Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Hal Roach

Release Date:

6 July 1919 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Western

Plot:

Billy Blazes confronts Crooked Charley, who has been ruling the town of Peaceful Vale through fear and violence.

Plot Keywords:

Tavern | Daughter | Sheriff | Gambler | Mining Town

Cast

Harold Lloyd	...	Billy Blazes
Bebe Daniels	...	Nell
'Snub' Pollard	...	Sheriff 'Gun Shy' Gallagher (as Harry Pollard)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sammy Brooks
Billy Fay

Runtime:

USA:13 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Rolin Films

Goofs:

Continuity: Billy first points his pistol below the bad guy's waistband, but it is then above the waistband in the next shot.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Bowling for Columbine (2002)

Harold Lloyd vs. William S. Hart!

One of the few short films Harold Lloyd made ridiculing other films and film stars. In This he plays a William S. Hart character and probably his funniest of all his shorts!

Harold Clayton Lloyd was born in Burchard, Nebraska on the 20th of April 1893. When Harold was 12 he joined the theatre usually just performing with his high school. Harold's Father was not successful at business although his nickname was foxxy and Harold's Mother regretted marrying foxxy. Later actor John Lane Connor asked Lloyd to go to Los Angeles with him. Foxxy now divorced won $3000 after an accident. He wanted to go east & Harold west. They flipped a coin- it was either heads to California or tails to New York and it came up California as stated by Lloyd's daughter Gloria in "Harold Lloyd, The Third Genius" (1989) undoubtedly the most informative documentary on the life of Harold Lloyd which was produced by film historians David Gill & Kevin Brownlow.

While Harold and John Lane Connor were in San Diego, the Edison film company asked Connor to supply extras. This led to the first movie appearance of Lloyd in a 1913 film called The Old Monk's Tale. That year Lloyd was cast as an extra in a movie called Rory 'o The Bogs where he came upon another extra, Hal Roach. They also appeared later on in Samson (1914) and in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. In 1915 Roach had developed a new film company and he invited Harold Lloyd for his own series. The studio now had a new name, Rolin. Harold was a slow developer at being a comedian. His first character was called Willie Work, which in the end was called Lonesome Luke, which was an imitation of Charlie Chaplin's tramp character. Just Nuts the first Lonesome Luke was a success and Roach wanted no change. Finally in 1917 Lloyd thought up a new character called simply `Glasses' character. Lloyd directed the first of these movies but later knew it's impossible to act and direct at the same time. Roach had later claimed he had invented the character but it was indeed Lloyd's idea. He was joined by a huge company including 'Snub' Pollard & Bebe Daniels.

In 1921 it was time for Lloyd to begin making feature-length comedies. The first of these was A Sailor-Made Man which was a huge a success. It was followed by Grandma's Boy. Lloyd wanted Grandma's Boy to just be a dramatic picture but when he previewed it in a theatre the audience was not laughing. So Roach got all the writers to work out gags for the picture. After the film was released Lloyd recognized it as one of the greatest accomplishments.

Next came an interesting picture called Doctor Jack followed by Lloyd's most spectacular film Safety Last! in 1923. The film showed Lloyd dangling off a clock on the side of a building. At the end of that year Lloyd left Roach and formed his own company called 'The Harold Lloyd corporation' where for the first 2 years he distributed his movies through Pathe and later for Paramount. His most popular film was The Freshman in 1925. In 1928 Lloyd had already written his own autobiography `An American Comedy' the same year where he made his last silent film entitled Speedy.

Besides wanting to be a big world famous film star, Harold Lloyd also wanted to build the biggest house in hollywood. And he did. He called it Greenacres and it was one of the most spectacular homes in Hollywood. Harold gave just as much attention to the building of Greenacres as to his films. The mansion was built at a cost of $2 Million. The main house has 44 rooms in 32,000 square feet.

In 1928 Lloyd began making a film called Welcome Danger where he originally shot it as a silent film but later on he re-shot it as a talking film. His career was going down with the dawn of sound. He made one more thrill picture called Feet First in the style of Safety Last! But with the depression he would no longer achieve the same fame as he did in the roaring twenties. He returned two years later with an amazing film which was regarded as his best talkie. The movie was Movie Crazy where Lloyd was at his funniest. Convinced it was a hit he went on a trip to Europe. He later returned to Hollywood and had learned that the film had been a flop, he reduced himself to one film every two years. He made another great talking film entitled The Milky Way in 1936 and directed by Leo McCarey. After one of his last movies, Professor Beware (1938) he didn't exactly retire he just drifted away from the film industry. He produced two more films for RKO in the early 40s before retiring. After that he found many more interests including the study of colour and such. Later on he took numerous photographs of Marilyn Monroe. In 1947 director Preston Sturges had never forgotten The Freshman and wanted to make a tribute to Lloyds career. So Lloyd agreed to make a movie with Sturges, which in the end was titled The Sin of Harold Diddlebock but it didn't reach the top. Three years later producer Howard Hughes re-issued and edited it down to 79 minutes and changed the title to Mad Wednesday. Lloyd was now nearly forgotten. Although the film was unsuccessful, in 1951 Lloyd was nominated for a golden globe for best Motion Picture Actor in a musical or comedy. But he did receive an honorary Oscar in 1953 for being a master comedian and good citizen.

In 1962 he compiled some of his silent comedies into two documentaries, which were called Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy & another one in 1963 entitled Harold Lloyd's Funny Side of Life. Lloyd re-released some of his films and his fame was coming back but not as it once was.

He died in 1971 at the age of 78. He was also known for his generous charity work.

His Stars on the walk of fame are at 6840 Hollywood Blvd & at 1501 Vine Street, California.

Harold Lloyd is still acknowledged as one of the greatest filmmakers in history.