Showing posts with label Harold Lloyd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harold Lloyd. Show all posts
4/12/10
7/3/09
5/28/09
Harold Lloyd
Completing the Trinity of Silent Comedians is the All-American Boy, Harold Lloyd.
This clip (poor quality and all)-
-is from a typical Lloyd short. Note his zealous character. Before striking upon this prototype, Lloyd went through at least a half dozen other 'characters,' including a Chaplin Tramp ripoff.
This clip (poor quality and all)-
-is from a typical Lloyd short. Note his zealous character. Before striking upon this prototype, Lloyd went through at least a half dozen other 'characters,' including a Chaplin Tramp ripoff.
5/26/09
The Charlie Chaplin Festival
My mom died yesterday, on Memorial Day, and she was born in 1922. I don't think she was a big moviegoer, but she did mention seeing some Chaplin as a girl.
While not the best quality, these 4 shorts are vintage Tramp.
In recent decades, it has become chic to put Buster Keaton and even Harold Lloyd ahead of Chaplin in the Silent Comedy Trinity of greats. And, I love all three, having seen them all on the old Joe Franklin tv show in NYC, in the 1970s- along with the Keystone Kops, Fatty Arbuckle, Laurel and Hardy, etc. But, in truth, most of this is a backlash against Chaplin's supposed sentimentalism. Yes, The Great Dictator ends in a sappy fashion (however well wrought the final speech is).
The shorts show an almost vicious Tramp, and, while Lloyd was the more thrill seeking of the trio, and Keaton the more cerebral, they all played off of Chaplin's virtuoso schticks and balletic moves.
Chaplin was king, for a reason- he was simply better at more comedic things than anyone. As proof, of the Holy Trinity, only his career did not tank in the sound era. He was versatile, as well as funny.
While not the best quality, these 4 shorts are vintage Tramp.
In recent decades, it has become chic to put Buster Keaton and even Harold Lloyd ahead of Chaplin in the Silent Comedy Trinity of greats. And, I love all three, having seen them all on the old Joe Franklin tv show in NYC, in the 1970s- along with the Keystone Kops, Fatty Arbuckle, Laurel and Hardy, etc. But, in truth, most of this is a backlash against Chaplin's supposed sentimentalism. Yes, The Great Dictator ends in a sappy fashion (however well wrought the final speech is).
The shorts show an almost vicious Tramp, and, while Lloyd was the more thrill seeking of the trio, and Keaton the more cerebral, they all played off of Chaplin's virtuoso schticks and balletic moves.
Chaplin was king, for a reason- he was simply better at more comedic things than anyone. As proof, of the Holy Trinity, only his career did not tank in the sound era. He was versatile, as well as funny.
3/1/09
Safety Last
This is a clip from silent film comedian Harold Lloyd's most famous film, Safety Last:
It should be noted that the only special effects used were the fact that the building facade was on top of a building, to give the illusion he was on the side of the building. But, other than that, Lloyd did his own stunts, and with one good hand- the other was blown off in an explosion earlier in his career.
Today, he is almost wholly forgotten, but only Chaplin was a bigger silent comedy star. Lloyd was even bigger than Buster Keaton. I first saw his shorts, as a boy, on the old Joe Franklin tv show on WOR in New York. You go, Harold.
It should be noted that the only special effects used were the fact that the building facade was on top of a building, to give the illusion he was on the side of the building. But, other than that, Lloyd did his own stunts, and with one good hand- the other was blown off in an explosion earlier in his career.
Today, he is almost wholly forgotten, but only Chaplin was a bigger silent comedy star. Lloyd was even bigger than Buster Keaton. I first saw his shorts, as a boy, on the old Joe Franklin tv show on WOR in New York. You go, Harold.
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