I know, I know. It's an antique, it's silent, the dialogue is like a dead language, the stars are unknowns and time has passed "Harold Teen" by completely.
HAROLD TEEN (Warner Brothers, 1934), directed by Murray Roth, from the comic strip character created by Carl Ed, stars hoofer/dancer, Hal LeRoy, as the title character originally enacted on the silent screen in 1928 by Arthur Lake, the same Arthur Lake most identified with Chic Young's beloved comic strip character, Dagwood Bumstead, from the popular "Blondie" series for Columbia (1938-1950) starring Penny Singleton. While LeRoy's career consisted mainly of musical film shorts with few featured roles to his credit, he's best known work, if at all, appears to be that of Al Terwilliger in both stage (1939) and screen (1940) versions of the musical, TOO MANY GIRLS.
This is the second film based on the popular comic strip that ran from 1919 to 1959. The 1928 film starred Arthur Lake as Harold.
If you're familiar with such better-known films as THE FRESHMAN (1925) with Harold Lloyd, COLLEGE (1926) with Buster Keaton, or even BROWN OF HARVARD (1926) with William Haines, you'll know the formula of HAROLD TEEN--but don't let that stop you from seeking out this little gem that deserves a place of prominence amidst the late 1920s craze for the college-film genre.Technically, of course, Harold Teen is a high school senior, not a college student, but that point is irrelevant.
The gangling young vaudeville hoofer Hal LeRoy stars in this feature version of a long-forgotten comic strip, and the casting couldn't be more apt. With his reed-thin frame, impossibly long legs and goofy, Jack-o-lantern grin, LeRoy is a cartoon figure come to life.
For a few years I had been watching the "Collegiate Wedding" routine from "Harold Teen" on youtube and marvelling at the dancing dexterity of Hal Le Roy. A wild, eccentric tap dance, the camera barely left his feet for two whole minutes - now that's what I call dancing!!
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