User reviews

This is a very good Lloyd short, but in some ways it's like three totally different movie shorts grafted together. The overall effect, though, is excellent and this is a wonderful short.

The first portion consists of Harold trying to help his girlfriend keep her job as a receptionist for a chiropractor by, rather unscrupulously, drumming up business for them. Harold is a bit uncharacteristically cruel during these efforts, but I gotta admit they are still quite funny.

The second segment is also a bit uncharacteristic, as Harold mistakenly thinks his girl loves another so he tries repeatedly to kill himself. This is pretty maudlin and I felt just a tiny bit uneasy laughing at suicide.

However, it then transitioned from this into a live-action version of a Sweet Pea and Popeye cartoon. You know, the one where the baby climbs onto a high-rise under construction and nearly gets killed again and again and again. Harold Lloyd handles these stunts very deftly and the film ends when he is saved and he learns that his girl not only wants to marry him but the guy she was talking to earlier turned out to be her brother--the preacher! A cute film.

Never Weaken came a year after the brilliant Haunted Spooks and touches on some of the same ideas but plays in a very different ways, including featuring an extended sequence of the stunning stunt-work best associated with Lloyd.

Where Keaton had his dour expression and acrobatics and Chaplin had the pathos and funny walk of the tramp Lloyd is best remembered for his effervescence and his stunts. The stunts are never better represented than here which sees a protracted, thrilling and funny scene when Harold finds himself stranded on the beams of a building under construction. One gag in this sequence involving a ladder is as good as they come but the whole sequence is a delight.

It might surprise people that a key theme here involves attempted suicide, something Keaton often tackled, but is less associated with the happy-go-lucky Lloyd, but it was something he visited on multiple occasions. Perfectly demonstrating what a fine line exists between comedy and tragedy this scene here explores the banalities that intrude and the difficulties of going through with such an act that when dwelt on are extremely astute but while watched are hilarious. The suicidal scenes of Haunted Spooks have bigger, and funnier gags and this is one extended scene here instead of a series of vignettes but still inspired as Harold figures out how to do it, dismissing various ways for funny, but oddly real reasons. The sequence is at it's best though when he delays the act because he gets caught up in the triviality of a miss-spelling in his suicide note! Lloyd regular (and later his wife) Mildred Davis again appears as the love interest, though has little to do here compared to some.

The film is intriguingly split into three distinct segments, the slapstick laughs of the first section where Harold is trying to get patients for the doctor Mildred works for so she won't be fired; the smart wit of the suicidal second section; and then the thrilling stunts of the final section. Whichever part of Lloyd's art you like best Never Weaken can offer it to you, however as a whole it does feel a little like 3 10 minute shorts playing one after the other.

Typically the title cards remain the most inspired and beautiful of any US silent comedian.

Well worth catching. If you don't know Lloyd you couldn't get a better introduction to his talents.

This is comedy crafted from the material of nightmares, and Harold Lloyd (or his stunt double) displays a light-footedness and dexterity that is frankly quite astonishing. When you consider that Lloyd lost a thumb and finger when a supposedly dud prop bomb exploded in his hand just a year before this film was made it just adds to the courage he displays as he wobbles around on the narrow girders of a partially-constructed skyscraper hundreds of feet in the air. For my money, his stunts here far outshine those from Safety Last, the feature Lloyd made a couple of years later, in which he hangs from a clock on the side of a building.

The storyline isn't much to speak of, and the film is really two movies combined as the first half has little bearing on the second. Harold mistakenly believes his beloved (the future Mrs Lloyd, looking a little like Drew Barrymore in some shots) has fallen for another man and unsuccessfully tries to commit extravagant suicide with a gun and a length of string just as a stray girder from the construction project outside his office lifts the chair on which he is sat out of his office and into mid-air. The scenes in which Lloyd is perched on the chair are teeth-grindingly difficult to watch at times, and your laughter is really an hysterical release of tension rather than amusement at what is taking place on screen. I'd love to have seen this in a cinema back in 1921 – the audience reactions must have been something to see, and would have made the viewing experience all the more enjoyable.

I was flipping through the channels last night and noticed a Harold Lloyd marathon on AMC. His granddaughter Suzanne has rereleased many of his films and was on the channel talking about the careers of her grandfather and grandmother (Mildred Davis, "the girl" in this film). The characters are sweet and loving and Harold Lloyd comes off as the lovelorn and innocent boy whose greatest wish is to marry his sweetheart. When he thinks she is in love with another, he plans to kill himself rather than live without her. Attempted suicide has never been so funny. Especially hilarious is the painstaking care he takes in writing the suicide note. My children (ages 5, 10, and 13) were so amused by Lloyd's antics that I was amazed. They never thought that silent films could be so expressive and funny. I love the fact that this art form is appreciated and shown on television for all to see and fall in love with all over again.

A HAROLD LLOYD Short Subject.

A lovesick young man must NEVER WEAKEN when he unexpectedly finds himself in a most precarious & dangerous situation.

Here is one of Harold Lloyd's thrill pictures, which offers quick-moving comedy and genuine suspense. The first half of the film has Harold trying to roundup patients for his girlfriend's boss. The second half puts Harold up on the framework of a building under construction - clutching, crawling & careening out over empty space. His obvious athletic ability is made even more remarkable by the fact that he was using only half of his right hand, his disfigurement, caused by a studio accident, hidden by a glove.

Pretty Mildred Davis, who would soon become Mrs. Harold Lloyd, plays the object of his affections.

This is the best silent comedy short i've ever seen,and it was made by Harold Lloyd, probably the best of the silent comics.The best parts are when Lloyd, thinking he's lost his girl to another man, tries to kill himself,with funny results.

This is one of Harold Lloyd's best shorts and the second of his thrill comedies (in chronological order) to be included in this collection. The film can be neatly divided into three sections: the first sees Harold ingeniously gathering patients for the despondent clinic where his beloved, Mildred Davis, works (and which probably influenced Lloyd's later feature FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE [1926]); the second, as was the case with many a Lloyd comedy, he goes through several failed attempts at suicide (when he mistakes Mildred's clergyman brother for her lover!); the last third - and the undeniable highlight - has the star up to his neck in trouble when he ends up high in the air on a construction site (featuring some of Lloyd's most incredible stuntwork, the whole idea was borrowed by Laurel & Hardy for the second half of one of their most popular Silent shorts, LIBERTY [1929]).

Harold Lloyd's Never Weaken finds itself notable for several reasons, more than just being Lloyd's final silent short before moving on to strictly feature-length productions. For one, the short was a pioneer of the silent genre known as "thrill-comedy," which blended the elements of slapstick and humor with aspects of a thriller, giving audiences moments to laugh and moments to gasp which, if done right, could give off complex feelings. Furthermore, a good chunk of this short features Lloyd atop a large construction sight, balancing on long, metal pillars, struggling to stay on, and hanging on for dear life in, which only proves more tantalizing when one realizes that Lloyd did all his own stunts for this short, refusing to wear a wire or a harness to further ensure safety and support.

The film stars Lloyd as an office-worker, who plans to wed the beautiful Mildred (Mildred Davis), whom has been his girlfriend for a long time now. However, after hearing a man say to her "of course I will marry you," without any context, the man becomes distraught, emotionally upset, and decides to commit suicide by blindfolding himself and rigging a gun to fire when he pulls a string that is tied to the trigger. After an odd and nearly unexplainable series of events, with the bullet hitting the light next to him, the man finds himself high above the city, atop a construction site, all of a sudden struggling to hold on for dear life.

Never Weaken illustrates the age-old idea of a misunderstanding, which has been put to great effect in comedy films and, as we see, even the early days of silent filmmaking. Being brewed from the classic misrepresentation makes for cute innovation, for the time, as we find ourselves one step ahead of the character with each turn, right from the core misunderstanding in the very beginning. Throw in Lloyd's incredible facial acting and unbelievably talented physical comedy, and this is a conglomeration of true talent and innovation you can't help but cheer on through and through.

Starring: Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis. Directed by: Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor.

In a city full of skyscrapers a boy and a girl fall in love between window ledges. However their romance seems to be under threat when a lack of patients for her boss's doctor's surgery sees her told she'll be laid off. In order to keep his office hours relationship alive, the boy sets out to drum up some business and thus keep her job.

I've not seen enough Harold Lloyd to say whether or not I'm a massive fan but I have certainly never had any great desire to hunt his films down in the same way as I have with Laurel and Hardy (whom I generally adore). However with BBC4's consistently impressive Silent Clown's series of documentaries, I got a rare opportunity to see one of his shorts as selected by Paul Merton. The overly jaunty new score played over the film was a bit of a pain because although it fitted the action on screen, I didn't think it worked for the period the film came from. Regardless I got into the mild humour of Lloyd drumming up injuries on the streets as the film got going until it reached the high (sorry) point of the skyscraper conclusion. This section is pretty much the whole show as it demonstrates his daredevil sense of humour.

Sure he isn't actually 50 stories above the ground but the stunts are still very impressive let me assure you. His timing is good and although I didn't find this hilarious, he is impressive in how he plays the audience for laughs and gasps at the same time. The support cast all play to form but this is all about Lloyd and, considering I'm not a real fan, I did think he was well worth seeing.

Overall an impressive and amusing silent short film. Not as out and out funny as I would have hoped but the skyscraper scrapes are well worth seeing and make the second part of the film much stronger than the rather genial first half.

Harold is in love with the girl portrayed by Mildred Davis.They work next to each other in a tall building.Then a big misunderstanding happens when he overhears her saying yes to a marriage proposal.Or at least that's what he thinks he hears.So Harold decides to take his own life.But his suicide attempts tend to fail.Harold Lloyd is great as always in this Fred C. Newmeyer's short silent comedy.Never Weaken (1921) is tragicomedy at its most tragic.And yes, it's also pretty darn funny.It's hilarious to watch Harold trying to get patients on the street.It will make you gasp when Harold is high above the ground.More than once in his movies Lloyd was seen in a tall building.Maybe it represented his smallness in this big world.Or something like that.

HAROLD LLOYD goes through a whole series of funny happenings that could only happen to an actor as talented as he was (and Buster Keaton and other silent greats). And yet they all come about because he mistakenly believes his girl is going to marry someone else.

Desolate, he decides to think of quick ways to commit suicide, inspired by a newspaper headline that tells of two youths who killed themselves when they lost their sweethearts. His plans backfire, of course, but before you know it a construction boom has lifted his office chair out the window with him sitting on it, thinking he's been shot by a stunt he rigged up to have a gun go off when someone opened the door.

What ensues is the cleverest bit of physical comedy you can imagine, with Lloyd getting himself into sky high trouble when he makes an attempt to walk the construction beams which seem to be in a conspiracy against him. It's the funniest half of the short comedy--and one can see why he was so revered as a silent comedian.

The ultra busy soundtrack has a musical score (I saw this on TCM), but like many scores accompanying silent films, it's almost too much of a good thing. After awhile I dodged for the mute button.

Amazing to see what clever stunts he was capable of, even in his comedy shorts.

I love silent comedies. Sure they're silly and eccentric being based on buffoonery and slapstick but nevertheless entertaining and very fun to watch. I always admired the works of Charlie Chaplin and I consider him the best filmmaker of all times. I always adored Buster Keaton whose stone face comedy has widened and stretched the genre to unbelievable heights. And who could forget Harold Lloyd with his fast-paced action-filled thrilling short and full-length movies?

"Never weaken" is one of many movies that he did together with his then to-be-future-wife Mildred Davis. This 28-minute short is a classic Lloyd-esque comedy where he does unthinkable breathtaking stunts all by himself. The scene on the construction site in particular is a great example of Harold's skills and dexterity where he, after his character's failed attempt to commit suicide, tries with all his might to stay alive to see the light of day safe on the ground again. The action goes very fast, one incredible scene replaces the other and wouldn't you know it - the movie is over and you're left with the feeling of wanting more.

The Boy (Harold Lloyd) flirts with The Girl in a neighboring office. She becomes distraught when her boss informs her of them moving due to a lack of patients. The Boy causes mayhem in the streets as he tries to drum up business for her. A misunderstanding leaves him suicidal as he comically tries and fails to kill himself.

This early Harold Lloyd has his every man character and his sky high stunts. This 29 minutes short has all of the Harold Lloyd comedic concepts. The I-beam reminds me of an old cartoon. The sequence needs a little more work. This is a good starting point for early Harold Lloyd.

This is an excellent comedy and consistently funny. Lloyd learns that his girlfriend, who works for a doctor, is about to be laid off because business is poor. So he goes out and creates some chaos to ensure a steady stream of patients. Then, when he mistakenly thinks his girlfriend is going to marry someone else, he tries to commit suicide - the operative word being "tries." Each attempt ends in failure, with each attempt funnier than the previous one. The climactic scene has him dangling on a steel girders; if you're like me and can't stand heights, these scenes are extremely effective. One laugh after another - don't miss this one.

Never Weaken (1921) : Brief Review -

Llyod never looked funny in it but he never lost the entertaining and adventurous treatment. Can you bear Harold Llyod in weakened comedy? I guess the answer must be No. Now tell me, can you bear less funny Llyod in highly adventurous ride? Here answer should be Yes and if it is Yes then Never Weaken is a film for you. A man hits the streets with a scheme to keep his fiancé from losing her job, however, things quickly go from bad to worse. I am not sure whether that cliched trick of a man misunderstanding her fiance going to marry someone else had worked in 1921 or not so i won't lose time thinking about it. But one thing i am sure about is, the man attempting Suicide quickly after misjudgement was definitely unacceptable. Thankfully it was moved towards the accidental adventures and the frightening value was enough to worth our given time. Never Weaken is really weak with comedy perceptions, almost at the lowest bottom level for any Harold Lloyd comedy in 20s decade. However, the adventurous properties are on above par level. Harold Lloyd did try to look funny but failed and that's really unfortunate. Nevertheless, he attempted several breathtaking stunts to make even with the low level of comedy. It might be because of the short runtime which doesn't provide it enough space to set things accordingly. Newmeyer's direction works like a survivor factor as some of dull scene looks quite vibrant on screen. Overall, the film is saved by some great scenes otherwise it was pretty much lower than the recommendable level. It's strictly made for its time but then you have Chaplin films doing better than this. That one rare underwhelming film by Lloyd and that too only if you are the one who always expects high from the legendary comedian.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest

Yesterday evening I told myself ,,why not watch a free, short movie on Youtube?" Since streaming platforms have failed to meet my expectations in recent time and I'm trying to keep a piracy-free diet, the answer was ,,sure, let's do that". The previous day I had found this short film by means of a 9-hour length movie by Alex Day, a movie which includes short clips from almost 2000 films. A scene with a man on an iron beam, almost floating near what seemed a construction site in the clouds, caught my attention. And man, was I impressed with this film. There is a perfect blend between suspense and comedy, sprinkled with a little touch of tragedy incomong here and there. It is the first film I see that includes Harold Lloyd and I know he played in a well-known movie called Safety Last. Given those circumstances I'm really baffled at the fact he didn't become as popular as Oliver Hardy or Charles Chaplin over time, there is so much brilliance and comedic effect in his acting.

This is one of Harold Lloyd's best short movies, with some very imaginative material and a lot of energy, making it quite entertaining and technically impressive. It was made during the period when Lloyd was more-or-less gradually transforming his screen persona, and both the tempo and the material benefit from the emergence of his upbeat, go-getter, slightly amoral character.

The story has two main sequences, both of which do very well in getting a lot of mileage out of an offbeat idea. The first part has Lloyd using his imagination to drum up business for an osteopath. This sequence has some funny gags, and it also benefits from Lloyd's ability to make a somewhat unscrupulous character seem nevertheless well-meaning and sympathetic.

The second part nicely combines humor and suspense, as Lloyd ends up in a lengthy series of predicaments high in the air. It's very well-crafted, making use of Lloyd's athleticism plus some creative ideas with the props and the setting. It's probably among the most memorable scenes in any of Lloyd's movies. (It's also interesting to note how many of his finest sequences have to do with heights.)

It's fun to watch, and in addition it's quite a display of talent. This is certainly one of the movies that any fan of Harold Lloyd's style of comedy would want to see.

(1921) Never Weaken SILENT COMEDY

Created by Hal Roach starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis which're some of the best comedy duos, this time Lloyd has a job as a janitor working next door to secretary of an anthropologist whose on the brink of laying her off because business is not so good, and Lloyd devotes his time into getting enough clients that she needs so that she can keep her job. Some of the memorable highlights include Lloyd balancing on top of a skyscraper, trick tactics of using the acrobat to help him draw more customers by handing out cards for his girlfriend etc... The eleventh of fifteen movies Harold Lloyd starred with actress Mildred Davis.

His final short film was released two months earlier, in October 1921's "Never Weaken." The movie was one of just a handful of 'thrill' comedies Lloyd appeared in. These so-called 'thrill films' saw the comedian high up, mostly on buildings. He's seen here trying to negotiate a skyscraper's skeleton I-beams above its construction site.

Lloyd had a secret trick to make it look like he was several stories above ground with the dizzy, nosebleed background scaring the bravest of movie goers. He finds himself seemingly being rejected by his fiancee, Mildred Davies, and looks to end it all. When he awakes from his office chair, Lloyd finds himself high on the construction site. The 'thrill' of seeing him go through death-defying gyrations, balancing precariously on the girders, feats Lloyd claimed he did all by himself, was unique at the time of "Never Weakens'" production. It was only when Lloyd passed away in real life that pioneering stuntman Harry Parry revealed he performed several of the more dangerous stunts seen in his films. But that revelation shouldn't take away the athleticism the comedian displayed during his 'thrill' productions.