This image is the cover for the book American Comedy

American Comedy

This autobiography by an influential silent film star gives an insider’s view of the motion picture industry in the early twentieth century.

It’s one of the most enduring images in film history: a young man in circular glasses, dangling from the hands of a clock high above Los Angeles. The actor performing this daring stunt was Harold Lloyd, a highly successful comedian from the silent film era. Lloyd made nearly two hundred comedies, both silent and “talkies,” between 1914 and 1947. He is best known for his “Glass” character, a bespectacled everyman who captured the mood of the 1920s. In this fascinating autobiography, which was written just around the time sound was revolutionizing cinema, Lloyd chronicles his experiences as a performer and producer of silent films, preserving firsthand details of Hollywood’s bygone period. This extraordinary memoir, originally published in 1928, discusses actors both comedic and dramatic, stage to film adaptations, producers, directors, and primarily, how early silent movies were made. It is a must-read for film historians and movie buffs alike.

Harold Lloyd, Wesley W. Stout, Richard Griffith

Harold Lloyd (1893–1971), was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent films. Considered one of the most influential comedians of the silent film era, Lloyd starred in nearly two hundred comedies, from early black-and-white shorts to feature-length “talkies,” between 1914 and 1947. His bespectacled “Glass” character was a resourceful, ambitious go-getter who matched the zeitgeist of the Roaring Twenties. His films frequently contained “thrill sequences” of extended chase scenes and daredevil hijinks. His bespectacled character hanging high above the street from the hands of a broken clock tower in Safety Last! (1923) is considered one of the most famous images in all of cinema.

Open Road Media