Long before Harold Lloyd became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, he was a teenager in San Diego selling candy at theaters, working backstage and learning the craft that would eventually make him a silent-film legend.
More than a century later, the Coronado Island Film Festival will revisit those early years with “HAROLD!,” a Nov. 8 presentation featuring Lloyd’s granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, film critic Leonard Maltin and a restored screening of his 1925 comedy, “The Freshman.”
Festival historian Tim Reid will share historical photographs and research tracing Lloyd’s journey from San Diego stages to Hollywood, including places where he lived, worked and performed.
The presentation begins at 10 a.m. at the John D. Spreckels Hospitality Center.
Reid believes Lloyd deserves recognition beyond the familiar image of the comedian dangling from a clock high above a city street in the 1923 film “Safety Last!”
“I think he’s an American treasure, actually,” Reid said.
The San Diego years that shaped a silent-film star
Lloyd moved to San Diego with his father in 1912, at age 19, and attended San Diego High School, where he continued pursuing his interest in theater.
According to Reid, Lloyd performed throughout San Diego County, worked various theater jobs and landed a small role as an extra when Thomas Edison’s film company, Edison Studios, came to town.
That appearance in the 1913 film, “The Old Monk’s Tale,” introduced him to an industry he initially considered less prestigious than the stage.
“He would have never been in film had he not come to San Diego,” Reid said.
Raised by her grandparents at their Beverly Hills estate, Greenacres, Suzanne said San Diego gave her grandfather stability after a childhood marked by frequent moves and his parents’ divorce.
“I think San Diego gave him kind of a balance so he could figure things out,” she said.
Harold Lloyd eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he developed a screen persona that set him apart from fellow silent-film comedians Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
Unlike Chaplin’s Tramp or Keaton’s stone-faced character, Lloyd wore ordinary clothes and horn-rimmed glasses. His characters were ambitious young men navigating romance, work and everyday setbacks, often with increasingly dangerous consequences.
“I think it’s his realism,” Suzanne said when asked why her grandfather’s films still resonate with audiences.
“He wanted to represent a guy on the street, an everyman.”
Lloyd also financed his productions and worked closely with writers and directors rather than taking sole creative credit.
“He believed in camaraderie,” Suzanne said, describing his preference for collaborating with a trusted group of filmmakers.
His daring stunts carried considerable risks.
In 1919, an explosion during a publicity photo session severely injured Lloyd’s right hand, costing him his thumb, index finger and part of his palm. He also temporarily lost sight in his right eye.
He returned to filmmaking wearing a specially designed glove that concealed the injury on screen and continued performing elaborate physical stunts.
Suzanne said her grandfather did not wear the prosthetic covering in everyday life.
“He did all of those crazy climbs,” she said, referring to his work in films such as “Safety Last!” and “Never Weaken.”
Beyond Hollywood, Lloyd joined the Shriners and their children’s hospitals, helping establish specialized burn treatment facilities. Suzanne believes his own injuries influenced that commitment.
Bringing “The Freshman” back to the big screen
The upcoming presentation follows a 2022 Coronado Film Festival program Reid organized exploring Lloyd’s connection to baseball legend Babe Ruth.
Suzanne suggested another presentation this year, and Reid selected “The Freshman,” a comedy about a college student determined to become popular by joining his school’s football team.
“It’s the blueprint for all the football movies but also for college comedies ever since,” he said.
The program will also include a montage of Lloyd’s memorable stunts and historical images from his San Diego years, including later visits to the region and his film work in Tijuana.
Suzanne has spent decades ensuring her grandfather’s films remain available to audiences.
Lloyd began teaching Suzanne about his film library when she was a teenager and later named her among its trustees. Since then, she has worked with film archives and preservation organizations to restore his movies and introduce them to new generations.
Reid said he hopes the Coronado screening will challenge perceptions of silent movies as outdated entertainment.
“I think they’ll see where modern movies came from,” Reid said.
Tickets and additional information are available through the Coronado Island Film Festival’s HAROLD! Program page.
