The character that Harold Lloyd solidified in films like GRANDMA'S BOY, DR. JACK, THE FRESHMAN and THE KID BROTHER was still a couple years away when this short was made. Because of that, the nice and sweet guy he was known as in these films still isn't totally developed. He's a pretty nice guy in this short but at times, he does things that just aren't characteristic of this prototypical Lloyd character--such as getting intensely drunk. No, I just can't see the guy from these later films getting intentionally drunk--it just wouldn't fit his character. Also, another less than stellar point is the whole sleepwalking shtick--Mildred Davies sleepwalking routine makes her look like a Nazi on parade--with her right arm extended and walking in zombie-fashion.

BUT, if you ignore this and just watch this film without these expectations, it's a pretty good flick--though the drunk hi-jinx become a little annoying after a while because it seems a bit overdone.

Dr. Hale (Harold Lloyd) is a bumbling new doctor out of medical school. Work is rare. A man and his daughter walk into his practice. Hale works hard to pretend to be busy. It's love at first sight for him and the sleepwalking beauty. The father is not impressed and quickly takes his daughter away. Hale ends up getting high and dizzy on his office neighbor's secret stash of moonshine. The two drunks go to the hotel where Hale encounters the sleepwalking girl on the ledge.

This has Lloyd's brand of physical comedy. It has his highrise stunts still at its primitive stage. This Hal Roach short film is a precursor to his masterpieces later on. There is a bit of bite to his character in this one. It's a fun introduction.

Mildred Davis sleepwalks. Her father, Wallace Howe, brings her in to Doctor Harold Lloyd for a consultation.

It's an ambitious comedy for Harold, timing in at almost half an hour.... which is, alas, a fawning way of saying that it's not as good as it might have been trimmed a bit shorter. But there's no doubt that Harold was getting popular. Yet so long as he stayed in short subjects, the money would remain likewise short, renting for so much a reel. The twenty-six minutes this one takes might not seem much to the modern audience for a blockbuster, but it allowed everyone at Hal Roach's studio to stretch a bit and see what they could do at longer lengths.

Unfortunately, it sags in the middle. Harold gets drunk with friendly bootlegger Roy Brooks, and the gags when they are together are pretty good. However, eventually Harold is off on his own, and the jokes are not as good.... and then out of nowhere, it's time to wrap up the movie.

Harold and his writers hadn't learned how to pace a longer comedy. They soon would learn; they could write a straight drama and when it didn't work out in previews, turn it into a comedy by dropping in gags, but stories don't stop and start like that.