Speedy Harold Lloyd\'s 1928 Film

Speedy

Harold Lloyd's 1928 film "Speedy" -- a study of its cinematography, lighting and characters

The 1928 film "Speedy" starring Harold Lloyd at first seems like a curiosity piece for a 21st century viewer. The black-and-white film starring the silent film comedian, the bespectacled Harold Lloyd, is about the conflict between progress and the values of an older age, embodied in the grandfather of the film's heroine Jane Dillon and a group of Civil War veterans who take Pop Dillon's side as he fights to get a fair price for his horse and buggy route from the city transportation syndicate. The film upholds the glory of American technological progress, even while it shows respect to Pop. It emphasizes the joyous, rollicking life of the title character, played by Lloyd, who is often at the wheel of an automobile, and is always in motion, as he bounces from job to job. Speedy's zest for life and his flapper girlfriend command the viewer's laughter and love. To contemporary viewers, the film is silent, and its visual humor and cartoon-like motions and plot make it look like something from the past, but the theme and style of the film is brash, action-packed, and sees modernity and glory of the automobile as benign, not dangerous.

One of the notable features of the cinematography of the silent era is the way that it emphasizes physical action, rather than sustained close-ups. Lloyd's features command the viewer's attention because of the stark black glasses he wears, which are a sharp contrast against his white face. He looks almost like a cartoon character, and the camera usually focuses on large, exciting images and movements throughout the film, rather than on detailed close-ups. This is especially true during the final series of car chases and fights. The action scenes make use of frequent jump cuts, but most of the shots focus on 'wide' action, rather than on small details, unless a close-up is necessary to illustrate a sight gag.

The first job the audience sees Speedy performing is that of a soda jerk. The scene is filled with comic machinations about serving his various customers. The title character is also a Yankee fan. In a wonderful touch of old New York Americana Speedy uses the soda fountain telephone to get updates of the Yankees-White Sox game (which was apparently just as contentious a baseball rivalry then as it is today). Speedy keeps the customers updated on the score by taking bites in various pastries in a display case, in another striking visual. During his next job, he is a taxi driver, and gets to take Babe Ruth in his cab on a high-speed chase, terrifying even the famous baseball player. Then, the Babe himself is seen slugging it out in Coney Island at Yankee stadium, in a shot taken from a stadium-dweller's vantage point. Whether driving a cab or running the gamut of strange-looking rides at Coney Island, Speedy is always one of 'us,' the viewers, as the film shows his supple figure subject to a constant barrage of frightening threats from above and below. This cumulates in the final chase scene when Speedy once again shows ingenuity when a wheel comes off the car he is driving, which has to be replaced with a manhole cover.

The film celebrates motion and freedom in its visual images, exemplified in the frenetic pace of the American automobile. Pop is a good man, but his horse and buggy are slow, and of another era. Although some suspicion of progress might be seen in the way that it imperils the protagonist with machines and how the city officials strive to cheat Jane's 'Pop,' even Pop knows that he can no longer survive driving a horse and buggy and it is time to retire. The lighting of the film is also bright and most of the scenes are bathed in light. Of course, as one of the last silent films, "Speedy" is in black and white, but it is more 'white' than black, in its tones. Coney Island, when the couple goes to see the Yankees is positively awash with light. Even when Jane and Speedy are encased within various shiny rides, they and the other characters dress in summery fabrics, to create a sense of delicacy and sunshine. Unlike Chaplin's "Modern Times" these characters are cogs in the wheels of Coney Island's fun and games, not industrialized machinery. Lloyd's balletic movements never seem to put him at real physical risk because of the film's light visual tones, and the threat of the mob and the city syndicate is never truly threatening. It is more of a plot device to showcase Lloyd's acrobatic art. The brightness also makes it easier for the audience to see the sight gags, like when a crab accidentally gets in Speedy's pocket in a very crowded area, with predictable results to the posteriors of those around him, and to Speedy's reputation with the ladies.