Get Out and Get Under

Get Out and Get Under  (1920), starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis

Get Out and Get Under is a Harold Lloyd silent film comedy with a very basic plot.  The Boy (Harold Lloyd) oversleeps, and must get to the home of The Girl (Mildred Davis) to put on an amateur theatrical production before his rival can take his place.  But he runs into one problem after another on his way there.

Get Out and Get Under is a very funny film, and served as my introduction to Harold Lloyd.  I knew that he was renowned for his dangerous, physical comedy.  There’s plenty of room for that here, with his misbehaving vehicle.  But I’d never actually watched a Harold Lloyd comedy before.  

On the one hand, the film moved along quickly and had many funny bits.  But many of them didn’t involve Harold Lloyd, or only tangentially.   The funniest bit (in my opinion) is where the car has broken down, and he’s futilely trying to repair the engine, when a little boy (Sunshine Sammy Morrison from the  Our Gang  film series) keeps trying to peer over his shoulder and see what he’s doing.   Harold Lloyd’s character, although funny, isn’t dreadfully sympathetic.

Get Out and Get Under is available on  DVD as part of  The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection.

Cast of characters

• Harold Lloyd (The Cats-Paw) … The Boy
• Mildred Davis (Safety Last!) … The Girl
• Fred McPherson … The Rival

Additional cast

• Roy Brooks … (uncredited)
• William Gillespie (The Cure) … Dope Fiend (uncredited)
• Wally Howe (Haunted Spooks) … Wedding Guest (uncredited)
• Gaylord Lloyd … (uncredited)
• Ernest Morrison … Small Boy (uncredited)
• Bob O’Connor (Below Zero) … Photographer (uncredited)
• Charles Stevenson (Grandma’s Boy) … (uncredited)
• Frank Terry (The Midnight Patrol) … Neighbor in garden (uncredited)
• Noah Young (Do Detectives Think?) … Swordsman (uncredited)

Trivia

• In an early close-up in the photography studio, you can really see the damage Lloyd suffered to his face in the prop bomb explosion that occurred at the Witzel Studio on 14 August 1919. His face would eventually heal, but he lost the thumb and forefinger of right hand and he adopted the use of a prosthetic rubber glove (which looked unnaturally stiff) for the remainder of his film career.
• The title, “Get Out and Get Under,” comes from a popular 1913 song, “He’d Have To Get Under – Get Out And Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile)” (Music by Maurice Abrahams; Lyrics by Grant Clarke and Edgar Leslie). Robert Israel’s score in the 2004 alternate version frequently uses melodies from this song.

[Updated November 21, 2023]