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Harold Lloyd Tells How He Gets the Ideas for His Pictures
allows himself to delve into characterization with a number of very brilliant gags wisely distributed thruout the picture. It is not essentially a "gag" picture, neither is it a straight characterization for Lloyd, but the two are balanced quite equally.
I asked Harold why it is that every other one of his comedies proved to be tremendous successes while the others were just good Harold Lloyd pictures.
"We have been talking of characterization and 'gags' in pictures," said Lloyd. "One picture may base its success entirely on 'gags' while another may depend a great deal on characterization. 'Why Worry' and 'High and Dizzy' got by mostly on the gag thrills. 'Grandma's Boy' developed into more of a successful characterization. When we are working with a story, we must consider both of the factors we have been talking about. An overdose of characterization or an overdose of 'gags' may be fatal to its success."
This ability of Lloyd to detach himself from Harold Lloyd the actor is no doubt responsible for his turning out success after success. If it's for the good of his production he will tear out hundreds of feet of his best scenes. If you can find another actor in Hollywood, with the possible exception of Chaplin and Fairbanks, who will commit such an operation on himself, you have merely found another man who has suddenly discovered that insidious thing which has always made him wonder why he wasn't popular.
"In this last picture," continued Lloyd, "I had a definite idea of the character I wanted to do long before we started work. I knew the boy, and the story was built to suit him.
"The -next character I would like to do is a youth of a mischievous type. You have known kids in your neighborhood who would go up and kick a policeman in the pants
Harold with the one hundred
and sixty-five pound* of Great
Dane, called "Prince"
Gene Kornmah
a few years Harold Lloyd will be financing and managing several companies of his own. He has already put Edward Everett Horton under contract to appear in
a series of comedy dramas
if you told them to. And as soon as they had been thrashed for that deed, they would go right out and kick another policeman in the pants. I am trying to grasp such a character for the next story. It takes time to become acquainted with the boy. We are looking for stories now, and it will probably be three months before we begin another picture."
The telephone rang, and someone wished to
speak to Mr. Lloyd. Harold was sitting on
the desk, his legs wrapped up under him like
the official comedian of a rajah. He grabbed
the nickel consumer. It was Hal Roach who
wanted to look at Harold's new picture. If
you remember the early days in the
picture business, you will know that
Hal Roach practically made Lloyd and
Lloyd practically made Hal Roach.
(Continued on page 81)
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