A Joyful Day (1923) Review - Three big guys and a lot of broken chairs

A Joyful Day (1923)

If you have twenty minutes to kill and enjoy watching three very large men accidentally destroy everything they touch, you should watch A Joyful Day. People who need a deep plot or 'character growth' will probably hate this and find it pretty annoying.

This features the 'Ton of Fun' trio: Frank Alexander, Hilliard Karr, and 'Kewpie' Ross. They are basically the main attraction because of their size.

The whole thing feels like it was filmed on a Sunday afternoon when everyone was slightly tired. It’s not as fast-paced as All's Swell That Ends Swell, but it has its moments.

There is a scene with a car that looks like it is begging for mercy. When all three of them try to get in, you can almost hear the suspension screaming through the silent film titles.

Hilliard Karr has this expression like he’s constantly forgotten where he parked his bike. It’s genuinely funny in a way that probably wasn't even scripted.

The print I watched was a bit grainy and some of the cuts are really jarring. At one point, a guy is standing by a fence, and then suddenly he’s ten feet away in a different coat.

It’s much more chaotic than something like Running Wild. It doesn't really try to be a 'movie' so much as a collection of things falling over.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of A Joyful Day (1928) through its definitive frames.

I noticed a dog in the background of one shot that looked very confused by the production. The dog is honestly the best actor in that specific frame. 🐶

Roger Moore is in this too, but obviously not that Roger Moore. This one looks like he’d rather be anywhere else, maybe in a movie like The Man in the Iron Mask where things are more serious.

There is a lot of shoving. Just constant, unnecessary shoving between the big guys.

One of them sits on a porch swing and the whole thing just gives up on life. The timing of the wood snapping is actually perfect.

It reminds me of Wanted, a Story in how it relies entirely on the actors' physical presence to fill the gaps in the script. There isn't much of a script here, let's be honest.

The ending feels like they just ran out of film and decided to stop. It doesn't wrap up, it just... ends.

I liked it, mostly because it doesn't ask anything of you. You just sit there and watch gravity do its work on people who aren't prepared for it.

Is it a masterpiece? No way. But it’s a weirdly comforting bit of history that doesn't take itself seriously at all.