Speedy

Speedy, released in 1928, was Harold Lloyd's last silent feature. Directed by Ted Wilde, it is less interesting as a comedy (there are not many belly laughs here, just a number of smiles) than it is a document of a lost New York City.

Lloyd is the title character, who is always on the move and goes through many jobs. He starts as a soda jerk, then a cab driver, and finally he takes over his girlfriend's grandfather's horse-drawn streetcar. The railroad wants to take over the grandpa's track, and employs several goons to accomplish that, but Speedy saves the day.

Speedy was shot in New York and there are numerous recognizable locations, from Washington Park to the Brooklyn Bridge. Perhaps most enticing is a sequence shot at the long-gone Luna Park, on Coney Island, where Speedy takes his girl (Ann Christy). He is wearing a nice new suit, and struggles to keep it clean. Eventually he leans against a fence with fresh paint, and discovers it in a fun house mirror. Some people laugh at him, and he gives them the finger--one of the first recorded uses of it.

Most of the action takes place on the streets of New York. While driving a cab he has one mishap after another, but does get to take Babe Ruth for a ride (Lou Gehrig also makes a very short cameo). Ruth wasn't a bad actor, as his facial expressions while Lloyd drives him to Yankee Stadium at a fast clip are funnier than anything Lloyd does.

The last act has Lloyd keeping the railroad thugs at bay. He enlists an army of tradesmen, most of them old and Civil War veterans, to battle the bad guys (one fellow has a wooden leg). From all appearances, these men are not actors, but actual veterans.

It's interesting to watch this film knowing that in just a year the economy will tank and fellows like Speedy won't be able to find a job so easily. But, perhaps he married Christy, and they lived on the largess of grandpa, who sold his track for $100,000, which would be worth a million and half dollars today.