Professor Beware

Professor Beware (1938)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Chase Movie, Slapstick  |   Release Date - Jul 29, 1938 (USA - Unknown), Jul 29, 1938 (USA)  |   Run Time - 87 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Harold Lloyd plays a professor of Egyptology, frightened by the notion that he has fallen under an ancient Egyptian curse. Lloyd has the opportunity to join an archeological expedition to search for a missing tablet that will determine his fate, but he has to travel from Los Angeles to New York before the party sails to Egypt. Alas, Lloyd is also required to appear in court to answer charges of "indecent exposure" (it's a long story). The rest of the film is a frantic chase with the authorities pursuing the fugitive professor across the country, highlighted by a daredevil sequence atop a moving train. Most of the individual gags are funny, but Professor Beware is several notches below the standard set by Harold Lloyd's silent films. The lukewarm boxoffice response to this film would convince Lloyd that he should retire from performing--which he did, returning to the screen only for 1947's Sins of Harold Diddlebock.

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Keywords

curse, professor, Egyptian [nationality], chase, cross-country, fugitive, arrest, court [law], police, train [locomotive]