Harold Lloyd and the Move to Features

Harold Lloyd has, in the last couple of years, regained his proper place beside Chaplin and Keaton as one of the three giants of silent film comedy (although not the only three, by any means). This has been due to the simple fact that is work is now available for re-evaluation in prints with scores that do justice to the art.

This has allowed viewers to sit down and acquaint themselves with the "Glasses" character who was the box office champ in comedy during the '20s and whose career spanned from the early days of pioneer knockabout-comedy filmmaking to the post-war era and the satirical comedies of Preston Sturges (for whom Lloyd acted in an underrated character comedy, THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK).

Because Lloyd made so many shorts, only a number of them have survived, mostly from the later part of the 1910s-early 20s. One thing that becomes apparent watching these shorts is that more than perhaps any other comedian, Lloyd needed to make the move to feature films in order to make his character complete.

Comparing him with his most famous contemporaries, Chaplin and Keaton, for a moment, Lloyd's shorts are filled with exposition, story, and supporting characters, who are usually announced in a breathlessly fast series of titles in the beginning of the shorts. Chaplin and Keaton, on the other hand, rarely had much need for a complex storyline, especially in their shorts. Chaplin was perhaps famous in many ways for being a comic "minimalist" in that he, like his fellow Karno performer Stan Laurel, could get mileage out of even the simplest act, and make it achingly funny in the process. Keaton's humor relied on larger set pieces, but his character was still at the center of it all and there are long stretches in his films where he is the only human figure on screen.

Lloyd, on the other hand, inevitably has a girl in all his films whom he was trying to please. There is usually the girl's father, a rival, and various other supporting characters that all come in to the plot, like a condensed farce. This can detract from Lloyd's character, hampering the amount of attention he receives on screen.

The move to features seemed an inevitable one for Lloyd. In fact, the move occurred completely naturally and even "accidentally"-the short film GRANDMA'S BOY kept filming and filming until it became a 5-reeler, and Lloyd decided to release it as such. The main point to be seen in watching the film today is how the added length gave Lloyd much more breathing room to develop character and story (unlike Chaplin and Keaton, whom the audience is already completely familiar with the minute they step on screen, Lloyd's character varied more from film to film and needed more development on screen to help establish him within the story).

It's easy to see why GRANDMA'S BOY was a breakthrough film. It gives a new depth to slapstick, "vulgar" comedy (as opposed to the refined, plot-driven "genteel" comedy that was the mainstay of features up to that point). It was so successful in fact, that both Chaplin and Keaton followed suit and moved pretty much into features exclusively during the next year r two. The move to features also helped solidfy the concept of the "big three" because of the sheer amount of short comedies being produced in the 1920s, features were seen as a sort of "step up" or higher plateau, at least in box office terms.

What Lloyd lacked in his ability to perform long, solo comic set-pieces, he was strengthened in his ability to convey plot, character, and filmmaking technique (usually the principle elements of high comedy) and combine it with gags, slapstick and other ingredients more common to the low, "slapstick" comedy.

His films today maintain their appeal for that very reason. His ability to integrate hilarious gags into a narrative work that stands well on its own as a piece of filmmaking is a tribute to his craftsmanship. That his films are still watched and admired around the world, constantly finding new audiences and bringing delight to audiences born 20 years after Lloyd's death, is a tribute to his artistry.