In which we appreciate Harold Lloyd

My good friend (and noted beloved curmudgeon) Trav S.D. has gotten up in arms about the short shrift that Harold Lloyd has received among silent film comedians.  He waxed( hmmm… what’s the opposite of rhapsodic?  ( I think it might be philippic) ) on Facebook about the lack of love for Harold Lloyd. Apparently Keaton and Chaplin outnumber his google search for Lloyd by a great number, despite Lloyd’s clear genius.

 

Here’s his great Harold Lloyd rant!

To that end, he reminds people that tomorrow is Lloyd’s birthday, and in celebration there is a film festival happening on AMC.

You can read his blogpost that gives the film by film details here:

Tomorrow on TCM: A Harold Lloyd Orgy

As Trav eloquently points out above, you should love Harold Lloyd.  He’s as funny as Chaplin or Keaton, but with a different feel.  There is a great PBS American Masters episode about Harold Lloyd from 1989 that calls him the third genius, and I would agree, although  (and I’m not saying you should break any copyright restrictions or anything, but it does happen to be on Youtube right now.)  It’s in 4 parts– part 1 is posted below.

The official website for this episode on American Masters has a terrific bio and appreciation of Harold as well.

There are a couple of other great websites about Harold Lloyd, including the official Harold Lloyd website: http://www.haroldlloyd.com/ where you can buy Lloyd merch, see lots of goodies and learn all kinds of mundane and not so mundane stuff about this great American daredevil. There’s also a fan site hosted by Lloyd biographer Annette D’Agostino Lloyd  which is equally good:  https://haroldlloyd.us/

Finally, here’s some merchandise that you can buy on Amazon, including a couple of great books, and lots of videos. There’s also a book of 3d Nude photographs that Lloyd took!

Search for Harold Lloyd on Amazon.