Freshman, The (1925)
Freshman, The (1925), directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor.
More than Charlie Chaplin, even more than Buster Keaton, my favorite comedian of the silent era is Harold Lloyd. His combination of sensitivity, grit and eternal optimism is irresistible.
This is said to be his most popular feature film, Harold going to a college which has no academics, just social life and athletics. He's seen how to do it in movies, but his efforts make him the butt of jokes, especially when the thin young man wants to join the football team.
As always: many skits and constant physical humor as we cheer and groan along with him. The climax is the crucial football game.
My favorite little bit: at a dance, Harold watches the hat check girl plucking petals from a flower. "He loves me..." -- Harold nods in sympathy -- "He loves me not" -- Harold shakes his head. When she ends with "He loves me!" he laughs with happiness for her and dances away.
He did about 99% of his own stunts.
He lost the thumb and forefinger of his right hand in a prop bomb explosion and wore a prosthetic glove. You have to look really closely to see it.
There is no glass in his glasses.
He had his own production company for feature films. We have quality restorations 100 years later because he took care of the elements.
Available on Blu-ray from Criterion. In an earlier New Line DVD box set the film is scored by Robert Israel, but Criterion uses Carl Davis. It is too bad that both scores could not be on the Blu-ray because both composers make fine silent film music.
The Blu-ray and earlier DVD share the same commentary track with Leonard Maltin, Richard Correll and Richard Bann.
