The Freshman (1925 film)
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The Freshman is a 1925 comedy film that tells the story of a nerdy college freshman trying to become popular by joining the school football team. It stars Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict and James Anderson. It remains one of Lloyd's most successful and enduring films.
The movie was written by John Grey, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan and Ted Wilde. It was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor.
Plot
Lloyd plays Harold 'Speedy' Lamb, a bright-eyed but hopelessly naive young man who goes to college to fulfill his dream of being popular.He wins the friendship of Peggy, a girl who works in his boarding house, but after a series of misfortunes becomes the unwitting laughingstock of the school. However, Harold finally gets into the big football game when his coach runs out of players, and he makes the most of it, scoring the winning touchdown, earning popularity and respect from his fellow students, and winning Peggy's love.
Background
The Freshman was Lloyd's most successful silent film of the 1920's, and was hugely popular at the time of its release. It sparked a craze for college films that lasted well beyond the 1920's, but none of these surpassed its high standard. Exteriors were filmed near the USC Campus in Los Angeles. The game sequence was shot on the field at the Rose Bowl, and the crowd scenes were shot at halftime during a UC Berkeley and Stanford University game in November 1924. The football game sequence was reused by Lloyd and director Preston Sturges in Lloyd's last film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947).The Freshman is still a great audience pleaser at modern screenings, and is widely considered one of Lloyd's most hilarious, well-constructed films. The Freshman was one of Lloyd's only films to remain widely available after the sound era, and Lloyd reissed the film (with cuts) and used extended scenes in compiliation films of the 1960's. The DVD release of Lloyds' films in 2004 includes the full, restored version of the film as shown in the 1920's.
The 1925 film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
See also
External Links
- [The Freshman at IMDB.com]
- [The Harold Lloyd Trust] (only the forum is currently functioning)
| Feature films starring Harold Lloyd |
| Silent: A Sailor-Made Man (1921) • Grandma's Boy (1922) • Doctor Jack (1922) • Safety Last! (1923) • Why Worry? (1923) • Girl Shy (1924) • Hot Water (1924) • The Freshman (1925) • For Heaven's Sake (1926) • The Kid Brother (1927) • Speedy (1928) • Welcome Danger (1929, released 2005) |
| Sound: Welcome Danger (1929) • Feet First (1930) • Movie Crazy (1932) • The Cat's-Paw (1934) • The Milky Way (1936) • Professor Beware (1938) • The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) |
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