Ask Father

Harold Lloyd falls head over heels in love with a rich girl in the 1919 one-reeler Ask Father; the title refers to his intended's answer when Lloyd pops the question. But asking father proves to be a bit difficult since the man's office is fortified like Fort Knox with more defenses than a medieval castle. And that's no exaggeration. To keep out unwelcome visitors, the office is equipped with a treadmill to slow intruders down and a trapdoor. All of which Harold experiences personally during his many unsuccessful attempts to gain access.

Luckily, the office is also down the hall from a costume shop so Harold borrows several disguises, including a suit of armor, and some prop guns. But he still can't bypass the security system. In the end, it's all for naught anyway. Harold's would-be bride grows tired of waiting and Harold discovers a more appropriate match - the father's secretary, who's been helping him all along, thoughtfully placing pillows to cushion his repeated booting from the office.

This plot twist, that Lloyd really belongs with the secretary, is not so surprising considering that the secretary is played by longtime Lloyd partner Bebe Daniels. Ask Father would be Lloyd and Daniels' 109th screen paring, which began in 1915 with Giving Them Fits. The duo made 39 films together in 1919 alone, before Daniels' contract ended, and director Cecil B. DeMille came calling.

But the screen team still had 36 films to go after Ask Father. And plenty of time for a happy ending - which in the case of Ask Father involved a simple question from Lloyd's attentive young Romeo to Daniels' secretary..."how busy is YOUR father?"

Producer/Director: Hal Roach
Cast: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, ‘Snub’ Pollard
BW-12m.

by Stephanie Thames