Harold Lloyd - a personal tribute
I think it was 1969. I checked a book out of the library called “Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy.” I did not know Harold Lloyd, but there were pictures and comments on Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Fatty Arbuckle, and many other comedians with whom I was familiar.
The reason I did not know Lloyd was because his films just weren’t on television or anthologized in the various salutes to silent movie comedians. I wondered why, but did not realize that Lloyd owned most of his films and was keeping them out of circulation. I guess he had his reasons. When he died two years later, I regretted knowing him very well from the book, but never having seen his movies.
It was probably around 1971 when I received a GAF Dual 8mm home movie projector for Christmas, along with some tiny 50 foot 8mm films, which were essentially 4 minute clips of Abbott and Costello and W.C. Fields movies without the sound. In the age of blu-rays and streaming, it seems silly to be excited about something like this, but the idea of having Bud and Lou cavorting on a screen in my basement rec room was incredible over 50 years ago.
Eventually I discovered the public library that held the Harold Lloyd book also had a slew of 8mm films to check out, so I discovered the magic of Charlie Chaplin’s best work and the Laurel and Hardy silents that I had read about but never saw. Many rainy Saturdays were spent in the darkness of our basement, with several neighborhood kids delighting in films from their grandparents’ time. But the library had no Harold Lloyd.
Most of the movies at the library were from a company called Blackhawk Films. I copied the address from one of the boxes and sent for their catalog. They had Harold Lloyd movies -- a few of his early shorts that he did not happen to control, so I sent for a few. I thought movies like “Haunted Spooks,” “His Royal Slyness,” and “Don’t Shove” were funny, but the one I liked best was called High Hopes, which I found used from a company in England called Walton Films. I did not know then that it was a one-reel cutdown of the three reel “Never Weaken” in which Lloyd balances dangerously on a skyscraper. It was the portent to his later feature “Safety Last; “ another film I had only read about.
Fast forward a few years. I think it was around 1980 or so. I was grown up, engaged to be married, and the Time-Life company got ahold of the Harold Lloyd movies, added some music, and put them on TV, including a local PBS station. I saw an abridged version of “Hot Water,” which is considered a weaker Lloyd, but remains one of my favorites. I saw “The Freshman,” and, finally, “Safety Last.” Extraordinary films.
But it was another factor, occurring a few years later, that made me truly realize why Harold Lloyd is one of the most brilliant comedy filmmakers of all time -- the release of a DVD box set containing nearly every feature and short Lloyd made, beautifully restored, with appropriate music scores. Finally I could see complete versions of films I had wondered about since 1969. It was an enormously affecting experience for one who truly appreciates film’s rich history, as I do.
So here we are in the 21st century. Now the Harold Lloyd films are as accessible and available as they were unavailable back in 1969. DVD, blu ray, screenings on TCM..... we can all appreciate Mr. Lloyd's comic genius. And, just a few years ago, I found a copy of “Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy” in a used book store for only a buck, complete with its dust jacket intact.
Naturally my silent comedy buff brethren are fully aware of Harold Lloyd movies. Some of you are not. If you ever have the opportunity to see such incredible classics as “The Kid Brother,” “For Heaven’s Sake,” “Girl Shy,” “Why Worry,” or the aforementioned “Hot Water,” “The Freshman” or “Safety Last,” you will be entertained by a true master at work -- one who can evoke both laughter and tears in the most brilliant manner imaginable. An investigation of Harold Lloyd’s work should be mandatory for everybody.