Ogunquit News
OPA Classic Film Series continues with "Speedy"
"Speedy," Harold Lloyd's 1928 silent film, will be shown at the Dunaway Center on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
Courtesy photo
There will be pre- and post-video discussions led by Norman Wilkinson of Ogunquit Performing Arts.
"Speedy" is one of Harold Lloyd's greatest films and the last silent film he made.
Lloyd's nickname in real life was "Speedy," and that's where he got the idea for the title of this film.
Lloyd, starring with Ann Christy and Bert Woodruff, plays Harold "Speedy" Swift, a young man whose fatal attraction for baseball always causes him to lose his jobs, among which are soda jerk and cab driver. It's during Speedy's job as cab driver that baseball legend Babe Ruth appears in a cameo role in the film. He plays himself - as a very harassed fare - as Speedy the cabbie drives wildly to Yankee Stadium.
Comedian Lloyd was famous for extended chase scenes and this film ends with a wild horse-drawn trolley ride through Washington Square Arch and across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Lloyd was ranked with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy and others as one of the truly great comedy cinema artists of the era.
Don't miss Speedy, the sixth film in the 2006-07 Classic Film Series, at the Dunaway Center, 23 School St., Ogunquit. There is plenty of free parking and admission to the film is also free.
