Since both roolee and AA mentioned their admiration of Harold Lloyd, I thought I'd share one of my favorite Lloyd scenes from his halcyon days as a sillent film comedian. Although more people remember Keato nand Chaplin, Lloyd was a huge draw back in the 1920's as well. His "young go-getter" persona didn't hold up too well when the Great Depression set in, but he embodied a type of can-do America that may be corny in places now, but was just right for millions of his fans here and abroad.
The set-up for the finale of "Girl Shy" is simple: Harold previously meets a young lady, they fall for each other, and, due to a misunderstanding, she throws him over to marry another guy. But that other guy is actually a secret bigamist who has abandoned his first wife (Boo! Hiss!) Harold must race across Los Angeles, breaking every traffic law on the books and acting like Ben Hur on steroids, to save his sweetheart from a fate worse than...I don't know, but that's the premise.
This footage covers only about half the chase, which also involved Harold hanging from a wayward electric pole on a streetcar and jumping in and out of a couple jalopies--all in single takes! If you look at this scene at about 4:30 you'll see that Lloyd takes a serious real-life fall from a horse--then, after a quick cut, he jumps right back on the beast! Both Buster Keaton and Lloyd had these moments when actual injury or even death could have occured shooting their films. Amazing artists.
It has been noted that Lloyd's film might have been an inspiration for the ending to "The Graduate" (1967) with Dustin Hoffman going to desperate but less astounding lengths to win back Katherine Ross.
A really great clip Doug, Harold Lloyd at his best those stunts he did were amazing, I think he is my favourite of the great silent movie stars. The film where he is hanging from the hands on the clock face always comes to mind when his name is mentioned. His facial expressions are wonderful. Thanks for posting this excellent extract....fantastic!
ReplyDelete"run away from your rear tires.." hahahahahaha!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat clip, thank you!!
You're both welcome. This was the first Lloyd feature I saw and have always been blown away by that "rescue" sequence. The "man on the clock" part of "Safety Last" is truly an archetype.
ReplyDeleteWhat an unfortunate stutter!! Great clip Doug...Loved the boy at 2:20 - "Go on Spark Plugs" what the hells that about? ;-) and what exactly happens to the brides train at 5:20?
ReplyDeleteYou asked a tough one, Ian, but I think I found an answer. There was a popular American comic strip about a odd little fellow called Barney Google. A horse called "Spark Plug" was added to the strip in 1922, and board games and wooden depictions of the horse in kids' toys were very popular in the USA at the time the film was made. The kid had a great face, didn't he? I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of the original Our Gang/Little Rascals kids, since Harold Lloyd and "Our Gang" creator/producer Hal Roach were long time friends and business partners. Anyway, here a link with a bit more on "Spark Plug(s)" and the Barney
ReplyDeleteGoogle strip:
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Barney_Google
Re: the bride's train-- Wow, you have sharp eyes my friend! The film-makers must have just removed it because it obviously interfered with Harold carrying the actress up the stairway, with pursuers on their trail. But they forgot about the continuity problem! I've seen that many times in full screenings and especially compilations and never noticed that.