Welcome Danger (1929)

(On Cable TV, August 2019) Considering that comedian Harold Lloyd’s career just about straddled the silent and sound era, Welcome Danger is a fascinating case study in how he was forced to transition from one style to the other. He did so reluctantly—after encountering so much success with silent movies, Lloyd could be forgiven so thinking that sound filmmaking would harm his usual fast-paced, visually centred approach to comedy. So it is that, according to the film’s production history, Welcome Danger was first shot as a silent, then (after Lloyd convinced himself that there was no other choice) edited down, partially re-shot and entirely re-dubbed so that it could be presented as a sound film. His qualms were not unjustified—most of Lloyd’s enduring classic films were made during the silent era, with the rest being considered an appendix to his silent body of work. Accordingly, Welcome Danger feels like a decent film, but nothing more—as Lloyd’s “Glasses” character travels to San Francisco to help fight against organized crime, the film mixes in the usual physical comedy, romantic subplot, and specific set-pieces. There’s something not entirely comfortable in the film constantly bringing up San Francisco’s Asian population as the origin of the crime wave—even if, ultimately, the film blurs the cards when it comes to the crime boss. Welcome Danger does remain watchable enough—it may not be a terrific Lloyd film, but it’s fun, “Glasses” is up to his usual likability and if there aren’t any big physical stunts to wow audiences, everything is wrapped up nicely.