This was originally one part of a larger group presentation that also focused on Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. The overall presentation was orchestrated for a BA (Hons) Film and Screen Studies course. As the title suggests, I focused on Harold. I conducted a research project on his life and career and, in addition to this presentation, I also expressed that in a critical film review and a critical book analysis. I was awarded a first for all three components. I have removed the clips, but the presentation still makes sense regardless.

1. Harold Lloyd
Do the narrative approaches of
Harold Lloyd create a formulaic
approach to silent comedy?
By
Peter O’Brien

2. Safety Last!
(Dir. Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, USA, 1923)

3. The Glass Character
• “Chaplin and Keaton persevere because
their characters are aspirational, yet this
quality, paradoxically, also makes them
remote. No, matter how hard we try, we will
never be as clever and as resourceful as
Chaplin’s Little Tramp, nor will we ever
approach impending disaster with Keaton’s
stoic reserve. Ultimately, we embrace
Harold Lloyd because he is one of us, an
ordinary fellow, dealing with ordinary
struggles, losses and embarrassments”
(Vance et al., 2002:201).
• The Glass character was a much more realistic and grounded
approach to screen comedy, opposed to the personas of the other
comics.

4. The Glass Character(s)
• While the physical exterior and horn-rimmed glasses were always
the same the psychological interior of the Glass Character changes
from film to film.
• “I changed the attitude of my character in practically every different
picture… one time he could be an introvert, he could be just a
normal boy, he could be very shy or he could be exceedingly brash”
(Lloyd, 1963).

5. An Actor Playing a Comedian
• “Harold Lloyd is not a comedian but he was the best actor to
act the part of a comedian” (Roach, 1992).
• Lloyd had a versatility as an actor that
extended far beyond his abilities as a
physical comedian.
• Unlike Chaplin’s over sentimentality or
Keaton’s constant deadpan or Laurel &
Hardy’s general knockabout, Lloyd was
able to inject a vast range of grounded
performances into his films.

6. Girl Shy
(Dir. Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, USA, 1924)

7. Two Types of Films
The Gag Picture The Character Picture
Safety Last! Girl Shy
• But there is a another banner under which we can place at least five of his
films…

8. The Thrill Picture
• A film: “In which comedy at its most
inspired and suspense at its most
excruciating are ingeniously
interwoven to perfection” (Vance et
al, 2002: 90).
• It introduced a new formula of
extreme danger comedy which
became instantly popular and which
the other comics absorbed into their
own films.

9. Our Hospitality
(Dir. John G. Blystone and Buster Keaton, USA, 1923)

10. The Circus
(Dir. Charles Chaplin, USA, 1928)

11. Liberty
(Dir. Leo McCarey, USA, 1929)

12. The Three Formulas
• The Gag Formula
– Building on his earlier experience in slapstick knockabout
comedy Lloyd constructs more intricate comedy routines.
In his films one comedy routine leads into another but
these films have very basic storylines.
• The Character Formula
– After being inspired by Chaplin’s The Kid, Lloyd exploits his
vast acting range and injects more character and narrative
complexity into his films.
• The Thrill Formula
– He discovers a niche in the comedy genre that the other
comics have missed and really starts to make a name for
himself because of it.

13. The Thrill Formula
• “Despite the fact that Harold made only five
“thrill” pictures in a career that encompassed
over 200 films, he is often thought as a thrill
comedian. This characterization upset Harold,
who rightfully thought himself more versatile
than that reductive label suggests. However,
Harold understood that he was best known for
his “thrill” comedy because he did it better
than anyone else” (Vance et all, 2002: 96).