The Milky Way is one of my favorite comedies of the period. It’s hilarious on every level — physical, verbal, and situational. It’s a puzzle to me why it isn’t venerated more. It stars Harold Lloyd in one of his few speaking roles after his career as one of the three comic silent film geniuses (with Chaplin and Keaton). He plays Burleigh Sullivan, a shy but plucky milkman who accidentally knocks out the middleweight champ, Speed, who was drunkenly hitting on his sister, and… Well, not quite accidentally. He simply ducked at the right moment and the champ’s buddy Spider lands the punch that was meant for Burleigh. That is the secret of Burleigh’s success — he has learned to duck like a Tai Chi master. The champ’s manager — played beautifully by a relentlessly gum-chewing Adolphe Menjou — realizes that Burleigh is not a fighter, and concocts an elaborate plan to set him up by winning fixed fights until he gets a match with Speed, at which point the champ will k.o. the little guy and regain his reputation. But things do not go as planned.
The Milky Way hearkens back to the silents in lots of ways. Leo McCarey, who directed, learned his chops directing silent comedies with Laurel and Hardy. He also directed Duck Soup three years earlier, so he knew the secrets of silent and anarcho-comedy. I much prefer The Milky Way to Duck Soup. It’s a sustained story and nothing is wasted. The script is smart. Dialogue snappy. Pacing flawless. Details are lovingly developed, as in most silent comedy. Every gag adds to the plot and characterization. And the gags just keep coming. The actors are all in, with no ironic mugging. It’s also fascinating to watch Menjou acting with his real-life wife Veree Teasdale, who steals scene after scene.
It’s one of the best films combining the virtues of the silents and the talkies. Lloyd’s legendary skill at physical humor keeps popping up in unexpected ways — it’s not hard to see Jackie Chan or Stephen Chow imitating him. I love this scene, where every little detail intensifies the situation.
And then there’s the climactic fight. (Spider — whose reading skills aren’t stellar — has given Speed some anti-insomnia elixir instead of ammonia salts, a great silent gag.)
McCarey directed a lot of great comedies. This is one of them.