For ten years, Harold Lloyd toiled for Hal Roach—and, briefly, Mack Sennett—trying to build a reputation as a comic who could rival the greats, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. When, in 1924, Lloyd stepped up to the plate with his first independent production, Girl Shy, he hit a home run. With the bases full.

Unlike Chaplin and Keaton, whose costumes became firmly established in their earliest films, Lloyd tried a variety of different getups. His "Willie Work" character was bewhiskered; as "Lonesome Luke," he played a slightly effeminate, mustachioed and guileless fellow. But in 1917, both Lloyd and Hal Roach came up with the idea of dressing Lloyd in regular clothes, losing the mustache, and outfitting him with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. This would emphasize the character's placidity... but cloak his buoyant personality and his determination when challenged. The "glasses" character clicked.

In Girl Shy, Lloyd's character is Harold Meadows, a tailor's apprentice who is scared to death of the opposite sex. He likes girls, but he can't bring himself to approach them, perhaps because he stutters. Nevertheless, in an act of willful denial, Harold spends his evenings writing a book entitled "The Secret of Making Love." The man has his fantasies.

Two of those fantasies are brought to life, hilariously, on screen. In one, a strangely domineering Harold spanks his naughty flapper girlfriend (Dorothy Dorr); in another, he defiantly rejects the vamp (Nola Luxford) who is trying to seduce him.

His book completed, Harold boards the train to the city, where he intends to present the finished work to a publisher and make his day. On the train, he chances to sit next to Mary Buckingham (Jobyna Ralston), a beautiful rich girl who is taking public transportation only because her limousine broke down. The two get to talking, she is kind enough to show interest in his book, and soon Harold is telling her all about it... without realizing he has stopped stuttering. We sense a bond growing between them.

Once in the city, Harold visits the publisher he has decided to favor with his magnum opus, "The Secret of Making Love." But the young tailor's hopes are dashed when the publisher and his minions all ridicule the book as worthless. His tail between his legs, Harold trudges disconsolately away.

Fate—and a very imaginative story department at Lloyd's production company—conspire to bring Harold and Mary together again. She opens up to him, shows interest; but knowing that his book has been rejected by the publisher and believing himself a failure, he discourages her affection by pretending he has no feelings for her. To drive home the point, while in her company, he "picks up" another girl and walks off with her. And all the time, his heart is breaking.

So is Mary's. Having lost the one man she was truly fond of, she tearfully decides to accept the marriage proposal of Ronald DeVore (Carlton Griffin), a social climber who's just a little too shady to be anybody's idea of a catch.

Back at the publisher's office, the head man thinks it over and decides to publish Harold's book after all... but under the title "The Boob's Diary." He thinks it'll be a swell satire, and sends Harold a $3,000 advance check.

But even that doesn't cheer Harold, for he's read about the Buckingham-DeVore nuptials in the paper; Mary's getting married today. And now Harold learns the truth about DeVore: he's already married! The guy is a fortune-hunter who doesn't mind committing bigamy in order to get his paws on the Buckingham estate.

Now, take a deep breath. For this is where the fun in Girl Shy really begins. Harold is determined to make it to the big city—somehow—in time to stop the wedding before the final "I do." But how? It's miles away.

Thus begins the grandest, dizziest, most hilarious chase in movie history, as Harold commandeers every sort of contrivance in sight—automobiles, motorcycles, a streetcar, a team of horses—to get him to the church on time. Of course he runs into every manner of disaster along the way. When he takes control of the trolley car, he's zinging along at the speed of sound (well, almost), when the connecting pole that transmits electric energy to the car comes loose, and he has to climb to the roof of the vehicle to reconnect it. Be careful what you wish for. Once he's re-established connection, the street car lurches forward at warp speed, with Harold still perched on the roof. The camera angle lets us see that it is really Harold Lloyd struggling to maintain his balance atop that careening vehicle, cementing his reputation as the King of Thrill Comedy in the process.

Does he make it to the wedding in time? Just barely. DeVore, the cad, is about to slip the ring on Mary's finger when Harold shows up and shouts: "Stop!" But he can't explain why the wedding should be halted, because that darned stuttering starts up again. So instead, he picks up Mary and throws her over his shoulder, carries her outdoors, and proposes to her.

What do you suppose her answer will be?