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Fri 16 Jun, 2006 07:29 am
Ive been watching and enjoying Paul Mertons Silent Clowns series on BBC4 the last month.
Has anybody else beenwatching them?
They covered Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and last night was Harold Loyd.
I can remember watching Harold Loyd as a youngster and thinking he was amazing.
Im posting to tell you somehing I never knew about Loyd.
Most people can picture him hanging from that clock face 100's of feet up the side of a building.
Apparently 6 months before that happened he was doing a photo shoot with one of those fake round black bombs with BOMB written on the side and he lit a cigarette with it.
What no one knew was that it had real explosives in it!!As he put it down it went off, blinded him in one eye and he lost his thumb and forefinger inthe blast!He luckily recovered his sight but covered his lost fingers in future films by wearing special gloves.
So while he was hanging off that clock face he didnt have all his digits!
Any other fans here?
Oh wow, we saw Harold Lloyd on TV a few months ago, it was the clock face film, ack, what's it called? Just extraordinary.
I went to see the live version of silent clowns,hosted by Paul Merton(UK comedian)and I saw the full clock film(Safety Last).It had live piano accompaniment.
Saw other clips of silent acts, some absolute moments of genius!!
silent clowns....that sounds pretty sinister.
btw. jespa, i love your sig.
I love watching Harold Loyd . The film where he is hanging from the clock is titled "Safety Last " made in 1923. It appears he is hundreds of feet in the air but he is actually on a rooftop climbing a prop wall. The camera angles give the impression he is on a wall exposed to dizzying heights. The climbing moves he uses are very impressive and if he wasn't a rock climber he could have been.
Quote:Oh wow, we saw Harold Lloyd on TV a few months ago, it was the clock face film, ack, what's it called?
Not real positive, Jes', but I think it's called "Safety First."
OK, I stand corrected, Kenny. Hadn't seen your post when I hit 'Reply.' Last, not first.
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