Silent film Star
Harold Lloyd died 54 years ago on 8th March 1971 at the age of 77.
Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton may be more famous today, but in the 1920s Harold Lloyd was one of the most influential film comedians of the silent era and the highest paid actor in films. From 1914 to 1947 Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films, both silent and talkies.
He was the first film comedian to portray a character that looked and acted like someone sitting in the audience – an average guy, the boy-next-door, an everyman. Instead of a trademark costume like Charlie Chaplin, he wore his own everyday clothes and a simple pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
With this “glass” character as Harold called it, he could experience the humour in everyday life. And, as an average fellow, Harold’s boy-next-door could have a romance. It was the beginning of romantic comedy in films.
The Freshman was Harold Lloyd’s biggest box-office hit. This silent comedy gem, featuring the befuddled everyman at his eager best as a new college student. Though he dreams of being a big man on campus, the freshman’s careful plans inevitably go hilariously awry, be it on the football field or at the Fall Frolic. But he gets a climactic chance to prove his mettle—and impress the sweet girl he loves—in one of the most famous sports sequences ever filmed. This crowd-pleaser is a gleeful showcase for Lloyd’s slapstick brilliance and incandescent charm.
The famous clock sequence comes from Safety Last!. Lloyd plays a small-town bumpkin trying to make it in the big city, who finds employment as a lowly department-store clerk. He comes up with a wild publicity stunt to draw attention to the store, resulting in an incredible feat of derring-do on his part that gets him started on the climb to success. Safety Last! and The Freshman are both available on DVD.
Here are some of his most famous stunts. Truly death-defying. And very funny.
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