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Today marks a century since Harold Lloyd delivered his most legendary work to movie theaters. Safety Last! is a silent comedy classic, featuring such riveting stunts as the famous climax that finds our hero hanging from a clock. Though no other Lloyd picture has a comparable legacy, the man's filmography is a treasure trove for slapstick lovers with an inclination for bespectacled hunks. If you have any doubts, jump over to the Criterion Channel, where a new 42-title collection showcases the man's work from the late 1910s to the advent of sound and 1936's Milky Way. If you're not entertained, see a doctor, stat.
But of course, maybe Lloyd's not your preferred flavor of silent comedy. Amid the classic loving community, it seems everyone has a favorite from the three big names that defined Hollywood slapstick and continue to live in the public imagination. So, because this is a day for foolishness, why not indulge in pot-stirring drama and futile competition? Between Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd, who's your pick? Maybe it's…
CHARLIE CHAPLIN (1889-1977)
In terms of modern acclaim, the English menace that was Charles Chaplin is unbeatable. From his early days to way past the talkie revolution, from gag-punched melodrama to political cinema out to provoke, the man did it all and incurred the ire of many as he did it. And yet, there are those who criticize his sentimental streak, mocking some of Chaplin's most popular triumphs as maudlin. Others argue that there's a perfect balance between the mushy and the innovative in this auteur's oeuvre, leaving space for both utter sincerity and cold cynicism. Then again, it might just be the artist's maturing that leads The Kid maker to lecture the world through the murderous Monsieur Verdoux.
You can find many of Chaplin's best films on HBO Max, though the Criterion Channel also features a bunch of big hitters like the masterful Modern Times and the elegiac song of Limelight.
BUSTER KEATON (1895-1966)
Travel-sized hottie Buster Keaton is fondly known as The Great Stone Face for his stoic expression. If Chaplin embodied a trickster spirit on the silver screen, Keaton's persona was that of a sad sack plagued by misfortune, his gaze unwavering even as the universe conspires to make his life hell, if not a circus. The contrast between expressive filmmaking and an inexpressive leading man makes for electric comedy, like dry humor shot through with a pulse of formal madness and a maverick stuntman's physicality. More than most of his contemporaries, Keaton showed a willingness to play with the limits of filmmaking, testing its plasticity and metatextual properties in such masterpieces as Sherlock Jr. or The Playhouse. Confession time – Keaton has my vote among these three, but don't let that influence your opinion.
Buster Keaton's filmography is widely available on streaming and physical media. However, it's more dispersed than Chaplin's or Lloyd's. The Criterion Channel has a great many titles, but so do Kanopy, Paramount Plus, and other such platforms. Hell, many of Keaton's gaggiest achievements were in shorts, and a bunch of those are available on Youtube. So discover them and have a good laugh.
HAROLD LLOYD (1893-1971)
With matinée idol looks and a dangerous fearlessness about him, Harold Lloyd feels like the most traditionally heroic of the silent comedy gods. In some ways, his glasses-wearing character was a fresh-faced everyman whose backstory was wildly malleable, easily adapted into whatever scenario his next movie needed. Usually, a romantic element was included, a yearning softness that served as counterpoint to the stunt queen shenanigans that, in 1919 cost him two fingers. However, it'd be wrong to define Lloyd's screen persona without mentioning a modicum of self-awareness tinging the guy's boyishness, some disruptive notes that complicate the funny business and make his adventures feel singular.
High-energy physicality is showcased throughout Lloyd's extensive filmography, which includes over 200 titles. Most of the influential stuff is collected in the Criterion Channel program, though you'll also find many of his classics, like The Freshman and The Kid Brother, on HBO Max.
Considering all this, it's time for you to make your voices heard in the comment section. Also, vote on this poll:
Let's see who's the silent comedy auteur to end all silent comedy auteurs according to The Film Experience readership. May the battle begin!