Timid and always in the shadow of his older brothers, the youngest son of a sheriff gets a chance to prove his worth when thieves come to town in this Harold Lloyd comedy. As has been noted by others, the basic plot is hardly original, in many ways a rerun of what we have seen before with Lloyd in 'Grandma's Boy'. This is a far funnier motion picture though and the gags always feel like an organic part of the tale and character progression, whereas the earlier Lloyd film is more a series of skits. At 'The Kid Brother''s most amusing, Lloyd's two nightgown-clad brothers try unsuccessfully to hide when he brings a girl home unannounced at night. This subplot becomes even funnier when morning comes round and they keep trying to romance Lloyd's new girlfriend, unaware that she has already left and it is just Lloyd left behind the bed sheets hanging in his quarters. The film is also blessed with some excellent camera-work for the era (a crane shot that travels up a tree), but if there is one aspect that lets the film down, it is an over-reliance on dialogue with the title cards breaking up the intimacy of the action on more than one occasion. Most of 'The Kid Brother' is very good news though, spinning a tight and cohesive narrative a la 'The Freshman'. Lloyd is also as great as one would expect, though a monkey in the final quarter pretty much steals the show.

Harold Lloyd lives on a ranch with his father and two older brothers, and he's never allowed to join in what they perceive to be man's business, because he's just a squirt. Well no one calls Lloyd a squirt and gets away with it for long.

"The Kid Brother" was by all accounts one of Lloyd's personal favorites, and it also took longer to make than most of his other films. It's not one of my personal favorites -- I like the more physical Lloyd comedies that allow him to show off his athleticism and derring do. But for Lloyd fans, or fans of silent comedy in general, there's a lot to like here.

Grade: B