in a slogan contest, he begins to use the money to fulfill his dreams. Waggleberry (Raymond Walburn), he wanders into a bar and orders a drink -- the first of his life. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is an american film directed by Preston Sturges, released in 1947. The total cost of the film was estimated to be $1,712,959. The final shot shows Wormy tagging along with them by riding on the back bumper of the cab. It was quickly pulled from distribution by producer Howard Hughes who took almost four years to re-shoot some scenes and re-edit the film,[3] finally re-releasing it in 1950 as Mad Wednesday – but the reception by the general public was no better the second time around. Was this review helpful to you? The biography of Dr. W. T. Morgan, a 19th century Boston dentist, during his quest to have anesthesia, in the form of ether, accepted by the public and the medical and dental establishment. In the midst of his transformation, Harold overhears Wormy talking with his bookie Max (Lionel Stander), and impulsively bets $1,000 of his money on a 15-to-one long shot horse named Emmaline. Calling this film brilliant isn't strong enough. One of his best performances came in Sturges' The Sin of Harold Diddlebock in 1946, when he played "Wormy", the racetrack tout who convinces Harold Lloyd to … The film's story is a continuation of The Freshman, one of Lloyd's most successful movies. The film's story is a continuation of The Freshman, one of Lloyd's most successful movies. Waggleberry (Raymond Walburn). [7], "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" (Allmovie), "Pinto Colvig Seen In Featured Role on Holly Screen", "Festival de Cannes: The Sin of Harold Diddlebock", List of actors who frequently worked with Preston Sturges, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sin_of_Harold_Diddlebock&oldid=1009179754, Films with screenplays by Preston Sturges, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Although the film explicitly connects the character of Harold Diddlebock to that in. What will happen when the ruse is discovered? View production, box office, & company info. Format. The mild-mannered Harold is quickly offered a job by the pompous advertising tycoon J.E. Temperamental saloon singer Freddie Jones, jealously shoots at her cheating boyfriend Blackie but mistakenly hits Judge Alfalfa J. O'Toole's honorable behind, forcing her to skip town under the guise of a schoolteacher. DVD. Although Harold dreams of becoming an "ideas man," Waggleberry assigns him to a lowly position in the bookkeeping department. By the time that filming wrapped on 29 January 1946, the film was $600,000 over budget. Comedy. Two decades after a game-winning touchdown and praise as a college football hero, the once hopeful Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd) has been beaten down by the drudgery of office life. Miss Otis: Yes, I know, I mean that you fell in love with her. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is a 1947 comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring the silent film comic icon Harold Lloyd, and featuring a supporting cast including female protagonist Frances Ramsden, Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, Rudy Vallee, Arline Judge, Edgar Kennedy, Franklin Pangborn, J. Farrell MacDonald, Robert Dudley, Robert Greig, Lionel Stander and Jackie the Lion. But losing his job destroys that dream, and when he finds a particularly potent drink at his local bar, he goes on a very strange and funny rampage (with a lion in tow). 0089218432490. eBay Product ID (ePID) 6479021. When he failed, production on The Sin of Harold Diddlebock was located at Goldwyn Studios, with additional shooting – including the window ledge scene which recalled a well-known similar scene from Lloyd's Safety Last (1923) – at Paramount Studios. This movie was the only credited feature film appearance of Frances Ramsden (1920—2000), whose role is important enough that she could have received second billing. If it’s remembered at all it is for the finality it brought to both men, and the production company for which it was the sole feature. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock The Sin of Harold Diddlebock Synopsis. Today, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) is not known for being the triumphant comeback of Harold Lloyd, or as the start of a new chapter in Preston Sturges’ filmmaking career. Harold celebrates with another "Diddlebock", and again has another relapse. A worried Wormy then rushes up and informs Harold that, with winnings from a second bet, Harold also bought a bankrupt circus. Product Key Features. In 1854, Jeb Stuart, George Custer and other graduates from West Point are posted to Kansas to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume. United Artists backed out of their distribution deal with Hughes, so after Hughes bought RKO, he used his new studio to release the film, now cut from 89 to 76 minutes, on 28 October 1950. After one member of their group is murdered, the performers at a burlesque house must work together to find out who the killer is before they strike again. Gazing at himself in the bar mirror, Harold suddenly declares himself a loser and races out to remake himself. The Dylan lyric "to laugh and cry in a single sound" fits because at the end of the film if your heartstrings are not being strummed then you may not be living.Lloyd is an everyman squashed by life who encounters a bartender and asks for his first drink, ever. Lloyd was never to star in another film, turning instead to production, and releasing compilation films featuring his earlier silent film work. Unable to remember much about his drunken binge, particularly about what he did on Wednesday which is a total blank, Harold wanders outside to return the plaid suit where he is surprised to learn that he now owns a hansom horse-drawn cab complete with an English driver named Thomas (Robert Greig). He bids farewell to Miss Otis (Frances Ramsden), a young woman who works at an artist's desk down the aisle, giving her the paid-for engagement ring that he had, having planned to marry each of her six older sisters (Hortense, Irma, Harriet, Margie, Claire, and Rosemary) when they had worked there before her. Original Print Info Genre Keywords. In 1923, Tate College freshman Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd) is brought into his college's football team where he scores the winning touchdown (as told in the silent feature film The Freshman). Harold Diddlebock bids farewell to Miss Otis. Twenty-three years after scoring the winning touchdown for his college football team mild-mannered Harold Diddlebock, who has been stuck in a dull, dead-end book-keeping job for years, is let go by his pompous boss, advertising tycoon J.E. To everyone's surprise, Emmaline wins, and the now-rich Harold, with $15,000 in his pockets, begins to celebrate all around town on a day-and-a-half binge of spending, gambling, and carousing. Use the HTML below. It was intended to return the film to distribution as soon as October, and a special effects crew was sent to San Francisco to film process shots to be used in the film's re-editing.[1]. Had The Sin of Harold Diddlebock been a total flop I would still have immense respect for Preston Sturges as a filmmaker, for one cannot shame a man for concocting any kind of scheme, no matter how successful, which manages to lure the great Harold Lloyd out of retirement to star in one final picture exhibiting his singular comic talents. [3], The Sin of Harold Diddlebock went into production on 12 September 1945. THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK; HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER; Entertainment Reviews: Product Description: This collection features four classic comedies from the Golden Age of Hollywood that are even more charming today then when they first graced the silver screen. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is a 'coming of age' story which takes a comic look at a tragic character - the American worker who, after being used up by his employer of over twenty years, is forced into retirement with nowhere to turn and no options for his future. After a meeting with the animal handlers and circus freaks, Harold first seeks help from the Kitt-Poo Home for Cats to feed the circus' starving lions and tigers. Harold Diddlebock (Lloyd) gets a menial gig at an ad firm as an accountant on the heels of his effort in the big college football game (a long incorporation of the game from The Freshman). According to All Movie Guide's Hal Erikson, the shorter version plays better for audiences, while the original is richer in its comic invention and characterizations. Truly brilliant, highest possible recommendation. He finds that he has a hangover, but he also has a garish new wardrobe and a ten-gallon cowboy hat. UPC. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Things take a turn for the worse when the lion gets loose, in which Harold, Wormy, and the lion end up on the ledge of a skyscraper, but narrowly avoid plunging to certain death. Add the first question. Rex Harrison dreams of revenge when he suspects his wife (Linda Darnell) is unfaithful. Check out our gallery of the 2021 Oscar nominees in the leading and supporting acting categories, as the characters they so brilliantly played and in real life. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock. Despite Sturges' later claim that the film "got the best reviews I ever received," the notices were mixed and commented on the unevenness of the comedy, perhaps the result of the falling out between Sturges and Lloyd. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock was Sturges' first project after leaving Paramount Pictures, where he had made his most popular films, but the film was not successful in its initial release. Fortunately for us, Mr. Sturges did not simply rest on his laurels … [1], In May, it was reported that Hughes was running a contest for his employees to find a shorter name for the film, with the winner to get $250; the next month, after it had only played in three cities, the film was pulled from circulation and its name changed to Mad Wednesday, because of concerns that the word "sin" in the title would hold back the film's box office from the "family trade". A job by the time that filming wrapped on 29 January 1946 the sin of harold diddlebock... 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