"Lacking the vaudeville training of his chief contemporaries, Lloyd nonetheless grew quickly from a gag technician to a skilled actor. In 1917, he created his famed Glass Character, but a live bomb amongst the props maimed his hand two years later. Keeping his handicap hidden by use of a revolutionary prosthetic, he continued to both charm and enthrall audiences. "The action may be outlandish," he said of himself, "but the characters - most particularly the central character - must not be.""--BOOK JACKET.
This is the HARDBACK version. Voted "Best Book of 2009" by Classic Images magazine! You know the films. You know the characters. You may even know the man behind the glasses. But do you really know the events and happenings that most changed Harold Lloyd? That define him? The turning points in his life and career? From birth to death, Harold Lloyd grew and evolved because of the things that were happening around him, and he was always aware of the importance of these events. These are the turning points that fashioned the magic . . . the coin flip that got him to California . . . meeting a fellow extra at Universal by the name of Hal Roach . . . creating his revolutionary Glass Character . . . a death-defying bomb accident . . . patenting his legendary thrill comedies . . . building his Greenacres . . . making a too-quick leap into sound . . . taking perpetual control of his films . . . deciding to raise his granddaughter . . . leaving two film compilations for posterity . . . not allowing his films to be aired on early television . . . winning his Oscar. Friends, family, and Harold Lloyd himself, together with author Annette D'Agostino Lloyd, tell the story that gives us a clear picture of this comedy legend.
"Wishart and the staff of the Center for Great Plains Studies have compiled a wide-ranging (pun intended) encyclopedia of this important region. Their objective was to 'give definition to a region that has traditionally been poorly defined,' and they have
In this long overdue and affectionate salute, celebrated comedy historian Robert Ross pays tribute to some of the finest, funniest and most fascinating names in comedy from both sides of the Atlantic. Monty Python’s Terry Jones wrote the foreword. With the passionate input of such comics as Tim Brooke-Taylor, Hattie Hayridge, Roy Hudd, Michael Palin, Ross Noble, Chris Addison and Bernard Cribbins, Ross honours these legends of humor who, for a variety of reasons, didn't quite reach the heady heights of stardom or, once they had, couldn't cope with the pressures. Whether it is a favorite from the distant smoke- and ale-stained world of the Music Hall like the great George Robey, or the downbeat poetry of Hovis Presley, who dropped disenchanted bombs on the late 1990s, Forgotten Heroes of Comedy will finally elevate them to the Hall of Fame where they belong. Forgotten, no longer. UK Joe Baker UK Eric Barker UK Alfie Bass UK Michael Bates India (to English parents) David Battley UK Michael Bentine UK Harold Berens UK Wilie Best USA Alec Bregonzi UK Michael Ward UK Douglas Byng UK Marti Caine UK Esma Cannon Australia (but moved to UK) Patrick Cargill UK Jimmy Clitheroe UK Danny Ross UK Billy Dainty UK Janet Davies UK Florence Desmond UK Jerry Desmonde UK Eddie Leslie UK Maidie Dickson UK Charlie Drake UK Jimmy Edwards UK Gus Elen UK Ray Ellington UK Dick Emery UK Pierre Etaix France Barry Evans UK Mario Fabrizi UK Doug Fisher UK Ronald Frankau UK Leslie Fuller UK Dustin Gee UK Peter Glaze UK Tommy Godfrey UK Harry Locke UK Ken Goodwin UK Bernard Gorcey Russia (died USA) Bert Gordon USA Monsewer' Eddie Gray UK Raymond Griffith USA Deryck Guyler UK Brian Hall UK Lloyd Hamilton USA Arthur Haynes UK Richard Hearne UK Dickie Henderson UK Gerard Hoffnung Germany (died UK) Shemp Howard USA Nat Jackley UK Rex Jameson UK Spike Jones USA John Junkin UK Dave King UK Roy Kinnear UK Dennis Kirkland UK Patsy Knox USA Debbie Linden UK Hugh Lloyd UK Malcolm McFee UK Moore Marriott UK Graham Moffatt UK Ray Martine UK Zeppo Marx USA Glenn Melvyn UK Eric Merriman UK Christopher Mitchell UK Albert Modley UK Robert Moreton UK Gladys Morgan UK Lily Morris UK Richard Murdoch UK Tom E. Murray USA David Nixon UK Larry Noble UK Ole Olsen USA Chic Johnson USA Ken Platt UK Sandy Powell UK Vince Powell UK Hovis Presley UK Cardew Robinson UK Joe E. Ross USA Patsy Rowlands UK Derek Roy UK Derek Royle UK Leslie Sarony UK Larry Semon USA Ronald Shiner UK Johnnie Silver USA Dennis Spicer UK Larry Stephens UK Jake Thackray UK Thelma Todd USA Jack Train UK Karl Valentin Germany Liesl Karlstadt Germany Norman Vaughan UK Tom Walls UK Ralph Lynn UK Elsie and Doris Waters UK Rita Webb UK John Wells UK George and Kenneth Western UK Gordon Wharmby UK Bert Wheeler USA Robert Woolsey USA Albert Whelan Australia (died UK) Robb Wilton UK Mike and Bernie Winters UK Georgie Wood UK Dolly Harmer UK Harry Worth UK Mario Zampi Italy (died UK)
From the moment films were first produced, comedy has been a key feature of cinema. From just before the turn of the twentieth century until the early 1930s, audiences celebrated the brilliant humor of cinematic clowns who left their marks forever. We still remember—and laugh at—the hilarious antics of Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and many others. In 100 Essential Silent Film Comedies James Roots identifies the major comedic motion pictures produced in the first few decades of the twentieth century. With a lucid and lively style, Roots takes a look at more than 400 silent comedies and narrows the list to 100 that viewers should consider. Each entry includes cast and crew information, a synopsis, critical evaluation, and additional commentary—all to demonstrate why that particular film is essential viewing. The films range from 70 seconds to full-length features and even include some of the earliest produced films, starting in 1894. In addition to citing Hollywood’s finest, the book profiles comedies from around the world, including selections from the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Russia. More thanseventy silent comedians from Charlie Chaplin to Max Linder are represented in these selections, and the book celebrates such established classics as The General and Safety Last—as well as relatively obscure one-reelers. Including information about DVD availability, 100 Essential Silent Film Comedies is an invaluable resource that provides both scholars and general film fans a list of entertaining films to explore.
The silent film era featured some of the most revered names of on-screen comic performance, from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, and Laurel & Hardy. Besides these giants of cinema, however, there are other silent era performers—both leading actors and supporting players—who left an enduring legacy of laughter. In The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians, James Roots ranks the greatest performers based on a scorecard that measures each comic’s humor, timelessness, originality, and teamwork. Far more than just a listing, this is an idiosyncratic and entertaining review of the men and women who created the golden age of comedy. As a critic and deaf viewer, Roots brings a truly unique perspective to the evaluation of these performers and their work. He has viewed thousands of silent comedies and offers some assessments that run contrary to the standard list of performers. While many obvious names are placed in the top echelon, the author also champions performers who have been neglected, in part because their work has not been as visible. Each entry includes a filmography a scorecard an evaluation of the artist’s overall work an assessment of representative films DVD availability With the increased availability of films on DVD, as well as Internet access, more and more silent performers are being discovered by film fans. Supplemented by an appendix of comedians who missed the cut, as well as an annotated bibliography, The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians will be an invaluable resource to anyone wanting to know more about the brilliant entertainers of the silent era.
A dazzling array of Hollywood starlets and pin-up girls come to life in hundreds of eye-popping, 3-D photographs taken by legendary film star Harold Lloyd "Lush and glorious?" ?Vanity Fair Includes a pair of Harold Lloyd-style 3-D glasses! Harold Lloyd, along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, was one of the greatest stars of the silent film era, appearing in such classics as Safety Last! and The Freshman. He was also an avid photographer with a passion for stereoscopic photography, or 3-D. In 1947 he began taking pictures of family and friends, including Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Ronald Reagan. During his lifetime he took more than 300,000 photographs, thousands of which featured starlets and models who posed nude in front of some of the most spectacular and creative backdrops and scenery. Collected here for the first time by Lloyd's granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, and now in paperback, Harold Lloyd's Hollywood Nudes in 3-D! presents the most lavish, luscious, and, yes, ludicrous photographs of Hollywood nudes from the 1940's, 50's and 60's in all kinds of settings, including Lloyd's luxurious Greenacres estate, the Grand Canyon, and studios filled with outrageous props such as faux flowers, animal pelts, and Christmas kitsch. There are 200 photographs in all, 50 of them rendered in 3-D and viewable with the special Harold Lloyd?style 3-D spectacles for an enhanced and extraordinary visual experience!
