I mean, who hasn't had a midlife crisis, gotten hammered, and bought a circus?
Once again proving that there is nothing new under the sun, The Sin Harold Diddlebock is one of the earlier examples of a legacy/belated sequel to a popular film that, while having its moments, is underwhelming and not the best work of any talent involved (the main two people being Harold Lloyd and Preston Sturges). The film opens with the climactic football game from The Freshman and has Harold moving on from college to an ad agency as an "ideas" man. Because of ageist policies, he is unceremoniously let go, with his remaining company investment acting as his severance pay. He then proceeds to go on a drinking binge and ends up buying a circus, which he tries to unload on someone else once he sobers up. There wasn't a lot here that was very funny or clever, although to be fair, it wasn't offensively bad either. The best sequence was a throwback/homage to highwire stunts he did in High and Dizzy and Safety Last, this time involving a lion named Jackie. While The Freshman was the prototypical college comedy, this film's major contribution is setting the stage for belated sequels that pick up with their main character after a long period of time (think Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny or Top Gun: Maverick). When it comes down to it, the end result was merely mediocre, and is (like me) for Harold Lloyd completists.
Random aside: Where's our belated sequel to Adam Sandler's movie, The Waterboy?
Once again proving that there is nothing new under the sun, The Sin Harold Diddlebock is one of the earlier examples of a legacy/belated sequel to a popular film that, while having its moments, is underwhelming and not the best work of any talent involved (the main two people being Harold Lloyd and Preston Sturges). The film opens with the climactic football game from The Freshman and has Harold moving on from college to an ad agency as an "ideas" man. Because of ageist policies, he is unceremoniously let go, with his remaining company investment acting as his severance pay. He then proceeds to go on a drinking binge and ends up buying a circus, which he tries to unload on someone else once he sobers up. There wasn't a lot here that was very funny or clever, although to be fair, it wasn't offensively bad either. The best sequence was a throwback/homage to highwire stunts he did in High and Dizzy and Safety Last, this time involving a lion named Jackie. While The Freshman was the prototypical college comedy, this film's major contribution is setting the stage for belated sequels that pick up with their main character after a long period of time (think Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny or Top Gun: Maverick). When it comes down to it, the end result was merely mediocre, and is (like me) for Harold Lloyd completists.
Random aside: Where's our belated sequel to Adam Sandler's movie, The Waterboy?