Optimum Home Entertainment have announced the UK DVD release of Harold Lloyd: The Definitive Collection on 9th July 2007. Harold Lloyd was one of the great comic stars of the cinema, a genius on a par with Chaplin and Keaton. Born in Burchard, Nebraska, on April 20, 1893 Lloyd was acting at an early age with theatrical repertory companies. He made his film debut as an extra in a 1913 one-reel film for the Edison Film Company. He became friends with another extra, Hal Roach, and when Roach formed his own film company, he invited Lloyd to join him.

Lloyd’s initial comic characterization was a tramp character called Willie Work. After a series of partings over money and subsequent reconciliations, Roach and Lloyd created a new character, called Lonesome Luke, which became popular, despite Lloyd’s dislike of imitating Charlie Chaplin, which the film distributor, Pathé, demanded.

Then Lloyd found the idea that was to become his trademark, and change him from a good comedian to a major star: the glasses. Lloyd persuaded Roach and his distributor to abandon Lonesome Luke and in 1917 Lloyd shed grotesque comedy clothes and characterizations for a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. In doing so, Lloyd created an American archetype, an optimistic and determined go-getter sporting spectacles and a toothy smile.

Lloyd retained the “Glass Character” (as Lloyd called his comic persona) throughout the rest of his motion picture career, which spanned 34 years and over 200 comedies. Among his most famous films are Grandma's Boy (1922), Safety Last! (1923), The Freshman (1925), The Kid Brother (1927), Speedy (1928), and Movie Crazy (1932), all included here amongst many other gems in this most comprehensive of collections.

This 9-disc collection holds 16 features and 12 short films along with exclusive extra features.

A breakdown of each disc follows…

Disc 1:

Features: Safety Last! and Girl Shy
Shorts: An Eastern Westerner (24mins)
Extras: Safety Last! commentary and mini biographies (29mins)

Disc 2:

Features: The Cat’s Paw and The Milky Way
Extras: Harold’s Hollywood Featurette (8mins)

Disc 3:

Features: Why Worry?, Dr. Jack and Feet First

Disc 4:

Features: The Kid Brother
Shorts: Bumping into Broadway (25mins) and Billy Blazes, Esq. (13mins)
Extras: The Kid Brother commentary, Home Movies (28mins), Leonard Maitlin Featurette (20mins) - more on these below...


'Home Movies' includes:
Lloyd Family at the Beach - 1926
Colour Process - 1920
Lloyd Family at Irving St. House
Gloria's Birthday Party at Irving Street
Lloyd Family at Greenacres - 1932
Lloyd Family with Children - 1932
Gloria's Birthday Party at Greenacres
Golf at Greenacres
Gloria and Friends Play at Greenacres
Mildred with Children at Greenacres - 1949
Shriners
Harold Lloyd Funeral

'Leonard Maltin Featurette' includes:
Fresh From The Farm - 1893-1913
Pay Your Dues - 1914-1916
I'm On My Way - 1917-1919
Twixt Love and Fire - 1920-1923
High and Dizzy - 1924-1926
Hear 'Em Rave - 1927-1928
Just Neighbours - 1929
Never Weaken - 1930 - 1936
Going, Going, Gone! - 1937-1947
Move On - 1948-1953
It's A Wild Life - 1954-1971
Down Memory Lane - 1975-2005

Disc 5:

Features: Hot Water
Shorts: Now or Never (35mins), High and Dizzy (26mins) and Get Out and Get Under (25mins)
Extras: Greenacres Featurette (15mins), Remembering Harold Featurette (11mins), Keep ‘Em Rollin Featurette (15mins) and Finding Harold Featurette (3mins)

Disc 6:

Features: Speedy and Grandma’s Boy
Shorts: Never Weaken (29mins) and Haunted Spooks (25mins)
Extras: Speedy commentary, Haunted Spooks commentary

Disc 7:

Features: A Sailor-Made Man and For Heaven’s Sake
Shorts: Number, Please? (25mins), Among Those Present (35mins) and I Do (24mins)

Disc 8:

Features: Movie Crazy and Welcome Danger
Extras: From the Vault (47mins) - more on this below...

'From the Vault' includes:
US Gala Dinner with Harold Lloyd
AFI Seminar (audio)
Old Gold Comedy Theatre (audio)
City of La Fiesta Parade Promo
World of Comedy trailer
Social Security in Action
The Academy Awards - 1952

Disc 9:

Features: The Freshman
Shorts: From Hand to Mouth (22mins) and Ask Father (13mins)
Extras: The Freshman commentary, and...

'Memories, Secrets and Gags' - interviews with Lloyd friends and experts:

Kevin Brownlow (13:22)
Richard Correll & David Nowell (34:08)
Mark Gordon (1:22)
Tab Hunter (1:52)
John Landis (2:31)
Annette D'Agostino Lloyd (1:28)
Debbie Reynolds (4:26)
Robert Rosen, Robert R. Gitt & Jere Guldin (5:00)
Robert Wagner (3:23)
Douglas Wick (1:18)