The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 3
The third volume in theHarold Lloyd Comedy Collectionis close to the standard of excellence set by the first two installments of this essential series. Actually, Lloyd's 1928Speedy, his last silent picture, would justify this two-disc set by itself. The film packs as many great gags per minute as any Lloyd film, and it also has one of his sweetest love stories (a courtship scene in the back of a moving van, with Harold rearranging the furniture to approximate a cozy living room). But the film is also notable for its extensive location shooting in New York City. There's a sequence involving Babe Ruth (as himself) in the back of Harold's speeding taxi, and the filmmakers also captured one of the Bambino's record-setting 60 home runs from the 1927 campaign. The sequences shot at Coney Island, with some wonderfully hair-raising (and understandably obsolete) rides is gorgeous and historically valuable. Meanwhile, check out the stunning horse-drawn streetcar accident caught on film, and then listen to the commentary for an explanation of how it happened and was incorporated into the storyline.Hot Water(1924) also goes into the time capsule of great Lloyd features, even if it feels like a handful of shorter films shoehorned together. This one gets its charm from the basic domestic situation (Harold takes the family out for a spin in the new car, faces down his meddling mother-in-law). It turns to haunted-house jokes toward the end, which gives Lloyd a chance to do his electric-hair bit, a familiar gag from his films. LikeHot Water,For Heaven's Sake(1926) is an hour long; this funny one casts Lloyd as a rich twit who takes up with a girl whose father runs a homeless mission. It has a great love scene in a slum (the moon in the background turns out to be a neon sign) and another hair-raising chase. Just how did they get the shot of Lloyd on a speeding bus heading through an intersection with two trains crossing?There's one talking picture,Movie Crazy(1932), a somewhat routine film from Lloyd's increasingly unsuccessful stint in talkies. He plays a young rube who arrives in Hollywood certain he'll be the next "new face." The silent shorts, of which there are many here, are better. Check outHaunted Spooksfrom 1920, which has its share of good jokes but which is also fascinating for its place in Lloyd's career. He suffered an off-set accident midway through shooting, costing him the thumb and forefinger of his right hand; after a hiatus, he completed shooting with a prosthetic glove (which he used in films thereafter). A heartfelt 15-minute documentary on Lloyd's palatial L.A. estate,Greenacres, uses copious home-movie footage to show the marvelous place and give a hint of Lloyd's homey, likable personality.--Robert Horton