Alongside Chaplin and Keaton, silent comedian Harold Lloyd saw his critical and historical reputation wax and wane in the post–World War II era. This, despite the fact that Lloyd was a bigger box-office draw than either of his contemporaries by the end of the 1920s. In large part, Lloyd’s fate was a case of out of sight, out of mind. The star owned the rights to all his work — from his days clowning for
Hal Roach in the late teens to his final sound comedies in the early 1940s — and long held his films close to the vest. After he refused to sell them to television, Lloyd’s cinematic legacy rested for decades almost entirely on a pair of compilation films he cut together and released in the 1960s, and for years after his death, Lloyd’s estate proved equally recalcitrant. The debut of New Line’s extras-crammed four-disc DVD box set,
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, reflects an obvious change of heart. An extensive collection of Lloyd’s best work, including the death-defying stunt comedies
Safety Last (1923) and
Speedy (1928), along with dozens of classic slapstick shorts, including
Bumping Into Broadway (1919), the set also comes packed with home-movie footage, personal photos, the reminiscences of family and friends (including
Debbie Reynolds,
Robert Wagner and
John Landis), multiple biographies, and an interactive timeline. There’s even a pair of 3-D glasses for viewing selections from Lloyd’s collection of amateur stereoscopic photographs — a longtime hobby. More than a collection of films, this set emerges as a testament to a life lived both on and off screen.
For those wishing to see Lloyd on the big screen, the Silent Movie Theater (611 N. Fairfax Ave.) presents a newly restored 35mm print of Grandma’s Boy (1922), Fri.-Sat., Nov. 25-26, at 8 p.m. and Sun., Nov. 27, at 1 p.m. For more info, go to www.silentmovietheatre.com.
Other recommended new releases:
Emergency Squad(DVD);
Home Movies: Season 3 (DVD);
The Last Round(DVD);
A Man Called Magnum (DVD);
Open House (DVD);
The Sound of Music: 40th Anniversary Special Edition (DVD);
The Yogi Bear Show: The Complete Series (DVD).
Also released this week: VHS-DVD:
Madagascar.DVD
: A Bear Named Winnie; Alien Fiend; Almost Normal; And Now for Something Completely Different Collection; Beef 3; Bikini Chain Gang/Bikini Airways; Blue Murder; Buffy the Vampire Slayer Collector’s Set; Cet Amour-Là; Charmed: The Complete Third Season; Cheers: The Complete Seventh Season; Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin: Duet; Chick Corea and Three Quartets Band; The Edukators; Fantasy Island: The First Season; The Flintstones: The Complete Fourth Season; Frasier: The Complete Seventh Season; Friends: The Complete Tenth Season; Golden Girls: Lifetime Intimate Portraits Series; Hard Promises; The Heavenly Kid; Huckleberry Hound: Vol. 1; Jane Goodall: Return to Gombe; Love at Stake; Metal Skin; Murder One: Season 2; Newsfront; O.C. and Stiggs; Oklahoma: 50th Anniversary Edition; Old Yeller/Savage Sam; The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection; P. Diddy Presents the Bad Boys of Comedy: Season 1; Pray TV; Rikky and Pete; SpongeBob Squarepants: Where’s Gary?; Stargate Atlantis: Season 1; State Fair: 60th Anniversary Edition; Stealth/Air Force One; That ’70s Show: Season 3; The Skeleton Key; A Thief of Time; Tru Calling: Season 2; The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: Fun With the Cat.
