Harold Lloyd 1893 - 1971)

My introduction to the works of Harold Lloyd came with a showing of his film SAFETY LAST at the Holloway School Film Society. The image of Lloyd suspended from the clock is surely one of the iconic images of film comedy. When I saw that film, circa 1960, I had no idea that little more than two years later I would shake hands with Harold Lloyd himself. Lloyd, being a better business man than many of the silent clowns had held on to the copyright of his films. In 1962 he was instrumental in putting together a compilation of clips from many of his films entitled HAROLD LLOYD'S WORLD OF COMEDY. Lloyd came to London for the launch of the film and visited the Columbia Pictures offices in Wardour Street, London. On a previous visit Harold had made the acquaintance of Bill Atherton, an elderly ex-music hall comedian who was working in Columbia's mailroom. I was sitting talking to Bill when Harold Lloyd came in to say hello. Bill kindly introduced me to the silent star and we shook hands. I wish I could say it was more than that but that was about it - a quick handshake - but dammit it was Harold Lloyd and I met him.

And if you are thinking that I've posted this on the wrong blog, you are wrong. Oddly I do not own any of Lloyd's films so he doesn't qualify for THE WEAVERMAN ARCHIVES. I hope to rectify that soon.

END CREDITS.

Well, my list of film masterpieces is complete. Twenty-Five films which are, for me, about as good as it gets. The only limitation I felt while making my choices was, having allowed myself only one film per director, was which film to choose as many of the named directors have more than one masterpiece under their belt. Take, for instance, Powell and Pressburger's THE RED SHOES ? What made me pick it over the duo's THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP given that the latter is my favourite of their films. The truth is, I don't know, but I felt it best to go with a gut feeling on the day. Another day, another list. I'm happier with my choices than some seem to be but I think some have totally missed the point of the list. Director John Landis said in an interview that he had an appreciation of high art and low art - he could enjoy both Buster Keaton and Chaplin and still laugh his socks off at The Three Stooges and I think that is the correct attitude. Films can be enjoyed in many ways. My way may not be another person's. My blog is only intended to register my reaction to a movie and hopefully point out things I find interesting in those films. My purely personal view is that there is a natural order to things and some things are genuinely more valuable that others (but as John Landis said that does not mean that the lower orders cannot be entertaining) and the twenty-five films I have picked are, for me, extremely valuable. Feel free to disagree or send me your lists!

THE FILMS

1. VAMPYR (Carl Dreyer 1931)
2. LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (Marcel Carne 1945)
3. L'ATALANTE (Jean Vigo 1934)
4. THE RED SHOES (The Archers 1948)
5. NATTVARDSGASTERNA (Ingmar Bergman 1963)
6. L'ECLISSE (Michelangelo Antonioni 1962)
7. LE GRANDE ILLUSION (Jean Renoir 1937)
8. THE GODFATHER (Frances Coppola 1972)
9. IKIRU (Akira Kurosawa 1952)
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (John Ford 1939)
11. CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles 1941)
12. VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock 1958)
13. METROPOLIS (Fritz Lang 1926)
14. LA BELLE ET LA BETE (Jean Cocteau 1946)
15. TOKYO MONOGATARI (Ozu 1953)
16. WINGS OF DESIRE (Wim Wenders 1987)
17. THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (Peter Bogdanovich 1971)
18. NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Charles Laughton 1957)
19. LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR (Henri-Georges Clouzot 1953)
20. CITY LIGHT (Charles Chaplin 1931)
21. PINNOCHIO (Walt Disney 1940)
22. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (Howard Hawks 1940)
23. THE WIZARD OF OZ (Mervyn LeRoy 1939)
24. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Stanley Donen 1952)
25. A STAR IS BORN (George Cukor 1954)

TERMINATION CLAUSE

Not had a a chance to watch anything very interesting recently and little time for blogging other than to update the "Masterpiece" series of stills each day. I have however had some more interesting reactions to my list of choices. One friend, who works in the film industry finds the list "surprisingly unadventurous" and thinks I should have gone for more off the wall choices, while a younger follower of the blog feels totally mystified by a list of films that he feels no connection with. To the later I can only say "seek them out" but the former criticism is more difficult. One of the films my friend suggested as an oddball choice was THE TERMINATOR, the suggestion being it is technically darn near perfect. Now, I love THE TERMINATOR and my friend is certainly in a position to judge its technical merits. No doubt it qualifies as a "great" film but there is, to my mind, a big gap between "great" and "masterpiece" and a big gap between a film that is entertaining bubble gum for the eyes and something that tries to look a bit deeper into the human condition. I'm sure that might sound a bit pretentious to some but if it does so be it, I'll have to live with that. Looking at the films I've chosen so far I think one of the linking elements of the movies is a sense of poetry and I'm aware that for the most part it is a rather sad, dark poetry. As I write this I am at no 18 of 25 and each day the choice becomes harder - mainly because for this list (there may be more in the future) I have limited myself to one film per director. Finally for now - I will return to the subject when the list is complete - I'd like to say a special thanks to Fiona who has suggested some interesting "Ten Favourite" lists for the future which includes the intriguing "Ten Favourite films that made me cry" and "Ten Favourite films that are undervalued" and David who made some very good suggestions for "tweeking" the look of the blog slightly, a couple of which I will incorporate in the future.

A word from our editor.........

If you are a regular visitor to FLEAPIT OF THE MIND, you will notice that today it looks a little different. FLEAPIT was my first born and still the blog I am most proud of. My blog YESTERDAY'S WINE is a rambling affair about almost anything not covered by FLEAPIT and WEAVERMAN ARCHIVES is really just an annex for listing films I own. But FLEAPIT itself is special to me but its been around for a few years now without ever changing its format. The old adage that "if ain't broke don't mend it" is a true one so the changes that you will see to the template are minimal and really not more than a refreshing of the old elements. I hope you like the slightly new look.

FILM MASTERPIECES - WHO SAYS SO?

Now that my series of still and trailers from film masterpieces is well under way I thought it might be a good time to have a word about the thoughts behind this new feature. One of my regular correspondents wrote and actually challenged - in a good natured way - my choices, saying they were "predictable" and "unimaginative". Well, what can I say to that except I plead guilty on both counts. The films I have picked are films that I consider the greatest achievements of the cinema, true works of art in every respect. I'm not picking films that I think are Good or even films I think are Great - I'm picking twenty-five films which are to me the creme de la creme of films. Now in answer to my friend's challenge I will say that to a film fan of my generation there will not be too many surprises in my choices. It really doesn't need me to point to these films as Masterpieces because time and the opinions of many fans, critics and film-makers have recognised them as such. I am sure that everybody's list would be different and that is fine. Nobody's evaluation of the worth of a film is the final one and everybody has the right to make their own list. But it is worth remembering that when polls of the greatest films of all time are held there is probably a very good reason why CITIZEN KANE usually comes somewhere near the top. I do not consider myself to be a critic, I am at best a reviewer, an enthusiast, a fan. I enjoy exploring all types of films from the sort of films I've picked for this list down to the modest b-movies, exploitation films. I like talking about films, I listen to what other people say and the films they think are worth seeing. One of the films on my list, Jean Vigo's L'ATALANTE, I only saw for the first time about two weeks ago - a film director friend sat me down and showed it to me - I will forever be grateful as I would probably never have gotten around to it on my own. Likewise a review of the Russian film THE CRANES ARE FLYING on the excellent website FILMS DESERVING OF GREATER RECOGNITION has made me eager to see that film because of the enthusiasm of the person writing about it. I know there are people out there who only really care about the latest blockbuster that Hollywood throws at them and that is fine - they probably have no interest in exploring the classics of the past. That is up to them - but for me I want to enjoy both.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1934)

Director William Nigh is better known for his MR.WONG films with Boris Karloff but here he turns his hand to a creaking Old Dark House mystery. I admit I'm a sucker for this sub-genre of the horror movies and can't resist them even if many turn out to be plain dull. Luckily this one is fairly entertaining even if not a prime example of cinematic art. The cast were all unknown to me with the exception of George "Gabby" Hayes but they equit themselves well enough in a plot that involves the god Kali, a Hindu curse, an ape, sliding panels etc. Fans of this sort of thing will have no difficulty sorting out the murderer or spotting elements from Edgar Allan Poe and THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM. I thought the script contained a few good jokes and I actually liked the three comedy relief cops. Rating ***

View the whole film at THE INTERNET ARCHIVE.

CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA (1954)

Thoroughly routine Western with the always watchable Barbara Stanwyck and a rather wooden Ronald Reagan. Babs arrives at the head of a herd of cattle in Montana, does some nude bathing, gets spied on by indians, meets Ronnie and sees her father gunned down during a stampede - and thats all in the first fifteen minutes. The indians are very post BROKEN ARROW but evil white men are giving them guns and whisky. Any interest there is is with the supporting cast which includes Chubby Johnson, Jack Elam, Gene Evans, Anthony Caruso and Myron Healey. The theme music that runs throughout the movie (credited to Louis Forbes) is very reminiscent of the song by Nelson Riddle and John Gabriel sung over the credits of Howard Hawks' 1967 EL DORADO. Director Allan Dwan directed his first film in 1911 and was one of the most prolific of all Hollywood directors. Rating **