[Note: This is part of a project I'm calling "A Century in a Month". The idea is that I'm going to start with a movie from about 100 years ago and pick a series of connected films until I get to the present. The rules I set this time are release years, per IMDB, can't be more than 5 years apart. I can't repeat the same connection although I can reuse the same type of connection. That means if I use "movies directed by Scorsese" to connect two, I can't use Scorsese as a connection again but I can use a director as a linking element again. I'm not really sure why I'm doing this, but it seems like a fun game.]
Connection to Safety Last!: Same star (Harold Lloyd)
Premise: A man helps his girlfriend’s grandfather’s horse-drawn streetcar business in New York.
A while back, when I first discovered how much I enjoyed Jackie Chan’s Chinese films, I wished there was some Blu-Ray collection of all his best films that I could buy. I think I’m ready for the same lament about Harold Lloyd’s films*. I really thought I would be a Buster Keaton guy given the audacity of his stunts, but Lloyd is connecting much more with me. His on-screen persona is clearer to me and I appreciate how much slicker his physical comedy is.
*I haven’t checked but I assume this would be much more possible than Chan’s collected filmography.
That said, Speedy is my least favorite of the three films of his I’ve seen. It’s softer than The Freshman and Safety Last! There’s not as much wit to it. I wonder if that has anything to do with the movie from Pathe to Paramount. Granted, my understanding is that Lloyd produced all his films and just changed distributers, so maybe it was Lloyd who opted for scale over cleverness. Because Speedy does feel like a bigger movie. Many of those street scenes are intense. Seeing Lloyd zig-zag through the streets in a cab or barrel down them on the horse-drawn streetcar is a sight to behold.
A part of me would like to continue following Lloyd for this project to see how he survived the move to talkies (apparently there’s a talkie version of this), but my rule is that I can only reuse a connection once. Oh well. Onto different pastures.
One more thing. I know it’s not a new observation, but seeing him show up in this movie, I just have to say it. It’s amazing that Babe Ruth was a great athlete. He shows up in this movie and is looked at as the legendary sports figure he is. He looks nothing like an athlete now though. It’s crazy.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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