Speedy (film)
Speedy | |
---|---|
Poster | |
Directed by | Ted Wilde |
Produced by | Harold Lloyd |
Written by | Albert DeMond (titles) |
Starring |
Harold Lloyd Ann Christy Bert Woodruff Babe Ruth |
Music by |
Carl Davis (recent) Don Hulette (1974) Don Peake (1974 additional music) |
Cinematography | Walter Lundin |
Edited by | Carl Himm |
Production company |
Harold Lloyd Corporation |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | December 15, 1928 |
Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language |
Silent film English intertitles |
Speedy is a 1928 silent film that was one of the films to be nominated for the short-lived Academy Award for Best Director of a Comedy. The film stars famous comedian Harold Lloyd in the eponymous leading role, and it was his last silent film to be released in theatres.
The film was written by Albert DeMond (titles), John Grey (story), J.A. Howe (story), Lex Neal (story), and Howard Emmett Rogers (story) with uncredited assistance from Al Boasberg and Paul Girard Smith. The film was directed by Ted Wilde, the last silent film to be directed by him, and was shot in both Hollywood, and on location in New York City.
Plot
The plot revolves around Harold 'Speedy' Swift's attempts to save the last horse-drawn streetcar in New York. The film contrasts the speed of life of the contemporary city with the pace of yesteryear, represented by this non-motorized mode of transport. Yankees star Babe Ruth plays one of 'Speedy's' hapless passengers.
There is a scene in the film where Speedy is seen giving the finger to himself while looking in a distorted mirror which may be the earliest motion picture depiction of that gesture.
Cast
- Harold Lloyd as Harold 'Speedy' Swift
- Ann Christy as Jane Dillon
- Bert Woodruff as Pop Dillon - Her Grand-daddy
- Brooks Benedict as Steve Carter
- Babe Ruth as himself
See also
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speedy. |
- Speedy at the Internet Movie Database
- Speedy at SilentEra
- Speedy at AllMovie
- Speedy at Virtual History
- Trailer at Archive.org
- www.film-festival.org
- Speedy essay by Jeffrey Vance for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival