Wheeeeeee!
I don't know that I've ever seen comedies quite as engaging as silent comedies. There's a cartoonishness to the slapstick that I've only ever seen elsewhere in the Looniest of Tunes, and the actors' ability to express their emotions with their faces is truly impressive. It's almost gotten to the point where I get disappointed every time a tile card comes up, because I find I don't really care what the actors are actually saying.
Of the trinity of silent film comedy gods - including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, of course - Harold Lloyd is the one I've known the least about. I caught one of his pictures at Salt Lake's Organ Loft some time ago, but, beyond that, I had no experience with him. I had, however, heard of the clock scene from Safety Last, so I decided to pick the movie up the last time Barnes and Noble had a sale on their Criterion Collection DVDs.
Now that I've finally seen it, I've gotta say... Harold Lloyd was REALLY DARNED GOOD! His grasp of physical comedy and spectacular stuntwork is surprisingly sophisticated. His face is just so darned expressive, and those glasses he wears are simply iconic.
Of course, the film really grabs you at the climax, when he scales a twelve-story building without any sort of safety harness. Now, APPARENTLY he actually did have a stunt double, and APPARENTLY he is climbing a fake wall built atop a skyscraper, so he's not REALLY in as much peril as he appears, but the danger Lloyd is in as he performs these stunts is still palpable. It's a revolutionary film from the perspective of stunt work and spectacle, and it's still incredibly entertaining today.
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