Up next: Harold Lloyd heads east in 'Speedy,' then reversing direction with Keaton's 'Go West'

An original poster promoting Harold Lloyd's 'Speedy' (1928).

Memorial Day weekend may be upon us, but there's no holiday in the silent film schedule.

Coming up, I'm doing music for three screenings in three different states, all of them comedies. (The films, not the states.)

On Thursday, May 22, it's Harold Lloyd's 'Speedy' (1928), which I'll accompany at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H.

More details about the film and the screening are in a press release pasted in below.

Then it's two screenings of Buster Keaton's comedy 'Go West' (1925).

The first is on Sunday, May 25, when I'll accompany it at the Center for the Arts in Natick, Mass.

Then, on Wednesday, May 28, the same film will serve as the opening night attraction of this year's silent film series at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine.

The Leavitt is celebrating its 100th anniversary this season, so the silent film series will feature all films from 1925, the year it opened.

Lots more about that, and my theory on how 'Go West' is a parody of Chaplin's epic comedy 'The Gold Rush' (also from 1925), in a future post.

For now, I invite you to attend our screening of 'Speedy' (1928) at the Flying Monkey. Check out the press release below, and see you at the theater!

*     *     *

Harold Lloyd takes the subway to Coney Island in 'Speedy' (1928).

TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Classic Harold Lloyd comedy 'Speedy' on Thursday, May 22 in Plymouth, N.H.

Screening features live music; 1920s rom-com filmed on location in NYC with cameo featuring Babe Ruth

PLYMOUTH, N.H.—He was the bespectacled boy next door whose road to success was often paved with perilous detours.

He was Harold Lloyd, whose fast-paced comedies made him the most popular movie star of Hollywood's silent film era.

See for yourself why Lloyd was the top box office attraction of the 1920s in a revival of 'Speedy' (1928), one of his most popular comedies.

The film, shot on location in New York City, will be screened on Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

General admission is $15 per person.

The screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

'Speedy,' Lloyd's final silent feature before the transition to talkies, finds Harold as a baseball-crazed youth who must rescue the city's last horse-drawn streetcar from gangsters bent on running it out of business.

Filmed almost entirely on location in New York, 'Speedy' features remarkable glimpses of the city at the end of the 1920s, including footage of Coney Island and the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The latter scenes include an extended appearance by Babe Ruth, then at the height of his career during the team's storied 1927 season.

"In 'Speedy,' New York City is practically a part of the cast," Rapsis said. "In filming it on location, Lloyd knew scenes of New York would give the picture added interest to audiences across the nation and around the world.

"But what he didn't anticipate was that today, the location shots now provide a fascinating record of how life was lived in the Big Apple in the 1920s," Rapsis said.

 

Harold Lloyd on location in Coney Island in 'Speedy' (1928).

Rapsis will improvise a musical score for 'Speedy' as the film is screened. In creating accompaniment for vintage classics, Rapsis tries to bridge the gap between silent film and modern audiences.

"Creating the music on the spot is a bit of a high-wire act, but it contributes a level of energy that's really crucial to the silent film experience," Rapsis said.

 

'Speedy' (1928) will be screened with live music on Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H. 

General admission is $15 per person. For more info, visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com or call (603) 536-2551.