Never Weaken

Never Weaken

Directed by	Fred Newmeyer Sam Taylor
Written by	Hal Roach Sam Taylor H.M. Walker
Produced by	Hal Roach
Starring	Harold Lloyd
Cinematography	Walter Lundin
Edited by	Thomas J. Crizer
Production company	Rolin Film Company
Distributed by	Pathé Exchange
Release date	October 22, 1921 (1921-10-22)
Running time	28 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Never Weaken is a 1921 American silent comedy film starring Harold Lloyd and directed by Fred Newmeyer.

It was Lloyd's last short film, running to three reels, before he moved permanently into feature-length production. It was also one of his trademark 'thrill' comedies, featuring him dangling from a tall building. Lloyd and his crew honed and perfected their "thrill" filming techniques in this film, and put them to use in the 1923 feature Safety Last!

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Plot

The full short

Harold works in an office on a tall building next to his girlfriend Mildred (Mildred Davis). He assumes they will be married, but overhears her talking to a man who says to her, "Of course I will marry you."

Distraught, he decides to commit suicide, blindfolding himself and setting up a gun which will fire when he pulls a string attached to the trigger. But after putting on the blindfold he accidentally knocks over a bulb which pops, and he assumes he has shot himself. At that moment, a girder from the next door construction site swings into his office, lifting him and his chair outside. Pulling off the blindfold, the first thing he sees is a sculpture high on his building which he takes to be an angel, and he assumes he is in Heaven. However a jazz band on an adjacent rooftop garden soon disabuses him of that notion, and he realises he is high above the city.

After several perilous escapades high on the construction site, he finally makes it to the ground, only to realise that the man Mildred was talking to was her clergyman brother, who has agreed to officiate at their wedding.