Harold Lloyd | A Sailor-Made Man | Hot Water
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The first half of A Sailor-Made Man shows the mild-mannered hero constantly encountering Naval officers and sailors, all of whom seem to be tougher, bigger and more macho than he is. Lloyd's characters often are measured against such "successfully male" tough guys, such as the football players and coach in The Freshman, and the father and brothers in The Kid Brother. Lloyd's films have an uneasy relationship with these macho ideals: they are half unquestioning celebrations of macho types as norms and goals for men, half uneasy awareness that it is impossible for the hero to live up to these ideals. Presumably, a lot of people identified with Harold's problems - his films were among the most popular in the 1920's.
The hero has trouble on the streetcar with both a turkey and a small crab carried by some boys, apparently as fishing bait. This anticipates the larger crab in Harold's pocket at Coney Island in Speedy. Harold also has trouble with a dog, in the same Coney Island sequence.