Have a Heart

In this 1928 slapstick relic, the narrative centers on a protagonist whose romantic fixation transcends common sense and physical safety. Cliff Bowes portrays a man utterly captivated by a nurse, played by either Ruth Hiatt or Virginia Vance, leading him to orchestrate a series of increasingly dangerous and absurd stunts intended to land him in her care. The film operates on a logic of escalating physical trauma as a means of proximity. When he finally achieves his goal of hospital admission, the reality of medical intervention—specifically the threat of an impending surgery—triggers a frantic and chaotic escape. In a final, biting twist of situational irony, our hero’s moment of triumphant escape is cut short when he is struck by a real vehicle, resulting in the very injuries he previously spent the entire film attempting to manufacture.