Via Metafilter, on YouTube, a 1923 silent movie starring Harold Lloyd, Why Worry?
Lloyd plays self-absorbed hypochondriac Harold Van Pelham, who sails to the South American island retreat of Paradiso.
Which has been primed for revolution by an American agitator and erupts in chaos.
This is filmed with the put-the-camera-down-and-shoot and pick-up-the-camera-for-the-next-shot method. But there’s a surprising — and damned effective — pair of tracking shots that really underline the menace of the scene. Watch for that.
And then there are the glorious fight scenes, that put today’s Hollywood choreography to shame. They are hilarious. When Lloyd finds the tiger in his tank, he lets it roar. Also watch for him repeatedly going after the General.
It’s all accompanied by a marvelous full symphonic score by Robert Israel.