When I think of Harold Lloyd, that dazzling innovator of silent comedy, I don’t think of the iconic image of him dangling on a clock, high above a bustling city street. I don’t think of him racing a horse-drawn wagon until its wheels pop off or clinging to a girder as its moves through the… Read more »
There are many pleasures to be found in silent comedy. There’s the energy of the Keystone Kops, the mix of slapstick and emotion of Charlie Chaplin, and the stone-faced absurdity of Buster Keaton. But one of the most underrated pleasures in silent comedy can be found in the films of an underappreciated actor: the escalation… Read more »
At twelve noon in Broadway, New York, Harry S. Young, billed the “human fly,” began climbing the side of the Martinique Hotel in 1923. Thousands of people gathered at Greely Square just below the hotel to watch the spectacle, including his wife. After climbing up ten stories Young slipped and fell to his death. The… Read more »