| HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS / Silent Wednesdays in November at 8pm |
"The good American, still devoutly believed in during the 1920s, was two things: he was aggressive, and he was innocent...And then there was Harold Lloyd. A boy whom nothing could defeat." - Walter Kerr, The Silent Clowns
Lloyd's legacy has only been cemented over the last few decades, as he has been recognized as one of the great silent comedians alongside Chaplin and Keaton. After over 100 shorts as the characters of "Willy Work" and "Lucky Luke", Lloyd invented his famous "glasses" character--an ambitious go-getting man of the century, yet an everyman who resembled man of those in his audience. His trademark horn-rimmed glasses disarmed the aggression of his striving character enough for audience sympathy, paving the way for an incredible bounty of highly physical gags in these fast-paced films. Lloyd liked something funny to be happening at all times, and succeeded at a phenomenally high rate. So, come laugh it up with this series of classics that made Lloyd one of the most popular stars in silent film history.
11/5 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS
 Saftey Last
The simple story of an everyman literally climbing the ladder of success, Saftey Last contains one of the most hilarious extended gags ever filmed. Lloyd plays a meager clerk given the opportunity to earn $1000 if he concocts a memorable publicity stunt for his department store. His idea: get his daredevil roommate to climb the store's exterior like a human fly. When the roommate runs afoul of the law, it's up to Lloyd to perform the feat. And perform it brilliantly he does; taking up the whole last third of the picture, Lloyd's ascent is a masterwork of comic tension, with the added bonus of the thrilling reality of Lloyd actually dangling off a very tall building. The image of Lloyd gripping the hands of its clock tower remains one of the most iconic American film images, but it's just one of the many terrific gags in this fast-paced feature.
Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923, 35mm, 73 min.
Tickets - $10
11/12 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS
 Why Worry?
shown with
A Sailor-Made Man
In Why Worry?, hypochondriac Lloyd arrives on a South American island vacation, to find himself caught up in the locals' political revolution, which at first, he doesn't even notice! Mistaken for a freedom fighter and jailed, he meets the giant Colosso, and together they plan an escape and an end to the island's violence. The film benefits from a breathtaking abundance of non-stop gags and the eye-catching presence of giant Johan Aasen as Lloyd's sidekick, a device not unlike Andre The Giant's turn in The Princess Bride. As well, Why Worry? marked the first appearance of Jobyna Ralston in a Lloyd film, who was to be his romantic foil in five subsequent features. Originally conceived as a simple two-reeler, an expanded A Sailor-Made Man became Lloyd's lavish first feature. Lloyd portrays a wealthy slacker who joins the Navy, and finds intrigue by the armful as he rescues his girl from the clutches of a Turkish harem.
Why Worry Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923, 35mm, 63 min.
The Sailor-Made Man Dir. Fred. C. Newmeyer, 1921, 35mm, 47 min.
Tickets - $10
11/19 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS
 Girl Shy
Girl Shy highlights two of Lloyd's major strengths: the sweetness and warmth of his shy, sensitive persona--and the high energy of his elaborate trademark chase sequences, of which Girl Shy ranks as his greatest. Lloyd stars as a country fellow who's extremely nervous around women, yet has written a seduction self-help book! On his way by train to meet a publisher, he chats up Mary (Jobyna Ralston), who proves to be the girl of his dreams, but is on her way to marry a man who's totally wrong for her. After they meet up once more with her sleazy suitor in tow, Lloyd realizes he must save Mary from the mistake of her bad marriage. His ensuing madcap race to stop the wedding is a phenomenal avalanche of setpieces, a stream of vehicular chaos so crazed and masterfully handled that it will leave you breathless.
Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1924, 35mm, 80 min.
Tickets - $10
11/26 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS
 The Freshman
Widely regarded as Lloyd's masterpiece, The Freshman was hugely popular upon its 1920s release, and is also a scathing satire of what was then a pop culture fad: interest in the "college life". Skewering his usual "everyman" persona, Lloyd plays a middle-class kid obsessed not with career, but with becoming a Big Man On Campus, and once he's enrolled at Tate College, his inability to hit that mark is a expert mix of comedy and pathos. Eager to get recognition of any kind, Lloyd zeroes in on an impossible goal: to lead the school's football team to victory for its final big game. As usual, the film is worth seeing for its epic setpieces alone: a superbly choreographed number in which Lloyd's falling-apart cheap suit is constantly re-stitched by his stealthy tailor during a college dance, and the climactic football game, partially filmed at the Pasadena Rose Bowl.
Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1925, 35mm, 76 min.
Tickets - $10
12/3 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS
 For Heaven's Sake
shown with
The Kid Brother
Lloyd alternated between making character-driven and "thrill"-driven pictures, and For Heaven's Sake ranks as one of his best gags-for-gags'-sake films. Lloyd plays a wealthy man who funds a homeless mission, falls for a volunteer worker, is kidnapped by his rich friends offended by his breaching of class, and must escape their clutches to “make it to the church on time”. His ensuing escape on a double-decker bus remains one of Lloyd’s finest chase numbers. Next up is The Kid Brother, one of Lloyd's most visually elegant pictures. He plays the meek youngest son of a rural sheriff, whose family is accused of stealing town funds. The real culprits are layabouts employed by a traveling medicine show, and it's up to Lloyd to right their wrongs. This picture's fantastic epic chase takes place on a creaky grounded frieghter, as Lloyd and a simian(!) companion track down the heavies at a 45-degree angle.
For Heaven's Sake Dir. Sam Taylor, 1926, 35mm, 58 min.
The Kid Brother Dir. Ted Wilde, 1927, 35mm, 84 min.
Tickets - $10
12/10 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS
 Speedy
Lloyd's final silent film, Speedy, offers up humorous stakes laid on the struggle between the ol' horse-drawn trolley and the upcoming urban rail system--a clever metaphor for the transition from silents to talkies. Lloyd plays an underemployed baseball fanatic whose sweetie's grandfather is about to lose his trolley to evil rail kings. To save the business, Lloyd must keep the train running, no matter what, including interference from the rail thugs. Shot mostly on location in The Big Apple without the rear projection technique of later Hollywood car chases, Speedy's risky chase sequences feature a cab-driving Lloyd delivering Babe Ruth (in a cameo apperance) to Yankee Stadium, and a climactic gallop through the crowded streets of Manhattan. As well, the film offers a frenzied, impressive look at a bustling 1920s New York City and Coney Island, sneaked with the era's equivalent to "guerrilla filmmaking."
Dir. Ted Wilde, 1928, 35mm, 86 min.
Tickets - $10
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