The Harold Lloyd Collection (Slapstick Symposium)

Starring:Sammy Brooks, Mildred Davis, William Gillespie, Helen Gilmore, Estelle Harrison, Wallace Howe, Gus Leonard, Gaylord Lloyd, Harold Lloyd, Marie Mosquini, Robert Emmett O'Connor, Snub' Pollard, Charles Stevenson, Noah Young
Studio: Kino Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This collection of vintage Harold Lloyd comedies is worth the price just for Grandma's Boy, a splendid hourlong feature from 1922. Lloyd plays a small-town fellow who lives with his frisky grandmother; convinced of his own cowardice, he yearns to compete for the hand of a pretty girl. His courtly call to the girl's home is the occasion for battle with a ridiculous "formal" suit, mothballs, and a litter of kittens attracted by the goose grease on his shoes. There's also a long (and quite funny) flashback to Lloyd's ancestor, tangled in a Civil War fracas. Lloyd, whose aquiline features were rounded off by horn-rimmed glasses, was more handsome and less clownish than many of his slapstick brethren, which made his acrobatic outbursts all the more surprising. That talent is well-displayed in the seven short (mostly between 20-25 minutes) films on this DVD, including Number, Please, which climaxes with a brilliant sequence involving a stolen purse, and His Royal Slyness, which also offers a look at Lloyd's brother Gaylord. --Robert Horton
Description
A standout contributor to the art of silent film comedy, Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) offers new generations a body of film work that is as fresh and entertaining as in its day. His roots were simple--born in rural Nebraska, product of a broken home, and initially destined for the legitimate stage--yet by the 1920s, Lloyd was both at the box office and in the polls, the most popular comic actor in the world.

His appeal was simple: through his Glass Character, which formed the basis of roles from 1917-1947, Lloyd was able to reach audiences as no contemporary could. He is regarded as the man who most greatly influenced eyeglass-wearing in America, and this single facet of Lloyd inspired youth worldwide. His screen normalcy--in look and demeanor--allowed moviegoers to relate to the Glass Character no matter how rich, poor, cowardly or flip he was. Included in this Kino collection are the feature Grandma's Boy (1922), plus the shorts Bumping Into Broadway (1919), An Eastern Westerner (1920), His Royal Slyness (1921), Just Neighbors (1919), I Do (1918), and Number Please (1920).

Grandma's Boy - 1922
One of Lloyd's personal favorites of his films, Grandma's Boy is a beautiful tale of self-discovery, with a bounty of comic overtones. Sonny is a self-professed coward, who balks at the sight of the town tramp (Dick Sutherland). Armed with a lucky charm given to him by his grandmother (Anna Townsend), he defeats the tramp and the town bully (Charles Stevenson), learning a very valuable lesson about himself in the process.

And among the many short films are:

Bumping Into Broadway - 1919
Harold Lloyd's first Glass Character two-reeler, Bumping Into Broadway stars Lloyd and Daniels as theatrical hopefuls - he as a playwright, she as a chorus girl. The action is fierce, as Harold attempts to save Bebe from a wicked society chap, and gets into lots of trouble in the process. Look for Our Gang favorite Gus Leonard in a most unique cameo: as a love-starved woman!

An Eastern Westerner - 1920
Rural comedy abounds in this romp, as young upstart Harold is shipped to his uncle's ranch out West. There, he meets Mildred, assists her in staving off the unwanted affections of rogue Young, and after a wild altercation with a gang of bandits, single-handedly saves the town from the Masked Angels.

His Royal Slyness - 1920
A special opportunity to see the Lloyd brothers - Harold and Gaylord - work together. Harold, a book agent, bears an uncanny resemblance to the Prince of Razzamatazz (Gaylord) - the two switch persons, and Harold travels to Thermosa, where he falls in love with a princess (Davis), and manages to lead the peasants' revolution to victory. His Royal Slyness marks Pollard's final film with Lloyd.

Amazon.com

The definitive British sitcom is almost certainly Are You Being Served?, which depicts the squabbles, misadventures, and flirtations of the staff of Grace Brothers department store. The show was originally conceived as a vehicle for an irreverent junior salesman named Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister), but it soon became clear that mocking a social hierarchy isn't half as funny as taking it all too seriously. The show really revolves around Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden), whose wildly changing hair color and mercurial moods terrorize the rest of the staff, and cheerful but sly Mr. Humphries (the effervescent John Inman), one of the first gay characters on television treated with dignity--or at least no more indignity than anyone else (the show makes some noise about not being sure if Mr. Humphries is gay or not, but no one in the audience will have any question). But the rest of the cast is superb as well: Frank Thornton as the elegant but leering floorwalker Capt. Peacock, Wendy Richard as the sexy, impish Miss Brahms, Arthur Brough as cantankerous Mr. Grainger (who, sadly, died after the fifth season; other characters took his position on the sales staff, but never quite matched up), and Nicholas Smith as the self-serving but incompetent manager Mr. Rumbold form a comic ensemble that has rarely been equaled.

These characters, written with affection and played with superb comic dash, endlessly jockey for status and salary while simultaneously creating an alternative family (the core structure for any sitcom on either side of the Atlantic). Are You Being Served? deserves its devoted fan base, who will revel in this comprehensive 14-DVD box set (which includes specials about Inman, Sugden, and Richard, as well as other extras). --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

FABULOUS!.......2007-06-22

i love this show and would watch it every Saturday when it came on PBS. when i found out that they had released the entire show on DVD, i just had to have it! it has total rewatchability, when i'm bored i'll grab a random DVD and watch whatever episodes it contains! all the characters are dear to my heart, and every episode guarantees laughter!!! :)

They keep on serving.......2007-06-21

The gang at Grace Brothers Department Store keep on serving up humor with a distinct British style. Reminiscent of the "I Love Lucy" series' integration of humor and musical or theatric mini-productions, the show delivers continuing satisfaction. My wife has temporarily retired her Lucy DVDs in favor of "Are You Being Served?" and continues to play and replay the episodes with no decrease in pleasure from the watching. It is a rare series that maintains its freshness play after replay. This has all the flavor of a series that can be called "Classic."

Are You Being Served?.......2007-06-13

This is one of the best British Comedies. Especially the innuendos. It is still relevent to our time.

Are You Being Served IS the BEST!!!.......2007-05-17

I love are you being served. I have been watching it ever since I was 3 (Then I didnt get the Jokes) And I still love it. It is just so funny.
Some of the later episodes I dont like. After Mr. Granger left (Arthur Burrow (I cant spell) passed away) It kinda got worse. Mr. Tebbs was okay. And I hated Goldberg. But it wasn't too bad. But after Mr. Lucas was gone it was just awful. I mean Mr. Spooner was just so so you know awful. I have nothing against Mike Berry his music is great (especially his album A Tribute to Buddy Holly). But his character is just bad. I just dont like him.

My favourite episode is A Good Change is a rest (The One where they had to go work in the Toy Department). It was the first episode I saw. And I still love it to this day.

In Case anyone didnt know a couple months ago John Inman (Mr. Humphries)
died. I dont know how old he was but it really sucks that hes dead. He was a really good actor.

Oh ya I was gonna mention about the controversy about Are You Being Served. OK for all you people who are upset about Mr. Humphries. You know being gay. Hes not. It never said he is. The laugh Track. Its a real audience. So the producers didnt say when the laughs were. And Mrs. Slocombs cat. Well lets just say if you think the jokes are nasty in this show then you have a sick mind. If you think about it its only your mind that thinks they are nasty.
[end rant]

OK thats all I have to say.
Oh ya you can prolly get this cheaper than what Amazon is sellin them for somewhere else.

Peace Out

The Funniest Sitcom and still popular today!.......2007-04-24

It's really funny because this show is really one of the most funniest sitcoms from BBC Television and Just something that I found unusual the other day. John Inman the guy who played Mr. Humphries died this year and it was a sad thing. Anyway I think it's one of the funniest shows around.

Flicka Family Classics Collection (My Friend Flicka / Thunderhead: Son of Flicka / The Green Grass of Wyoming)

Average customer rating:

My Friend Flicka
Great to have the originals!!
Great But Sound Is A Dissapointment
Family Entertainment - Yes.
The Classic Flicka Trilogy

Flicka Family Classics Collection (My Friend Flicka / Thunderhead: Son of Flicka / The Green Grass of Wyoming)
Starring: Roddy McDowall , Preston Foster , Rita Johnson , James Bell , and Patti Hale
Director: Louis King , and Harold D. Schuster
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Kids & Family | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Flicka
Literary Classics Collection (Madame Bovary (1949), Captain Horatio Hornblower, The Three Musketeers (1948), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 and 1952 Versions), Billy Budd)
The Silver Stallion: King of the Wild Brumbies
Tyrone Power: The Swashbuckler Box Set (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / The Black Rose / Prince of Foxes / The Captain from Castile)
The Return of Frank James

ASIN: B000LXHJZU
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Amazon.com

My Friend Flicka: This gorgeous 1943 family film stars Roddy McDowell as a Colorado rancher's son who takes a shine to a colt named Flicka and chooses to train her. The boy's father (Preston Foster) isn't happy about the idea: the horse is an offspring of a stormy mare who may not be right in the head. For a while, Flicka seems determined to prove the rancher's point, fiercely resisting young McDowell's efforts at domestication. But persistence and love win the day, and Flicka grows up to be a magnificent animal and friend. The film was shot by director Harold Schuster and cinematographer Dewey Wrigley as if for the ages, marrying such perfect elements as a Technicolor sweep of the beautiful Rocky Mountains setting with a wonderful story, plus McDowell's charismatic earnestness. Based on the Mary O'Hara novel, this film was popular enough in its time to inspire a couple of sequels, though the original best stands up as a perennially worthy adventure tale for kids ages 5 and up. --Tom Keogh

Thunderhead, Son of Flicka: A sequel to the wildly popular, heart-warming children's classic My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead stars the original winsome young Roddy McDowall as the horse-lover against all odds. The sequel is every bit as touching, involving, and misty-eye-inducing as the original film. Thunderhead, a headstrong albino colt, is the son of the mare Flicka, and McDowall's Ken McLaughlin sets out to find out what this wild thing can do. Thunderhead, when given his head, can fly as though winged, so Ken decides to enter Thunderhead in some horse races. But it becomes clear that Thunderhead can fly only if he's free. A tragedy threatens the sweet world that Thunderhead and Ken have created, and only that magical love between child and animal can overcome the stumbling blocks. Thunderhead, Son of Flicka is a worthy successor to the original film, and a touching family film for horse lovers of all ages. --A.T. Hurley

Green Grass of Wyoming: The final installment in Mary O'Hara's landmark horse saga that includes MY Friend Flicka, The Green Grass of Wyoming is a worthy valentine to the love of horses and the wild America they represented in the mid-20th century. Robert Arthur replaces Roddy McDowall as Ken McLaughlin, the boy horse whisperer who connects on a subliminal level with four-legged critters. The equine star is Crown Jewel, a harness-racing trotter for whom Ken has hopes of championships and financial windfalls. But Jewel has something else on her mind--love, for the stallion Thunderhead (star of O'Hara's second installment, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka. Arthur is a talented, charming successor to McDowall, and the breathtaking scenery and cinematography will charm even those film fans who aren't big horse lovers. (Charles G. Clark was nominated for an Oscar for best cinematography.) Burl Ives makes the most of his sidekick role as Gus, and Lloyd Nolan is sympathetic as Ken's financially struggling dad. Extras include a detailed featurette on the life of Mary O'Hara. --A.T. Hurley

Description

Disc 1: MY FRI FLICKA Disc 2: THUNDERHEAD: SON OF FLICKA Disc 3: GREEN GRASS OF WYOMING

Customer Reviews:

My Friend Flicka.......2007-05-21

I grew up wanting a place like the Goose Bar Ranch. I love it to this day when I can remember as a child wanting a horse like Banner. I watch it almost every evening when I get home from work. That is my relaxation.

Great to have the originals!!.......2007-05-16

I first saw Flicka (the new one with the girl) on DVD. Great movie by the way! It seems to be a mix of the first 2 (original) Flicka movies in this set. Remembered seeing My Friend Flicka on TV years ago so searched Amazon & here was the whole 3 movie set. I ordered it and was very pleased with the fast shipping as well as the DVD packaging. The movies? They were all very good. I sat through all 3 over 3 nights of viewing. Trust me this one's a keeper....

Great But Sound Is A Dissapointment.......2007-03-08

The movie itself is good quality but at some parts in the movie the sound is terrible, either to soft or too loud. You have to keep on switching volumes to hear.
Otherwise a good purchase.

Family Entertainment - Yes........2007-02-23

I'm giving this trilogy 4 stars based on its viewability and enjoyability for the family to watch. However, being a fan of Mary O'Hara's books (I read these when I was about 7 or 8), I was very disappointed in the way the story line strays from the books. Perhaps I am being overly critical, if so, I apologize to those offended.
The scenery is beautiful. The cinematography is great. The story line in "Flicka" (disc 1) is a little closer to the book than the other two.
But what happened to the older brother? The competition between Ken and his brother Howard was very important. However, the story line stays relatively close, and the moral of the story is there. Ken learns a lesson about responsibility, but at the same time realizes the imprtance of believing in the decisions you have made.
In the seond dis, "Thunderhead", the panorama of the mountains and the cinematography are still great. Perhaps even better, and the story line doesn't wander too terribly far astray, but it does deviate. Again, the absence of the brother in this story completely ingnores the bortherly competition, and the maturing that goes with it. And disappointingly (and erroneously) the McLaughlin stallion Banner does not die. Hurts part of the story in the next book. Still, the maturing of Ken and the developing respect between father and son are quite evident.
In the third film "Green Grass", the original story line goes on vacation to far away places. Beaver Greeenway is an uncle, not a grandfather. The grandmother (who dominates Carey's life) is gone, and the brother is still missing. And what happened to Pete, the hobo Clydesdale? And where did all those trotters come from? They were supposed to be jumpers. All in all, a completely different story. Panoramic cinematography still great. Different actors still did a credible job.
After all of that, when I watched the movies, I still enjoyed them thoroughly just as I did as a youngster. If you are a real fan of the books, you may find yourself disappointed, so watch it for the sake of enjoyment, not as they relate to Mary O'Hara's novels.

The Classic Flicka Trilogy.......2007-02-15

For those of you who only saw the new film last year (I bought it with this sight unseen because it looked interesting and it allowed me to get my favorite free shipping deal) here's your chance to see the Original stories of Flicka and her son Thunderhead. These 3 films which I am told are pretty faithful to Mary O'Hara's novels of the same titles (I have them too but never read them). The main difference between them and the 2006 remake is that is the central character is named "Ken (rather thank Katy McLaughlin", well at least the kept the same name in the remake) and is played by a young Roddy McDowell in the first 2 films and Robert Arthur in the third. The reason he probably didn't do "Green Grass" is that the same year (1948) he was making the second big screen version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. The first film was released on VHS years ago, and both the first 2 had been previously released on DVD to celebrate their 60th anniversaries. Unfortunately those discs are out of print, albeit some Amazon sellers are still offering them separately or together. But the copies in this set are exactly the same discs, except for the pictures on the jackets and the labels on the discs. The text on the back of the boxes and list of chapter stops (on the lists and discs) are exactly the same as the previous releases. This is also the only way to get all 3 (if you don't count the old copies) as only the first film has been re-released as a separate item (it also marks the first appearance of "Green Grass" on video in any way, shape or form). By the way, it was also made into the a short lived tv series in 1956 which I doubt we will ever see again. If you like the books and movies of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Walter Farley's Black Stallion and the 2006 remake interests (or interested you), get this set before they go out of print again.

The Big Clock (Universal Noir Collection)

Average customer rating:

The Big Clock
hardly the noir classic id been led to believe
"The Big Clock (1948) ... Ray Milland ... Paramount Pictures Film Noir"
Take It on Its' On Terms
Peerless Noir Classic

The Big Clock (Universal Noir Collection)
Starring: Ray Milland , Charles Laughton , Maureen O'Sullivan , George Macready , and Rita Johnson
Director: John Farrow
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Film Noir | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Criss Cross (Universal Noir Collection)
This Gun For Hire (Universal Noir Collection)
Black Angel (Universal Noir Collection)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Fox Film Noir)
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)

ASIN: B00023P4FQ
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Amazon.com

What if you were asked to investigate a murder in which you were the prime suspect? From this seemingly impossible notion comes a grandly entertaining nail-biter. Charles Laughton plays the punctuality obsessed, slave-driving head of a publishing empire who won't let his crime magazine's star editor (Ray Milland) take a day off to spend with his family. The overworked Milland, having just upset a delayed honeymoon trip for the umpteenth time, goes on a sorrow-drowning, bar-hopping bender with a mysterious woman who, it turns out, is Laughton's mistress. Later that night after Milland has gone home, Laughton murders her, and the next day he assigns Milland to investigate, since a number of clues point to her having spent time with another man that night. Milland, then, must not only find the real murderer but sidetrack the investigation away from himself. That both characters are solving the crime in tandem yet unwittingly working toward pinning the murder on each other is at the heart of The Big Clock's labyrinthine brilliance. Helping bring out the dark humor in this adaptation of Kenneth Fearing's noir novel (included in the Library of America's Crime Novels collection) is Elsa Lanchester as a high-strung painter who can sketch the prime suspect (Milland), a time-bomb plot device that only adds to the already unbearable suspense. This is a taut, lean thriller, superbly handled by director John Farrow, who never fails to remind his audience through repeated use of clocks, timepieces, and watches that all too often in our lives that ticking sound is the enemy. This was remade in 1987 with Kevin Costner as No Way Out. --Robert Abele

Customer Reviews:

The Big Clock.......2007-06-25

Memorable for its edgy dialogue and tense, sinister atmosphere, John Farrow's 1948 adaptation of Kenneth Fearing's novel boasts an ingenious plot device: two characters, one guilty and one innocent, both attempt to "solve" a crime in which they are circumstantially implicated. Milland, solid as ever, anchors the action as the cornered protagonist, while portly Charles Laughton is superbly loathsome as the controlling, megalomaniac killer. Fine support from Maureen O'Sullivan, Elsa Lanchester, and Harry Morgan--chilling as Janoth's mute, gun-toting bodyguard--round out this time-tested thriller.

hardly the noir classic id been led to believe.......2007-04-07

poor ray milland gets caught up in a wacko murder plot and illicit love affair in this overrated film noir from director john farrow, who is best remembered for directing second-rate movies and siring a second-rate actress. even charles laughton is dull here!

"The Big Clock (1948) ... Ray Milland ... Paramount Pictures Film Noir".......2007-03-13

Paramount Pictures present "THE BIG CLOCK" (1948) (95 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, George Macready & Rita Johnson, released in April 9, 1948, from director John Farrow, who would go on to greater things, but who shows his abilities here ---- the story line thus far, a woman has been murdered, and a witness has a description of a suspect leaving her apartment. A magazine editor (Ray Milland) knows that he is the man that the witness saw - but he's innocent, and he must investigate the crime and pretend to search for the suspect. He only has an hour to nail his boss, the real killer (Charles Laughton), before being identified himself. Maureen O'Sullivan (Mrs. Farrow) helps him out, George Macready is Laughton's evil sidekick, and Elsa Lanchester turns up in a brief, but funny and marvelous bit part. Milland is at his most appealing. Laughton is great as a detestable villain. Watching the movie is like reading a stylish page-turner - smooth in style, but with plenty of tension, it clips along at a fine pace, and winding up with an inspired "poetic justice" type ending. Pure entertainment.

Under John Farrow (Director/Producer), Richard Maibaum (Producer), Kenneth Fearing (Novel), Jonathan Latimer (Screenplay), Victor Young (Original Score), Daniel L. Fapp (Cinematographer), LeRoy Stone (Editor) - - - - the cast includes Ray Milland (George Stroud), Charles Laughton (Earl Janoth), Maureen O'Sullivan (Georgette Stroud), George Macready (Steve Hagen), Rita Johnson (Pauline York), Elsa Lanchester (Louise Patterson), Harold Vermilyea (Don Klausmeyer), Dan Tobin (Ray Cordette), Harry Morgan (Bill Womack), Richard Webb (Nat Sperling), Elaine Riley (Lily Gold), Luis Van Rooten (Edwin Orlin), Lloyd Corrigan (McKinley), Frank Orth (Burt) - - - - Film noir has sources not only in cinema but other artistic mediums as well...the low-key lighting schemes commonly linked with the classic mode are in the tradition of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, techniques using high contrasts of light and dark developed by 15th- and 16th-century painters associated with Mannerism and the Baroque...film noir's aesthetics are deeply influenced by German Expressionism, a cinematic movement of the 1910s and 1920s closely related to contemporaneous developments in theater, photography, painting, scultpture, and architecture...opportunities offered by the booming Hollywood film industry and, later, the threat of growing Nazi power led to the emigration of many important film artists working in Germany who had either been directly involved in the Expressionist movement or studied with its practitioners...Directors such as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, and Michael Curtiz brought dramatic lighting techniques and a psychologically expressive approach to mise-en-scène with them to Hollywood, where they would make some of the most famous of classic noirs. Lang's 1931 masterwork, the German M, is among the first major crime films of the sound era to join a characteristically noirish visual style with a noir-type plot, one in which the protagonist is a criminal (as are his most successful pursuers). M was also the occasion for the first star performance by Peter Lorre, who would go on to act in several formative American noirs of the classic era ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Ray Milland (aka: Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones)
Date of Birth: 3 January 1905 - Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Date of Death: 10 March 1986 - Torrance, California
2. Charles Laughton
Date of Birth: 1 July 1899, Scarborough - Yorkshire, England, UK
Date of Death: 15 December 1962 - Hollywood, California
3. Maureen O'Sullivan
Date of Birth: 17 May 1911 - Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland
Date of Death: 23 June 1998 - Scottsdale, Arizona
4. John Farrow (Director)
Date of Birth: 10 February 1904 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Date of Death: 28 January 1963 - Beverly Hills, California,

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 95 min on DVD ~ Universal Video ~ (7/06/2004)

Take It on Its' On Terms.......2007-01-11

"The Big Clock" is based on a great premise: Ray Milland is an overworked editor of a true crime magazine. "Crimeways" is part of megalomaniac Charles Laughton's publishing empire. Milland's forte is cracking unsolvable crimes. RM is embarking on a long delayed honeymoon-but misses his train. Angered, embarrassed and deep in the dog house, he goes on a bender with a woman (Rita Johnson) he has just met. He sees her home. But as RM leaves her apartment's back door, another man is entering the by the front. Both spot, but do not recognize each other. The stranger is none other than Laughton. Johnson was his girl friend! The jealous Laughton kills RJ and aware he was spotted, determines to pin the murder on someone else. He recalls Milland from his non-honeymoon and demands that RM "solve" the murder using his well known amateur forensic skills. This is a prime game of cat and mouse; Laughton knows that he is guilty while Milland had been spotted carousing with Johnson the night she met her demise. Each needs to deflect suspicion from himself. What happens? Viewers will just have to watch BC for themselves-good reviews do not reveal resolutions. It says here that BC is more of a solid true crime tale than great film noir. There are some weak points, primarily the streamlined pace. Events -especially the ending-unfurl much too quickly. Director John Farrow could have used more than the mere 93 minute run time. Were noir directors wedded to a 90 minute format? Also, BC uses fully 104 characters. Why? Laughton vastly overplays his role and as previous reviewer Barbarelli noted, much of the set in a modern office building looked like "repossessed furniture". Still, the positives outweigh. Given the pacing, viewers will not be bored. Milland and that vast supporting cast are fine. Viewers should best approach BC as a murder tale and avoid any preconceived notions or the need to compare with the 1987 remake "No Way Out". Take "The Big Clock" on its' own terms and enjoy.

Peerless Noir Classic.......2006-08-30

The Big Clock belongs in the Noir Hall of Fame as one of the dozen or so superior examples of the genre.

It also belongs near the top of every true Noir fan's collection.

Each time I see it, I find additional rewards in details and qualities that had somehow escaped my attention.

Its only peers are the lapidary Double Indemnity, the compact intensity of The Unsuspected, the hugely rewarding and expansive Third Man and the tragic scope of The Lost Weekend.

Buy it. Watch it. Love it. Repeat.

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3

Average customer rating:

A munificent introduction to Harold Lloyd.
Gems from the Silent Era (plus some talkies)
Great Harold Lloy Collection
The 1920's were halcyon years for cinema comedy...
Excellent collection!

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3
Starring: Harold Lloyd
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

The Val Lewton Horror Collection (Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People / I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher / Isle of the Dead / Bedlam / The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship / The Seventh Victim / Shadows in the Dark)
The Busby Berkeley Collection (Footlight Parade / Gold Diggers of 1933 / Dames / Gold Diggers of 1935 / 42nd Street)
Marlene Dietrich - The Glamour Collection (Morocco/ Blonde Venus/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings)
The King Kong Collection (King Kong 2-Disc Special Edition/Son of Kong/Mighty Joe Young)
Buster Keaton - 65th Anniversary Collection (General Nuisance / His Ex Marks the Spot / Mooching Through Georgia / Nothing but Pleasure / Pardon My Berth Marks / Pest From the West / So You Won't Squawk / The Spook Speaks / The Taming of the Snood / She's Oil Mine)

ASIN: B000B5XORA
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Amazon.com

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection boxed set is the definitive account of one of the silent cinema's greatest comedians--and for a time, its most popular star. The seven discs included in this three-volume set have virtually all of Lloyd's 1920s features, most of his talking pictures, and a healthy collection of shorts. Because Lloyd--a canny businessman--retained control over much of his output, the films have remained under his (and his estate's) control through the decades, and the quality of the key titles is generally excellent.

Vol. 1 leads off with the most famous of Lloyd's pictures, the 1923 "thrill" comedy Safety Last. The bespectacled Mr. Lloyd found his spot in comedy by playing the persona seen here: an optimistic go-getter, energetic but not particularly remarkable, who perseveres as he moves up the ladder. In Safety Last, he really moves up: Harold is a department-store clerk who concocts a publicity scheme for his store, which results in a climactic, hair-raising ascent up the outside of the building (at one point hanging from the hands of a huge clock). There is at least one other masterpiece on Vol. 1, the wonderful Girl Shy (1924), in which Harold is a small-time tailor's apprentice who can't speak to women but nevertheless has penned a how-to book entitled "The Secret of Making Love." There's also the 1923 Why Worry?, which suffers just a bit with its odd milieu (tropical island beset by revolutionaries) but has some hilariously weird routines built around compact Harold and the giant John Aasen (8 feet, 9 inches). A trio of shorter films are included, plus two Paramount sound features, the oddball Cat's Paw and Leo McCarey's entertaining The Milky Way.

Vol. 2 has the brilliant The Freshman (1925), with Lloyd as a college plebe whose ridiculous ideas about making himself ingratiating to others (including hilariously inapt jig during a handshake) makes him the laughingstock of the campus. The movie concludes with a justifiably famous football sequence. The Kid Brother (1927) is Harold as the weak link in the tough Hickory family, while Dr. Jack (1922) casts him as a country doctor whose ordinary ways prove sharper than they seem (his co-star, as in some other films here, is future wife Mildred Davis). In Grandma's Boy (1922) Lloyd plays a small-town fellow who lives with his frisky grandmother; convinced of his own cowardice, he yearns to compete for the hand of a pretty girl. His courtly call to the girl's home is the occasion for uproarious battle with a ridiculous "formal" suit, mothballs, and a litter of kittens attracted by the goose grease on his shoes. The gem of the shorts here is High and Dizzy (1920), a warm-up for Safety Last, which has a great sequence with Lloyd tipsily navigating a ledge on a high building. Feet First (1930), Lloyd's second talking picture, has Harold as an upwardly-striving shoe salesman trying to finesse his way up the ladder. Some good shipboard sequences in the middle of this one, but the main drawing card is a throwback: Lloyd re-visiting the Safety Last hanging-from-a-building sequence, but this time working every variation known to slapstick.

Vol. 3 has Speedy, his last silent picture, which packs as many great gags per minute as any Lloyd film, and also has one of his sweetest love stories. But the film is also notable for its extensive location shooting in New York City. The sequences shot at Coney Island, with some wonderfully hair-raising (and understandably obsolete) rides, are gorgeous and historically valuable. 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 basic domestic situations. Like Hot 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.

There's one talking picture, the somewhat routine Movie Crazy (1932), but the silent shorts, of which there are many here, are better. Check out Haunted Spooks from 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 (it's narrated by granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd). A bonus disc contains home movies, celebrity tributes, Lloyd's collection of 3-D photographs, and his honorary Oscar acceptance speech from 1953. --Robert Horton

Description

Having appeared in more than 200 films and widely considered to be one of cinema's most respected comic geniuses, Harold Lloyd was one of Hollywood's first true movie stars. Now, entertainment enthusiasts of all ages can enjoy the work of the man who inspired generations of acting greats with The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Biographies
Comparison Scenes
Featurette
Interviews
Introduction
Other:*All feature films and shorts are full frame versions. **All content will have Spanish subtitles. Only the pictures with sound will have English subtitles and closed captions
Photo gallery:REMASTERED! RESTORED! RESCORED!

Customer Reviews:

A munificent introduction to Harold Lloyd........2007-03-31

I've already written a review of another Harold lloyd(HL)DVD collection that has recently come out and there I mention that of all the HL DVDs available, this comedy collection stands superbly and dare say it makes all others seem inferior for the fact that it features almost all of HL feature films and comes with a bonus disc that is filled with a cornucopia of tips and images of HL.

I also highly evaluate that each film included in this collection is beautifully scored by the two noted professional composers who personally adore HL.Therefore everytime I enjoy this collection, I am always entertained by both HL himself and the excellent musical scores provided by who I already mentioned above.

Then why 4 stars? The reasons are that firstly, as I said above this collection features "almost all of HL feature films", this collection fails to hold two feature films remarkable in HL's carrier: WELCOME DANGER(1929), his first talkie and PROFESSOR BEWARE(1938) last film of the decade where HL worked on a regular basis(After this, as you might well know, he returned to the screen just once in 1947.).

Secondly, as a non-native speaker of English, subtitles provided for the talkie are very helpful. However, subtitles are not available for the commentaries provided by HL experts and this fact forbids me full appreciation of commentary-accompanied films.

Lastly, the image quality of each film is more or less satisfying except for that of the several talkies, MILKY WAY and CAT'S PAW in particular.

In spite of the above complaints, with only a handful of HL films available on either video or DVD in my country, I, as a huge fan of HL, highly evaluate this collection that is munificently filled with his masterpieces, tips and many more extra bonus images.

Gems from the Silent Era (plus some talkies).......2007-03-23

Although there may be those who disagree, I think it is fair to say that generally, movies with sound ("talkies") are better than silent films, if only because the former have an extra dimension. For all the importance of the visual element of movies, dialogue is also a critical feature. Of course, my assertion is merely a generalization, and one strong exception can be found with Harold Lloyd. The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection is a treasure chest filled with gems.

The boxed set consists of three "volumes" with two discs each, plus a disc of bonus materials. There are a lot of movies here, so it is hard to review them all, but certain ones do stand out, particularly Lloyd's feature length material. Safety Last! is my personal favorite, an almost perfect film with Lloyd as an impoverished department store worker who has a money-making idea involving having a friend climb a tall building. A series of events forces Lloyd to scale the building instead, leading a number of misadventures; one such mishap has him hanging from a clock in probably the most memorable image of Lloyd (and imitated, in among other movies, Back to the Future).

Safety Last! also features Mildred Davis as the love interest. Among Lloyd's three principal female costars, Davis is the second and probably the most significant, as the two would marry. Earlier films - mostly one reel shorts - featured Bebe Daniels. Later films - all feature-length - feature Jobyna Ralston (all of which are in this collection).

Among the silent movies, I don't think there is a single one that disappoints. The Freshman has Lloyd as a new college student who bases his behavior on what he's learned at the movies, resulting in his being mocked until he learns to be himself. Why Worry? presents Lloyd as a wealthy hypochondriac who learns to overcome his problems while dealing with a South American revolution. In The Kid Brother, Lloyd tries to earn the respect of his older brothers and his father. There are also some talkies in the collection, all of which are clever, if not on the same level as his earlier films; Lloyd's acting in sound movies are passable, but it is not the medium he is best at.

Although Lloyd began his career as an imitation Chaplin character, he achieved success by looking like a normal guy. While there is a lot of physical comedy, Lloyd was also one of the pioneers in romantic comedy. And he wasn't merely an actor; he was also a major behind-the camera force in his films as well.

The bonus disc gives a lot of background and provides all sorts of archival photos and footage. There are even 3-D pictures (glasses are included) shot by Lloyd himself. Fortunately, Lloyd had a good sense of history and preserved his films well, so most of the movies look good. One other nice thing is that for the most part, these are good films for any age (although some films do have ethnic and racial stereotypes, albeit more tamely than other films common to the era). The Harold Lloyd collection is all you can want out of a boxed set: lots of great movies and a healthy dose of the history behind them.

Great Harold Lloy Collection.......2007-02-05

This is an ultimate for anyone wishing to see the talent of Harold Lloyd. However, the loccal stores are seling this colletion for $42.99 rather than Amazon's $76.99 price tag.

The 1920's were halcyon years for cinema comedy..........2007-01-13

The 1920's were halcyon years for cinema comedy, and the inspired products of that period are among the silent screen's finest offerings... These films include Harold Lloyd's amusing masterpiece, "Safety Last!;" "The General" and "The Navigator," both starring Buster Keaton; and dozens of short films featuring the mismatched comic duo, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy...

There was certainly no melancholia in the films of Harold Lloyd, who may have lacked the depth of Chaplin and Keaton but who was every bit as funny...

Lloyd was working as an extra on the Universal lot when he met Hal Roach, who subsequently produced a series of one-reelers starring Lloyd as a character named Lonesome Luke, a frank imitation of Chaplin's Little Tramp...

Later Lloyd was to own character, that of a decent, optimistic, and eager young man who wore horn-rimmed glasses and always emerged triumphant from the incredible scrapes he got into...

Sight gags were Lloyd's specialty, as "Safety Last," his noisy and disorderly funny film, was to prove... Playing a department store clerk who, through a combination of circumstances, is forced into posing as a professional "human fly," Lloyd climbs up the side of a tall skyscraper as traffic whizzes below... You will surely squealed with delight as Lloyd missed his footing and grabbed the hands of a huge clock--only to have the face of the clock open out, leaving Lloyd hanging in midair...

Excellent collection!.......2006-11-07

I enjoy every movie of this collection. My native laguage is Spanish, so the Spanish subtitles are a plus.

Are You Being Served? Collection 2 (Series 6-10)

Average customer rating:

Still an avid fan!!!
Good even with the updates in the cast ...
I'm Free..............!!!!
AT LONG LAST.... MY COLLECTION IS COMPLETE !!
3 Good Reasons To Own This Set

Are You Being Served? Collection 2 (Series 6-10)
Starring: Eileen Winterton , Taryn Kay , and Belinda Lee (II)
Director: John Kilby , Bob Spiers , Martin Shardlow , Gordon Elsbury , and Mike Stevens (II)
Manufacturer: BBC Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Television | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Are You Being Served? Collection 1 (Series 1-5)
Are You Being Served? Again! (The Complete Series)
Are You Being Served? The Movie
Are You Being Served 5: Classic Years
Are You Being Served? Christmas

ASIN: B0000A02Y7
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Amazon.com

The later series of definitive British sitcom Are You Being Served?--set in the hierarchical world of the sales staff of a department store--lost several of its original cast members, but this only gave more room for the antics of its most popular characters: The not-so-ambiguously-gay Mr. Humphries (sterling John Inman) and the multi-hued Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden, as regal and petulant as Queen Victoria), ably supported by lecherous floorwalker Capt. Peacock (wonderfully snooty Frank Thornton), affable Miss Brahms (helium-voiced Wendy Richard), and woefully incompetent Mr. Rumbold (jug-eared Nicholas Smith), who form a squabbling dysfunctional family within the strict rules, bowler hats, and neck frills of Grace Brothers store. Though the plots grow more absurd--one episode has the staff forced to sleep on a giant waterbed in the store basement, dressed like albino Teletubbies--the comfortable but never complacent rapport of the cast keeps the show sharp. Even the most groan-inducing sexual double-entendres (and there are many) gets carried off with aplomb; no matter how many times Mrs. Slocombe refers to her poor pussy (that is to say, her cat, Tiddles), it still gets a laugh from Sugden's unbeatable poker face. And though the writing occasionally wears thin, some episodes are among the series' best: When Mrs. Slocombe is temporarily given a managerial position, the overturning of the established order is comic gold; the staging of a Punch and Judy show lets everyone indulge in some topnotch slapstick. Are You Being Served? is a twinkling star in the Britcom firmament, guaranteed to turn any viewer into a delirious fan. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Attention shoppers! Your favorite dysfunctional sales staff is back with more mischief, more hilarity and more hair colors! Join Mr. Humphries, Mrs. Slocombe, Miss Brahms, Captain Peacock, Mr. Lucas and the rest of the gang as they make shopping at Grace Brothers the comic experience of a lifetime. The staff has been hard-at-work polishing and pressing all 35 classic episodes from series 6-10 of this beloved BBC comedy series, most of them never before available on video. Also included is a bonus disc containing interviews, television specials and other goodies featuring the Are You Being Served? cast.

DVD Features:
Biographies
Other:Trailers, Episode Summaries
TV Special:"The Best of Are You Being Served?" - Mr. Humphries and his mum look back at Grace Brothers? funniest moments. "Celebrating Mollie Sugden: An Are You Being Served? Special" - A brand new special featuring the Are You Being Served? cast celebrating the life and career of Mollie Sugden. "Are You Being Served? Again! (aka, Grace and Favour)" - Episode One - The Are You Being Served? cast leaves the department store behind and heads for Young Mr. Grace's country hotel.

Customer Reviews:

Still an avid fan!!!.......2007-05-13

Perhaps the definitive U.K. sitcom from the 1970s & '80s, Are You Being Served is still one of the funniest shows ever made. Any collection of episodes of this great series is worth having. But the best way to buy it is in a large set like this, so you also get a great price. I was enthralled from start to finish watching this set, which comes with bonuses including the 1st episode of Grace & Favour (aka Are You Being Served Again) and an excellent 90 minute celebration of Mollie Sugden's eightieth birthday, featuring all surviving cast members, including Trevor Bannister - Mr Lucas. But ultimately you want this set for the 35 episodes of Are You Being Served; and they are still hilarious. Unlike some shows from this era, this great show has not dated at all. Take my advice, if you don't already have it, buy this set (and Collection 1) now!!!

Good even with the updates in the cast ..........2007-01-15

Although this later set includes updates to the cast which weren't always up to snuff as the originals, I still enjoy these shows and I think you will too. So, "are you free" for some great entertainment?

I'm Free..............!!!!.......2004-01-26

Although I have recently ordered this series and have not had a chance to view the DVD's I have seen the show on TV and seen almost every episode. The cast did go through some changes but the final product is usally very funny. This program is an icon in the television programming arena because of its humor but because it's just desigened to be really funny and really silly all at the same time. You can tell that the cast is having a great time as well especially when Mr's Slocombe's character really wants to laugh and you (the audience) cathes her at trying to hide it. From what I have read on the reviews the only realy thing that wouldv'e been awesome would have been to add deleted bits and maybe add a blooper reel as well. Out takes should be included all the time on these types of sets. The show was really enjoyed when it aired and is always enjoyable to watch over and over again. So my advice is to get the sets (avoid the movie of the cast on holiday unless you really are addicted)because not only are they a collectors item but are pure fun especially on those rainy days, so go make some tea and grab the remote!!!!!

AT LONG LAST.... MY COLLECTION IS COMPLETE !!.......2003-12-17

WHEN I ORDERED THE FINAL SET OF DVD'S I COULD NOT WAIT TIL I GOT THEM !! I AM SOOOO HAPPY THAT MY COLLECTION IS NOW COMPLETE WITH ARE YOU BEING SERVED!!

THE FIRST SET WAS I THINK A LITTLE BETTER BUT I NEEDED TO COMPLETE MY COLLECTION. I WAS HOPING THAT ON THE INTERVIEWS THEY WOULD HAVE TALKED ABOUT MR GRANGER AND YOUNG MR GRACE BUT NOTHING WAS SAID, I DO KNOW THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER LIVING BUT SOMETHING COULD HAVE BEEN SAID ABOUT THE TIME SPENT ON THE SHOW WITH THEM, UNLESS THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT DEAD PEOPLE ON THE BBC.(??) AND ALSO MISSING WAS YOUNG MR SPOONER ON THE INTERVIEWS. THANK YOU BBC AMERICA FOR RELEASING THEM!!

3 Good Reasons To Own This Set.......2003-11-09

1. The picture quality is outstanding. Seeing more details makes one a little bit more intimate with our friends at Grace Brothers. The excellent sound quality allowed me to catch jokes I missed before. The overall picture and sound quality made me feel as though I was watching the episodes for the first time although I've seen them hundreds of times before.2. The interviews with cast members are a treat.3.The pilot of "Allo, Allo" included as a bonus. (I can assure you the subsequent episodes slated for DVD release 1/20/04 get wackier and wackier!)I cannot wait for the DVD of the Holiday AYBS episodes.

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 1

Average customer rating:

Very funny & clever
The Napoleon Dynamite of the 1920s rocks on!
Essential Survey of Lloyd's Work
Classic Lloyd
ONE OF HAL ROACH'S BEST COMEDIANS

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 1
Starring: Roy Brooks , Westcott Clarke , Mickey Daniels , Mildred Davis , and Helen Gilmore
Director: Sam Taylor
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 2
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 3
Our Hospitality/Sherlock, Jr.
Laurel & Hardy (Sons of the Desert/The Music Box/Another Fine Mess/Busy Bodies/County Hospital)
Buster Keaton Collection (The Cameraman / Spite Marriage / Free & Easy)

ASIN: B000B5XORK
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Amazon.com

Harold Lloyd's place as the "third genius" of silent comedy (with Chaplin and Keaton) should be cemented by the release of his best work in splendid prints on DVD. The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 1, a two-disc set, leads off with the most famous of Lloyd's pictures, the 1923 "thrill" comedy Safety Last. The bespectacled Mr. Lloyd found his spot in comedy by playing the persona seen here: an optimistic go-getter, energetic but not particularly remarkable, who perseveres as he moves up the ladder. In Safety Last, he really moves up: Harold is a department store clerk who concocts a publicity scheme for his store, which results in a climactic, hair-raising ascent up the outside of the building (at one point hanging from the hands of a huge clock). The ingenious shooting of the sequence--no rear projection of digital effects here--made audiences gasp at Lloyd's apparent peril. (His acrobatic stunts are all the more remarkable when you realize that Lloyd lost two fingers on his right hand in a 1919 publicity stunt involving a prop bomb).

There is at least one other masterpiece on Vol. 1, the wonderful Girl Shy (1924), in which Harold is a small-time tailor's apprentice who can't speak to women but nevertheless has penned a how-to book entitled The Secret of Making Love. A stream of terrific gags (look for how Lloyd employs a dog on a train) and a nice love story blend smoothly, and the movie has an extended chase sequence using car, horse, streetcar, motorcycle, and firetruck. There's also the 1923 Why Worry?, Lloyd's last feature with longtime producer Hal Roach, which suffers just a bit with its odd milieu (tropical island beset by revolutionaries) but has some hilariously weird routines built around compact Harold and the giant John Aasen (8 feet, 9 inches).

A trio of shorter films are included, including 1920's From Hand to Mouth, which puts Lloyd in a Chaplinesque down-and-out situation. A new nine-minute featurette, Harold's Hollywood: Then and Now, visits Hollywood location sites from Lloyd films. Indeed, one of the pleasures of watching Lloyd's films is his outdoorsy use of 1920s L.A. locations and outmoded vehicles such as streetcars. Two Paramount sound features are also here, the oddball Cat's Paw and the entertaining The Milky Way. The latter has Harold as a milkman who boxes his way to a title fight; the comedian's spirit jibes well with the breezy direction of Leo McCarey.

Lloyd was a canny businessman who kept control of his own films, which is one reason most of these prints look so good. His estate, and granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd, were closely involved in assembling these treasures. --Robert Horton

Description

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by critic Leonard Maltin & director Rich Correll on Safety Last!
Other:*All feature films and shorts are full frame versions. **All content will have Spanish subtitles. Only the pictures with sound will have English subtitles and closed captions
Photo gallery

Customer Reviews:

Very funny & clever.......2006-08-20

Harold Lloyd was a top star in his day; and for good reason.

This has "Safety-last", Harold Lloyd's best film, produced by Hal Roach, producer of "Little Rascals, Our Gang", and "Laurel and Hardy". "Safety Last" is very clever, has an interesting story, very funny, laugh-out-loud-funny in one scene, unique, with some danger. It is not a film with just music; rather a film designed so you understand the action, just by watching, at a good pace. A lost art. (I did not care for Harold's later, talking-pictures.)

Harold was funny, when chased by bullies, as Harold was short, skinny, had straw-hat and glasses, looking unathletic. So convincing, film critics today still believe him unathletic. However, Harold was very athletic. Harold was very quick, nimble, balanced, and had unusually strong, climbing strength; getting him away from the bullies just in time.

Also worth seeing are Harold's movies: "The Kid Brother", and "The Freshman", both in volume-2 or in the 3-volume-set. "Speedy" is also interesting, though not as funny as these others, if you are budgeting, is in volume-3, or the 3-volume-set.

The Napoleon Dynamite of the 1920s rocks on!.......2006-06-30

I've been a Harold Lloyd fan since I was a teeanger and the television show "Hooray for Harold Lloyd" came on and films like "Why Worry" (which, ironically, I saw on TV the night a riot took place in my neighborhood when I was 15) and "Safety last" occasionally appeared on late night television.

In seeing this set, I'm reminded of why I prefer Lloyd to Keaton and Chaplin. Chaplin's films have always struck me as more interesting than funny and while I enjoy the Bus man (Keaton, that is), his characters tended to be too bizarre to relate to, so you laughed AT him and not WITH him. Harold Lloyd was different. Most people can identify with wanting to become successful, trying to overcome bullies, getting a girl, and being popular among one's peers. So although he occasionally got into wild and unlikely predicaments, you still laughed WITH and rooted for him because you could see a lot of yourself in Harold Lloyd.

Now on to the films. WHY WORRY is an amusing tale of Harold unwittingly coming across a Latin American revolution. John Aasen as the giant makes a good comic partner with Harold. SAFETY LAST is the masterpiece with our man as the "Human Fly" (the famous clock tower scene). When I saw this at the university of South Carolina sixty years after its original release, audiences STILL gasped in shock as I did while seeing this film for the first time since then. GIRL SHY is an underrated masterpiece. Similar in some ways to the Bus man's SEVEN CHANCES, the audience really takes to our man and his troubles in this one, as the tries to overcome a crippling shyness to get a girl and the INCREDIBLE chase scene. You'll really root and cheer for Harold in this one.

THE CAT'S PAW is again loosely similar to the Bus Man's SPEAK EASILY in plot. Here our hero is a white man raised among the Chinese (his parents are missionaries) who comes to America and unwittingly stumbles into corrupt politics. I'd keep the kiddies away from the last few minutes (if you've seen it, you'll know why. One poster has alluded to this scene but I will not spoil it-obviously pre-code censorship). In AN EASTERN WESTERNER, our man actually fights off a Ku Klux Klan-type group out west.

Since most of these films were done at Hal Roach Studios, some of the original Our Gang kids make cameos from time to time. But in either case, these films are still wonderful to watch today and will return Harold Lloyd to the fond place he had among moviegoers 80 years ago. So sit back and enjoy the Napoleon Dynamite of the 1920s as he rocks on (quite literally in the first scene of AN EASTERN WESTERNER where he's kicked out of a dancehall-see why)!

Essential Survey of Lloyd's Work.......2006-04-23

This volume is the best to buy if you are not planning to develop a complete library of Harold Lloyd's work. This volume contains Safety Last, with the iconic image of Lloyd dangling from the clock hands as he tries to scale a high rise to execute a publicity stunt for the department store he works for. This movie is not nearly the most satisfying of Llyod's output, but it is entertaining. Much funnier and better executed is Why Worry, about a millionaire hypochondriac who takes a vacation for his health in a volatile Latin American country in the grips of civil war. The sheer quantity and continuity of funny moments in this movie is breathtaking, and is about the best introduction to Lloyd's genius as you can get. By the time of this movie, Lloyd had developed his most successful formula: his character typically has a flaw (shyness, hypochondria) that needs to be overcome. Challenged by a bully and/or the love of a beautiful girl, Harold jumps into almost super-human action. We see this formula in An Eastern Westerner and Girl Shy as well. But Why Worry is, in terms of sheer persistent laughter, the best of this collection.

The other movies made at the prime of this career, including Girl Shy, An Eastern Westerner, and From Hand to Mouth, are also priceless gens. This collection also contains glimpses into the early and late careers of Lloyd, and effectively demonstrates that his productivity spanned a long interval of time. The earliest film in the collection, Ask Father, is remarkably charming, funny and creative. Lloyd's early glasses character tended to be all energy, with few character flaws except perhaps obsessiveness. Here Lloyd's character is infatuated with a businessman's daughter, and much of the humor derives from his repeated attempts to gain access to the elusive father to ask his permission to marry his fickle offspring. Bebe Daniels, Lloyd's first romantic partner in his movies, is very funny and appealing in this and other of Lloyd's movies of the time.

This collection also shows that during the sound era Lloyd, while no longer in his prime creatively, was still producing interesting, creative ventures. Of the two sound movies in this collection, by far the best is Cat's Paw, in which Lloyd portrays a naive but determined Chinese missionary's son who returns to the big city to find a woman to marry. Some of the gags here, especially the faked execution sequence at the end, is a bit forced, but the story is interesting and there are still moments of genius to witness. Milky Way, chronologically the last in the series, has very little going for it and will be of interest only to die hard Lloyd enthusiasts.

Classic Lloyd.......2006-03-16

Anyone really interested in the great silent movie films and stars of the 20's must have this video of material finally made available. Llyod was right up there with the best (Chaplin and Keaton, among others). Included in this DVD is arguably his best full length film, "Girl Shy." The cinematic quality of the DVD itself is great.

ONE OF HAL ROACH'S BEST COMEDIANS.......2006-01-27

Harold Lloyd was definetly among the silent movie era's best comedians.My two favourite films in this compilation are Safety Last and Girl Shy.Until I bought this DVD set,I had only seen the image of Harold dangling from the clock near the top of the building.So I finally got to see the actual movie.It was nerve wracking.Our Gang member Joe Cobb appears at the beginning of Girl Shy.But my favourite part of this film is when Harold tries to stop a certain wedding from taking place.First he steals a streetcar,then a cop's motorcycle,than a wagon pulled by two horses.He really made those horses run.Hilarious.

I have to agree about the two Harold Lloyd talkies,The Cat's Paw and The Milky Way.Pretty cheesy in comparison to his silent films.Especially The Cat's Paw.That film's final scene is rather disturbing.

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)

Average customer rating:

Slapstick at its best
Possible door in for new fans
Harold Lloyd, the GREAT
A Pair Of Glasses And A Smile
Now, this is FUN! Even my kids enjoyed Harold!

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)
Starring: Sammy Brooks , Mildred Davis , William Gillespie , Helen Gilmore , and Estelle Harrison
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)
Buster Keaton Collection (The Cameraman / Spite Marriage / Free & Easy)
The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3
Buster Keaton: The Great Stone Face of Comedy

ASIN: B0002CHIEM
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Amazon.com

This collection of vintage Harold Lloyd comedies is worth the price just for Grandma's Boy, a splendid hourlong feature from 1922. Lloyd plays a small-town fellow who lives with his frisky grandmother; convinced of his own cowardice, he yearns to compete for the hand of a pretty girl. His courtly call to the girl's home is the occasion for battle with a ridiculous "formal" suit, mothballs, and a litter of kittens attracted by the goose grease on his shoes. There's also a long (and quite funny) flashback to Lloyd's ancestor, tangled in a Civil War fracas. Lloyd, whose aquiline features were rounded off by horn-rimmed glasses, was more handsome and less clownish than many of his slapstick brethren, which made his acrobatic outbursts all the more surprising. That talent is well-displayed in the seven short (mostly between 20-25 minutes) films on this DVD, including Number, Please, which climaxes with a brilliant sequence involving a stolen purse, and His Royal Slyness, which also offers a look at Lloyd's brother Gaylord. --Robert Horton

Description

A standout contributor to the art of silent film comedy, Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) offers new generations a body of film work that is as fresh and entertaining as in its day. His roots were simple--born in rural Nebraska, product of a broken home, and initially destined for the legitimate stage--yet by the 1920s, Lloyd was both at the box office and in the polls, the most popular comic actor in the world.

And among the many short films are:

Customer Reviews:

Slapstick at its best.......2007-03-09

My brother really enjoyed this. If your into slapstick get it

Possible door in for new fans.......2005-08-03

While most of the films on here are very strong and solid, I don't think they're guaranteed to turn every first-time viewer into a huge fan. When I rented this from the library to see what all the fuss over Harold was about, I kind of had mixed reactions. I really liked 'Grandma's Boy,' the very early short feature-length film, and also enjoyed, among the shorts, 'I Do' (which was my personal favorite), 'Just Neighbors,' 'Number, Please?' (except for the disappointing ending), and 'Are Crooks Dishonest?' Though apparently a number of people really like them, I wasn't that captivated by 'An Eastern Westerner,' 'Bumping into Broadway,' or 'His Royal Slyness.' Still, it did make me generally interested enough to want to see more, and the next time I had a chance to see more, during the mini-marathon Turner Classic Movies ran of Harold's films during April 2005, I did become a big fan based on seeing some of his great full-length features. I think the ideal introduction to a new fan would be a feature-length movie, like 'Grandma's Boy' on this disc; it really serves to establish Harold's screen persona of the shy awkward smalltown boy, having to overcome obstacles such as cowardliness, meekness, local bad guys, and people who don't take him seriously. He was one of those comedians who was more like just a regular guy (with the simple physical modification of glasses) who got into normal understandable situations and trouble and had to use his own wits and summon his own courage and strength of character to get out of them and save the day. Because most of the shorts on this disc are from so early in Harold's career (some of them even from before the accident that nearly took his own life in September 1919), they might not be appreciated for their humor and brilliance by a new fan who is probably more apt to want to see Harold at the peak of his creativity, not when he was still learning the ropes and developing his character more and more.

Harold Lloyd, the GREAT.......2004-09-27

Ah...this was back when they actually made films. Most people think of only 2 masters of slapstick back in the 1920's, Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Well, Lloyd was as good as them, if not better. The cornerstone of American Comedy, Safety Last(1923) shows us is that Lloyd was more daring than his other 2 contemporaries, like in the scenes where he climbs the skyscraper and I'm sure everyone has seen the priceless scene where Lloyd hangs terrified from the hands of the big clock on the top of the skyscraper. Check this out and see true comedy.

A Pair Of Glasses And A Smile.......2004-09-02

At last - Harold Lloyd films on DVD; and about time too.
Excellent print quality throughout most of this DVD.
If only the musical accompaniment was supplied by "The Crescent City Jazz Band" as it was for the brilliant "World Of Harold Lloyd" series in the 1970's.
However, the comedy is what counts and I suppose I could always turn the sound off and play the music from the aforementioned series.
Now how about a DVD release of "Welcome Danger" which has never been shown in the UK.

Now, this is FUN! Even my kids enjoyed Harold!.......2004-08-30

OK, I've been a fan of Lloyd since age 11, too long ago for me to admit, and I am quite pleased to see at least a smattering of his work released on DVD. While the existing film quality of bits of two of the shorts exhibits nitrate deterioration, most of the material is almost pristine (even if the titles look to have been reshot and not original, for whatever reason). The humor, however, remains belly-busting funny, often with more laughs per reel, I think, than some of the better known Chaplin stuff (or maybe I am just getting Chaplined-out?) My kids, ages 12, 10 and 8, loved the more slapstick antics of Harold's various predicaments/solutions, in addition to cheering him on as he (eventually) prevailed in the feature "Grandma's Boy". I heartily recommend Lloyd to anyone looking for a fun addition to their DVD collection. If you have never seen a silent comedy, or have only seen Chaplin and/or Keaton, you are in for a treat. Now, if only Kino or the Lloyd Trust would get more of his work out on DVD and video!

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)

Average customer rating:

The evolution of a character
Treasure Trove of Wonderful Visual Humor
More Harold Lloyd, at last!
From slapstick to comedy
Great old films with brand-new music

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)
Starring: Harold Lloyd , 'Snub' Pollard , Bebe Daniels , Helen Gilmore , and William Blaisdell
Director: Gilbert Pratt , and Fred C. Newmeyer
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)
The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3
The Oliver Hardy Collection (Slapstick Symposium)
Industrial Strength Keaton

ASIN: B000AM4PJ0
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Customer Reviews:

The evolution of a character.......2007-05-28

This two-disc set contains four one-reelers, two two-reelers, and four three-reelers, dating from 1918 to 1921. While I've always preferred Harold's later features and three-reelers because they have more polish, sophistication, maturity, and development than his earlier one- and two-reelers, I have to admit that his early films from the Teens have a special charm and sweetness to them. They might not have as much plot and character development as his later works, but it's always fascinating to see how a comedian such as Harold developed, both as a performer and character-wise. And there is a marked difference between the first few one-reelers and the final three-reelers, showing a lot of growth in just those few years. It's also great to see the very natural interplay between Harold and his original leading lady Bebe Daniels, who were romantically involved in real life at the time. They were really one of the great screen couples of early film. 'Captain Kidd's Kids' even has a kind of bittersweet feel to it, knowing that this was his last time with Bebe as his leading lady. (The six shorts on the first disc are also notable for dating from before the accident that almost claimed his life, and to be able to see him with two full hands instead of wearing a prosthetic glove over his right hand.)

With the four three-reelers on the second disc ('High and Dizzy,' 'Never Weaken,' 'Now or Never,' and 'Among Those Present'), there's more time to develop a full story and to explore Harold's screen persona, instead of having to wrap everything up in only a reel or two. We start to see more mature stories and plots, and, since they have longer running times, a lot more gags. 'High and Dizzy' and 'Never Weaken' are also among his first thrill comedies, harbingers of what was to come in 'Safety Last!' Once Harold really hit his stride and fully came into his own, he just got better and better, and never really made a bad film, just ones that weren't as top-notch as others.

As wonderful as the films on here are, both entertainment-wise and for historical reasons, however, I do have to agree that the timing of this release was rather poorly-planned. It was released only two months before the seven-disc boxed set containing all of Harold's silent features, his best talkies, all of his three-reelers, and a number of his earlier shorts. Hence, there is partial overlap between the two sets; the only films on this set which aren't included on the boxed set are the five early shorts, 'Two-Gun Gussie,' 'The City Slicker,' 'The Non-Stop Kid,' 'Ring Up the Curtain,' and 'Captain Kidd's Kids.' Given the choice between the two, it seems obvious that the average person will be more likely to go for the boxed set instead of the two-disc collection. Perhaps if half of the material hadn't been duplicated, fans would be more likely to want both.

Treasure Trove of Wonderful Visual Humor.......2006-01-04

This two volume collection of Harold Lloyd shorts and "short features" (made between 1918 and 1921, just prior to his shift to full feature length movies) illustrates the emergence of the comedian as a highly original and major creative force, equaling, if not surpassing, the skills of Chaplin and Keaton. Indeed many of the gags or situations in these films suggest those that would later be used by the other two. There was no doubt a great deal of mutual cross-fertilization among the 3 comic greats during this period, as each refines and builds upon the gags introduced by the others. Still, one cannot escape the impression that it was Lloyd that during this period was the most prolific creator of new comic ideas. In From Hand to Mouth (1921), for example, there are scenes that suggest Chaplin's The Kid (Homeless Harold befriends an equally homeless waif) and Keaton's Cops (Harold is chased by a large numbers of cops).

None of the films in the collection stand out among the others as being far superior in quality; they all are consistently entertaining, fun to watch and instructive to fans of Lloyd's more mature features of the later 1920s, insofar as they show the hard work that went into refining and perfecting the stories, the "glasses" character, and the visual timing of the gags. The earlier character, as illustrated in the one-reeler The City Slicker (1918) tends to be more outwardly brash and self-confident, as his character sets out to modernize a rural hotel whose lobby is occupied mostly by elderly locals. He flirts with Bebe Daniels, his love interest, by snuggling up next to her on the front desk as she is registering. There are many amusing sight gags (also suggesting Keaton) including an push-buttoned hotel room.

By 1921, in High and Dizzy and Never Weaken, Lloyd starts to develop the daredevil-based humor that was to be perfected in Safety Last. His glasses character also starts to become more complex, less self-confident, more shy and full of personal frailties that need to be overcome by his stubborn determination in order to win his beloved Mildred. The visual gags also are less slapstick-based and more purely visual -- for example, the disguises Harold the doctor dons in High and Dizzy to convince his lone patient that he is successful are absurdly funny. By the time of Among Those Present (1921) the visual humor has been refined to social satire, as Harold's character demonstrates that the clueless upper crust can be easily conned by a clever impostor. The main highlight is Harold's telling of increasing absurd hunting stories, involving foxes, bears and lions, as he becomes increasingly drunk on the host's wine. By the time of Now or Never, the latest film in the collection, Harold has clearly graduated to feature length stories that develop plot and character.

This collection is a treasure trove of wonderful visual humor, and a glimpse into the comedy laboratory in which Harold Lloyd refined his genius.

More Harold Lloyd, at last!.......2005-10-07

This is yet another fine Kino Video production of a deluxe 2-disc edition featuring more silent comedy by one of the era's foremost comedians, Harold Lloyd. It follows the first excellent Kino Video DVD, "The Harold Lloyd Collection" (Vol 1) which features the one-hour "Grandma's Boy" and seven shorter comedies. In this second volume there is even more to enjoy, with six short pre-1920 comedies on the first disc, and four longer films on the second disc from 1920-21 which show Lloyd's quick development in a few short years; each film being different in its own way, and showcasing the versatility and wide range of themes Lloyd offered his audiences. Although ranked alongside Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, it was Harold Lloyd who attracted the biggest audiences and box office successes in the early 1920s, and it's high time, therefore, that his films are finally seeing the light of day again.

For those who don't already know: Harold Lloyd is pretty much an ordinary guy - unlike Chaplin whose trademark was his clown-like Tramp image, for instance, and his style is less slapstick than Chaplin and Arbuckle, but like Keaton and other silent film comedians, his strength also lies in athletic and even acrobatic ability. Being silent films, early comedies relied heavily on physical action and gags, and Harold Lloyd set a pace to rival Keaton and others, especially in the action-packed films on disc 2 like "High and Dizzy" and "Never Weaken". Some of the scenes taking place on high-rise ledges and scaffolding kept me on the edge of my seat holding my breath, while at the same time admiring the skills required to do such thrilling scenes in the early 1920s. There are many other thrills and surprises, and I particularly appreciate Kino Video's choice of films, presenting great variety on each disc: from barroom action in a Western ("Two Gun Gussie") to backstage antics in "Ring Up the Curtain" and adventures on the high seas on an all-girl pirate ship in "Captain Kidd's Kids". All of these films have the classic silent comedy formula of a boy, (Lloyd) a girl (Bebe Daniels in the early films, then Mildred Davis) and a third person; either a rival or a bad guy, and while this format is usually predictable, the rest of the plot is always a surprise. All these films are a real pleasure to watch all these decades later, especially due to very good picture quality and outstanding original piano score by Donald Sosin, whose silent film accompaniment is always a cut above the rest.

From slapstick to comedy.......2005-09-24

Indeed, why bother buying this release when 28 films by the late Harold Lloyd are just about to be released, complete with seal of approval by Suzanne Lloyd? Well, the antics of the somewhat dated duet Pollard/lloyd are certainly not up to standard with the tightly-scripted, gorgeously-photographed and carefully-preserved features New Line is about to provide us as part of their impressive 7-DVD set, yet this massive offering was obviously conceived as a tribute to the stellar aspect of the comedian career, and the crude beginnings of his bespectacled persona have been carefully ignored. This Kino release shows us how Lloyd evolved from the madness of his post-sennettian style to the more subtle touch of his first three- and four-reelers; as such, and while it is admitted that the box set is indeed indispensable, this is a slice of history, not tampered with, for better and for worse.

Great old films with brand-new music.......2005-08-29

OK, I'm prejudiced. I wrote the piano music for this Kino release. It's all in the style of the late teens and early 20's and I am told it's fun to listen to by itself. So let your ears be your guide as well as your eyes when you enjoy this wonderful set of early Harold Lloyd shorts, including the zany action of TWO GUN GUSSIE, HIGH AND DIZZY, and THE NON STOP KID.

I am sure the New Line set coming in November will be fascinating, but I wouldn't let that stop you from purchasing this one with all new music composed specifically for the films, not just mono needle drops from old 78 transfers.

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 2

Average customer rating:

Glad I bought
Clever and funny
More of the Napoleon Dynamite of the 1920s

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 2
Starring: Eddie Boland , Olin Francis , Walter James , Frank Lanning , and Harold Lloyd
Director: Harold Lloyd , Lewis Milestone , and Ted Wilde
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 3
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vol. 1
The Circus (2 Disc Special Edition)
Our Hospitality/Sherlock, Jr.
The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)

ASIN: B000B5XORU
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Amazon.com

The second volume of the definitive Harold Lloyd collection in no way plays second banana to Vol. 1. This splendid two-disc set might be the best of the three Lloyd volumes, and on its own serves as a worthy introduction to one of silent cinema's comic geniuses. It has three of Lloyd's finest features, Grandma's Boy, <>The Freshman, and The Kid Brother, one of his funniest sound features, and a smorgasbord of topnotch shorter films.

The Freshman (1925) presents Lloyd's successful screen persona fully realized: hopeful, plucky, a regular guy with high ambitions. He plays a college plebe whose ridiculous ideas about making himself ingratiating to others (including hilariously inapt jig during a handshake) makes him the laughingstock of the campus. The movie concludes with a justifiably famous f