Lloyd;Harold V1-3 Comedy Colle

 

 

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In a pre-release hype-fest the Harold Lloyd Trust in association with Sony Pictures ran a city specific tour of a good portion of Lloyds' major film works last year.It would seem the tour was not without its' expected,and for many,unexpected hitches and left alot of disgruntled film goers in its' wake.I invite readers to refer to about.coms'humour guru/columnist Mike Durrett at humor.about.com/od/moviecommentary/a/harold_lloyd_fe_2.htm,among others.
In Tom Dardis' book 'Harold Lloyd:The Man on the Clock' he states :"...all LLoyd's feature films and a good number of his two-reelers are in pristine condition."
After purchasing and viewing this new Harold LLoyd release to DVD of most of his major film product from 1920 onward I can only say that I feel cheated and very much let down,like many of the patrons of the above mentioned road show and believing all this time that any releases of his films dealt through the HL Trust would be in "pristine condition".
Well my dear readers these films are FAR from pristine.I would term the Chaplin releases of his works through Warner brothers to be in that category but NOT the LLoyd releases.And what is futher bothersome is the very man who assisted LLoyd in preserving his films,Richard Correll,is very much in evidence in these discs as either being interviewed or by his (optional)commentary on many of his films.
What happened to the "pristine" films Dardis refers to? These copies are from UCLA film archives and other sources.Was Dardis THAT wrong? When the LLoyd estate ran into financial difficulties back in the 70s after his death did the prints pass into hands that allowed them to deteriorate into this extent ? Or is the LLoyd family still in possession of the "pristine" originals and have they for some inexplicable reason chosen to work instead in conjunction with other archives rather than use its' own material?
Alot of questions and all with no answers for this reviewer.
Another enigma is the noticably absent "Welcome Danger",the 1929 film that was made in sound and silent versions.The sound version has been available but not the silent until last year when it was trotted out and exhibited on the road tour.Why was this film,in any of its' forms,not added to this collection? As also with the absent 1936 "Professor Beware"?(Note:The 1947 "Mad Wednesday" or "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" is a non starter as this film was never owned by LLoyd himself and has remained in the public domain).
Space does not permit a film by film run down.Setting the "pristine" point aside and assessing these films by others readily available in the marketplace today I would put the overall quality of them somewhere between Chaplins' releases(high) and Keatons on Kino(low).The quality varies considerably from film to film but age is NO factor in gaging their condition as some of the shorts from the late teens and early 20s are in better shape than his later works.
What this set DOES bring to the table is most of his major works together for the first time with newly recorded scores to accompany them.Also included is a fourth disc full of extras that are sure to please even the most passing LLoyd fan.
A short aside re LLoyd and his place in cinematic history.It is this reviewers' oppinion that the moniker given to him as the "Third Genius"(so named from the Thames TV special)and picked up by all and sundry is somewhat of an exaggeration.There is no disputing his box office numbers and appeal and his accumulation of personal wealth as a result but LLoyd was NOT an innately funny man like Keaton,Chaplin or Laurel.He was first and foremost an actor who through years on the screen perfected his comedic acting abilities to a high degree.He certainly did have input into his films(especially the ones he later produced through his own company) but he HIRED his idea/gag men,some of the best in the business.Hal Roach once said that LLoyd didn't have a funny bone in his body.And Stan Laurel while calling LLoyd a "mechanical comedian"(for the reasons just stated) did say that he was the "best of the smart comedians".After following LLoyds' career for years,reading much of the available literature and screening most of his available works I cannot dispute Stan Laurels' assessment one bit.
In conclusion this DVD set is a welcome release for his legions of fans throughout the world and hopefully it will turn a new generation onto his undisputable talents.LLoyd made some wonderfully inventive and funny pictures and this set will help place him back into that lofty pantheon of comedians who have wrongfully overshadowed LLoyd for too long.
However be warned if you were/are expecting prints directly from the LLoyd estate,in "pristine" or anywhere near that condition you will be sadly disappointed as I was.These prints are derived from outside sources and the quality varies from below average to very good,at best.It SHOULD have been better!

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