Harold Lloyd - forgotten genius, part one

December 14, 2008, admin

Today, Harold Lloyd is much less well known than his contemporaries, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. Yet in the 1920s, Lloyd was not only one of the most well known people in the world, but was reputed to be the highest paid film star in Hollywood. He was also extremely prolific, making over 200 films in his career. Lloyd was a true pioneer, arguably the first major comedian who emerged from the film industry itself, rather than from extending an existing vaudeville career. He was also the ultimate exponent of ‘thrill comedy’, in which the protagonist (invariably Lloyd himself) found himself in comedic but dangerous situations.

There are many excellent and detailed articles available online which trace Lloyd’s career and influence. Here, we offer just a few snippets about this unfairly neglected genius.

The ‘Glasses Character’

The Glasses Character

At the start of his career, Lloyd portrayed characters that were virtual clones of Charlie Chaplin’s ‘tramp’ character. The most well-known of these is ‘Lonesome Luke’.

His career really took off with the invention, in 1917, of ‘the glasses character’, a boy next door with a winning smile and an endless resourcefulness. The glasses character was an everyman rather than a caricature, allowing Lloyd to explore the humour within mundane, everyday situations. His optimism and go-getting nature fitted perfectly with the American twenties zeitgeist and the audience was able to connect with the glasses character in a very direct way. Above all, the glasses character introduced relatively plausible romance to the screen and with him, Lloyd almost single-handedly invented the genre of ‘romantic comedy’.

Injury and recovery

In August of 1919, Lloyd was posing with a stage bomb for a photograph. The pose involved him lighting the fuse with a cigarette. Tragically, there was a mix-up with the props and Lloyd was given a special-effects bomb that exploded in his hand. The thumb and forefinger of his right hand were blown off; however, the greater worry was for his sight. Doctors thought it likely that he would never see again.

In time, however, Lloyd’s sight returned and a prosthetic glove designed to disguise the injury. Given that nearly all of Lloyd’s work called for athletic feats and that he was renowned for carrying out the majority of his own stunts, it is remarkable that Lloyd found ways to work around his disability.

Harold Lloyd’s financial success

Lloyd’s film career brought him immense wealth. At one time, he was one of the ten highest paid entertainers in the world, or, according to some sources, the highest paid film performer in the world.  Greenacres, the Lloyd’s estate (built 1926-9) became a byword for opulence. It has 44 rooms, 26 bathrooms, 12 fountains, 12 gardens and a 9 hole golf course. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and featured in the 1973 film Westworld.

Few people would suspect that Lloyd’s 1920s films made more money than Charlie Chaplin’s. Lloyd’s films grossed $15.7 million to Chaplin’s $10.5 million. Although Chaplin’s films made more money individually, Lloyd made twelve feature films compared to Chaplin’s three.

Decline of career

Throughout the 1920s, Lloyd consistently earned around $1.5 million per film. But the arrival of sound proved problematic and ultimately an insurmountable barrier. The writers, and Lloyd, found it difficult to adjust to producing comedy in which dialogue played a key role.

At first, the transition looked to be working well, with Lloyd’s first ‘talkie’, Welcome Danger, grossing around $3 million. But by 1934, The Cat’s Paw made a loss, which was repeated in The Milky Way (1936). In 1938, Lloyd lost $119,000 of his own money on Professor Beware. By the age of 45, his movie career was effectively over.

Hobbies and interest

When it came to hobbies, Harold Lloyd was something of a serial obsessionist. He was rich, energetic and after the decline of his career, at something of a loose end. His interests were diverse and included microscopy, travel,  chess, breeding Great Danes, bowling, stereo systems and photography.

Of all of these, probably his deepest and longest-standing interest was photography. Lloyd conducted early experiments in colour film: in 1929,some of the earliest Technicolor tests were shot at Greenacres. After his career was over, he returned to this interest, and particularly in 3D colour photography. He photographed many celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe in a bathing suit at his pool, this latter published after their deaths. His collection of 3D stills was estimated at 250,000, most of which were nude, glamour shots. In 2004, his granddaughter Suzanne produced a book of selections from his photographs, subtly titled Harold Lloyd’s Hollywood Nudes in 3D!

In his later years, Lloyd became obsessed with state-of-the-art stereo systems, which he would play at building-shaking volumes. He ordered the entire annual catalogues of several record companies and his collection exceeded that of many record stores.

Not that all of his interests were so cerebral or aesthetic: as a younger man, he indulged a reputedly formidable libido and, according to Hal Roach, left several illegitimate children.

Further Reading

In part two, we will look at Harold’s domestic life, his creative control over his output and the highpoints of his film career.

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