Mess transit

Speedy

(1928)

The first Harold Lloyd film I've ever watched. Yes, really.

I read this as a call for centralized municipal control of mass transit at a time when rival companies fought for New York turf; a stirring call for big government, if not outright socialism.

No, not really, though the main villain is a capitalist train baron trying to force out the last of the horsecar operators. Lloyd plays the employment-challenged prospective son-in-law of Pop, the horsecar man, and it's not much of a spoiler to reveal that he saves the day with the assistance of a brilliant dog, a platoon of plucky Civil War veterans, and some improbable good fortune.

But what's really fun about the film is its loving location portrayal of the city, from Luna Park to Yankee Stadium, with plenty of Manhattan, including Penn Station and Washington Square, in between. How and why we see all these places--and how and why Speedy ends up taxiing Babe Ruth to a big game in the Bronx--are questions best left alone. Sometimes you just gotta let art wash over you.

Seriously? Nobody want a free Titanic DVD? Nobody wants The Matrix? Absolutely last chance!
Click here for the films I'm deaccessioning. If you see something you want, let me know, and it's yours. Anything unclaimed by 24 October goes in to the freebie table at work (except maybe for Dogma, whose extras I'm still milking for workout fodder).