Customer Reviews

Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian

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Jeffry Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (Harold's granddaughter) have put together a fascinating book on Harold Lloyd's films and life. Always considered one of the "big three" silent film comedians, it has been difficult to appreciate Lloyd because his films were rarely shown at revivals and on television. The release of this book and the showings of his films on TCM are starting a Harold Lloyd revival.

This book features many large, beautiful photographs from the Lloyd estate. Many of these photos have never been published before. Jeffry Vance has written incisive reviews of each of Harold's features. He details important events about the making of the films, and why they were successful (or not). He also includes some surprising details about Harold's and Mildred Davis Lloyd's private life. Suzanne Lloyd has included a chapter of her remembrances of Harold. Finally, a long interview is included that Harold gave to the AFI before his death.

If you are a fan of silent film comedies, you won't be able to put this book down.

"Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian" is a magnificent tribute to one of the greatest stars in the history of film. This book celebrates Harold and his contribution to the film industry by showcasing 225 pristine photographs from the life and works of Lloyd, whose films include such classics as "Grandma's Boy", "Safety Last", "Girl Shy", The Freshman", "The Kid Brother", "Speedy", "Movie Crazy", and many more. These photographs are of the highest quality and, even though some have been featured previously in other books, the pictures have never been presented in such a clear, vibrant form. "Master Comedian" features a thoroughly researched text by film historian Jeffrey Vance (co-author of "Buster Keaton Remembered") and Suzanne Lloyd, Harold's granddaughter. The late Jack Lemmon authored the book's forward and Kevin Brownlow (author of "The Parades Gone By") wrote the introduction.

"Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian" provides a very informative look at Harold's life and films. The book begins with the presentation of a brief biography and a discussion of his early work in one, two, and three-reel comedies. A large part of the book, however, is devoted to the individual chapters focusing on each of his feature length productions. There is even a special section devoted to Harold's luxurious estate, Greenacres, and a chapter where Suzanne recalls what it was like growing up there with her famous grandfather. The book concludes with a transcript of an interesting interview Harold gave to the AFI in 1969 and an updated filmography.

I cannot say enough positive things about this book, "Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian" is one of the most distinguished volumes I have in my collection and is a fitting tribute to a film legend. Everything from the book's stunning photographs to its interesting and informative text makes it a highly recommended addition to anyone's personal library.

This book truly is a labor of love. Absolutely everything one would want to know about Harold Lloyd is included in this handsomely designed book. We are given a great deal of information, with many stills, about the early short films Harold Lloyd made with Hal Roach. The first screen character he developed, Lonesome Luke, is given very good coverage with many photographs. Individual attention is given to the feature length films made during the 1920s, such as Safety Last, Hot Water and The Kid Brother, to Lloyd's last in 1947 - The Sin of Harold Diddlebock. A real treat is the forward by Jack Lemon, who knew Harold Lloyd and was going to play him in a film biography until the project fell through.

The participation of Lloyd's granddaughter Suzanne has meant everything to the success of this book. We can not only see some marvelous stills from Lloyd's movies but family photos. A very interesting photo is of Mr. Lloyd with the honorary Oscar he received in 1953. A short section gives us a look at Greenacres, Mr. Lloyd's palatial home. The appendix lists all of Harold Lloyd's appearances on film, radio and television.

In short, the warmth behind a Harold Lloyd film is carried through to this book. This is a marvelous introduction to the life and work of Harold Lloyd and also a volume that will be cherished by people who know and love his films. One can easily understand why Harold Lloyd was the Third Genius.

"Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian" is Jeffrey Vance's inspired follow-up to his excellent pictorial biography, "Buster Keaton Remembered." Vance showcases a remarkable series of Lloyd production stills and personal photographs with a thoughtful, revealing text (including contributions by film historian Kevin Brownlow and the late Jack Lemmon). Though Lloyd's go-getting comic persona has not endured in the same fashion as Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, his best silents - "The Freshman" (1925), "The Kid Brother" (1927) and "Speedy" (1928) - capture the determined spirit and optimism of the Roaring Twenties better than any filmmaker. Unfortunately, several generations know little about the bespectacled comedian, since Lloyd (who died in 1971 at age 77) rarely reissued his classic films. Thanks to the efforts of Vance and the Harold Lloyd Trust, his existing work has been well-preserved, with a long-overdue renaissance just around the corner. Hopefully, this book will encourage readers to rediscover the cinematic brilliance and comic ingenuity of a truly American artist.

Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian by Jeffret Vance and Suzanne Lloyd is a brand new fantastic book on the life of a master comedian and filmmaker. This is truly a great book and I urge you to buy it. If in the past you've only been familiar with the films of Chaplin and Keaton, please buy this book to find out how much Lloyd actually inspired Chaplin and Keaton's films. Harold Lloyd was not only a great actor, but he and his cameraman Walter Lundin created various great camera angles and innovations. Harold Lloyd's Masterpieces such as GRANDMA'S BOY (1922), SAFETY LAST! (1923), GIRL SHY (1924), THE FRESHMAN (1925), THE KID BROTHER (1927) and SPEEDY (1928) are just as spectacular today as the day they were filmed. Harold Lloyd's "talkie films" have known to be not so good however Harold did make 3 great films in the 30s called MOVIE CRAZY (1932), THE CAT'S PAW (1934), and THE MILKY WAY (1936). Harold Lloyd then drifted away from filmmaking to pursue other interests until the 60s when he re-released some of his films in to two compilation films and so forth.

Harold Lloyd will forever be my favourite cinema genius and go ahead and buy this book and hopefully his films will be released on DVD as soon as possible.

This is a good one - especially if you are a film geek. You can impress your friends with your knowledge of this great actor. Place it on your coffee table. When guests ask you who Harold Lloyd was, you can roll your eyes and say, "what? you don't know who Harold Lloyd was, I can't believe I am friends with you."

Great pictures. Great background and gossip.

One would expect to pay at least twice as much for such a handsome book, a real tribute to its subject. Oversized and lavishly illustrated with what seems like a thousand stunning photographs of Lloyd in his starring roles as well as behind the scenes. It's a shame that some of the quintessential, classic visual comedic moments of Lloyd's career are not represented here, such as losing his trousers at the formal dance in "The Freshman," especially when the author takes the trouble to repeat the oft-told tale of Lloyd reassembling the cast and set to add this gag after preview audiences were disappointed that the Freshman's unravelling suit stopped short of his pants. Fans of Lloyd, the silent era, comedy, Hollywood and cinema history will be thrilled to own this book -- which hopefully heralds the release of Lloyd's work restored on DVD.

Jeffry Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (Harold's granddaughter) have put together a fascinating book on Harold Lloyd's films and life. Always considered one of the "big three" silent film comedians, it has been difficult to appreciate Lloyd because his films were rarely shown at revivals and on television. The release of this book and the showings of his films on TCM are starting a Harold Lloyd revival.

This book features many large, beautiful photographs from the Lloyd estate. Many of these photos have never been published before. Jeffry Vance has written incisive reviews of each of Harold's features. He details important events about the making of the films, and why they were successful (or not). He also includes some surprising details about Harold's and Mildred Davis Lloyd's private life. Suzanne Lloyd has included a chapter of her remembrances of Harold. Finally, a long interview is included that Harold gave to the AFI before his death.

If you are a fan of silent film comedies, you won't be able to put this book down.

This is a wonderful book loaded with beautiful pictures, both candids and stills (proof that black and white photography is just as visually arresting as color photography, if not more so), together with chapters about Harold's feature films, his early life, an interview he had with members of the AFI late in his life, Greenacres (the fairytale-like estate he built for his family), his relationship with his wife Mildred Davis, his later years, and the author's memories of Harold. Suzanne Lloyd was raised by her grandparents, so this was a real labor of love, one which produced a very classy book. Sometimes it seems like all celebrity bios, particularly ones written by close family members, are either total hack jobs or total sugarcoating, but this one shows honesty and evenhandedness. For example, Suzanne, in the chapter on her grandparents' romance and eventual marriage, mentions that even though they did have one of Hollywood's longest marriages, a marriage which is also considered one of Hollywood's happiest, Harold did cheat on Mildred and have affairs (such as with his leading lady Jobyna Ralston). This is rather shocking information, esp. because their marriage is often held up as one of the rare few happy ones from Hollywood, but Suzanne conveys this information in an evenhanded way instead of making excuses for it or demonising Harold. (Though honestly, by today's standards, Harold's extramarital exploits seem rather tame.) And this couldn't have been easy to do, considering she was talking about her beloved grandfather being unfaithful to her equally beloved grandmother. Throughout the book, she gives a balanced portrayal of her grandfather, and though he did have faults, like any normal human being, he still comes across as a really nice guy, a class act, a consummate professional, a truly talented comedian, someone who really cared about his fans, particularly from the younger generation, someone who did an awful lot of good things for child burn victims (and other children in general) in the hospitals run by his fraternal organisation the Shriners.

My only complaint about this book is that it wasn't long enough! I wanted to read even more about all of these great films and to see even more pictures. I also wished the filmograhy had listed which of these films are lost and which survive. Obviously all of Harold's silent and sound features are still with us, as are all of his three-reelers and many of his later two-reelers, but I would have liked to have seen a listing of which of his Glasses Character two-reelers are lost and which are extant, and particularly would have liked to have seen a listing of which of the 14 Lonesome Lukes are the ones still known to survive. Still, all told, this is a fabulous book, a great addition to either your coffeetable or your own personal library on the bookshelf.

Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) was one of the greatest Silent Film Era actors, ranked right up with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. This 2002 book was written by a noted author and film historian, and Mr. Lloyd's beloved granddaughter. It starts out with a very well written biography of the great actor, and then slips into the crowning glory of the book, an in-depth look at each of his feature-length movies. Finally, there is a chapter by Suzanne Lloyd in which she reminisces about her years spent growing up with Harold. Along the way, the reader is treated to many excellent black-and-white pictures.

This is a truly excellent book, and a great resource on Harold Lloyd. The authors did a great job of giving the reader a lot of depth on Mr. Lloyd, the man and the actor. I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the great man!