Journal-Star: Heartland students 'going crazy for Harold Llo

Post by **silentfilm** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:53 am

http://journalstar.com/articles/2009/03 ... 275198.txt

Heartland students 'going crazy for Harold Lloyd'
By KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 - 12:19:08 am CDT
HENDERSON — It all started with a book.

A 533-page book about a 12-year-old boy named Hugo who discovers the magic of silent film while trying to fix a robot.

The 20 fourth-graders in Suzanne Ratzlaff’s class at Heartland Community School quickly connected to “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick.

In doing so, they also learned to love silent movies — as well as a Nebraska actor who made his own name in silent film.

“We’ve been going crazy for Harold Lloyd for a long time,” Ratzlaff said.

Since September, Ratzlaff’s students have studied Lloyd, considered one of the greatest silent film actors of his time. Their interest began when they learned it was Lloyd hanging from the giant clock in an image they found in Selznick’s book.

They learned Lloyd was born in Burchard — in the state’s southeast corner — on April 20, 1893.

They learned he liked dogs (he owned 80 Great Danes) and was rich (he had 26 bathrooms in his house).

They also learned he was an adoring father and grandfather.

They even got to interview his granddaughter. Suzanne Lloyd told them her grandfather raised her like his own child.

And she recalled seeing a Cornhuskers football game with her grandfather at Memorial Stadium.

“Suzanne still remembers it,” said Spencer Prentice, 9.

Early on, the fourth-graders in Ratzlaff’s class hatched a plan: They would teach others about Lloyd.

They wrote letters to actor Johnny Depp trying to persuade him to play Lloyd in a yet-to-be-made movie about Lloyd’s life and work. They took photos of themselves with their hair standing up while wearing suits, ties and black-rimmed glasses, replicating a famous photo of Lloyd.

They plan to have shirts made with Lloyd’s photo on the front and their own on the back.

Taking as a cue Lloyd’s famous boater hat, they began researching hats and interviewing their parents and grandparents about their hats and their lives. They plan to publish their findings in a book.

They wrote letters to area theaters trying to persuade them to play Lloyd’s films.

Then they won a Nebraska Arts Council grant, which they will use to show two of Lloyd’s films at the 12th Street Cinema in Aurora March 28 and April 4.

Addie Swartzendruber, 10, said the experience has taught her about the beauty of silent films, a much simpler, less demanding form of entertainment than the iPods and Playstations most children have today.

“We’ve had so much fun,” she said. “The whole time we’ve just been learning.”

So Monday morning, Addie typed a letter to Selznick, thanking him for his book.

“We started to wonder who the man hanging from the clock in one of the pictures was,” she wrote. “Our teacher found out that the man was Harold Lloyd.

“We have learned so many things thanks to you and your wonderful book!”

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk(at)journalstar(dot)com.

Copyright © 2002-2009 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.

misspickford9 · Post by **misspickford9** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:34 pm

Have they had any success with all those letter writing campaigns? Thats a cute story though!

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:27 am

A "much simpler, less demanding form of entertainment" ????

Someone send them copies of CALIGARI and THE UNKNOWN, quick!

Jim

WaverBoy · Post by **WaverBoy** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:38 pm

And NAPOLEON and INTOLERANCE for followup.

misspickford9 · Post by **misspickford9** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:33 am

I think what they mean was 'less shiny and in your face'. However Im sure there are some avant garde German silents out there that would also prove that wrong. If their such Lloyd fans I find it odd they would have viewed 'Safety Last' and then used that wording...his whole tower thing isnt simple or less demanding! I was on the edge of my seat! Throw in the fact the man was missing 2 fingers and these stunts were done without computers...I find that WAY demanding!

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:48 am

As many of you know, I am from Nebraska. This was nice to see. Just 10 years ago in 1999, Harold Lloyd was snubbed as one of the 50 great Nebraskans of the 20th Century by the Omaha World Herald. I blasted them for this, and they even published my comments. I thought He should have easily made the Top 10. Incredibly, Harold didn't even receive Honorable Mention, because there was no such category included in the special supplement at the time.

Harold is definitely receiving more credit these days. The majority of his major films are on DVD now. For years that had not been the case. So these kids are pretty lucky. I adore Harold and He has more to do with my love for Silent film than anybody else. That being said, I now want the same type of recognition for John Gilbert, Marion Davies, Colleen Moore, and numerous others. That too is long, long, overdue. For the most part their movies are not on DVD.

Hey what gives here? I can only place emoticons on the bottom of the post?

Waverboy,

Hey, Speedy! I see that you finally got to see both NAPOLEON, and INTOLERANCE. That is great. Send me an E-mail. I have not heard anything from you in some months. Probably since just before Christmas. I actually have a newer version of INTOLERANCE from Arte Network in France, that has several scenes not in the Thames Silents version? I am wondering why this hasn't been shown here? It is from 2007. A brand new restoration, and the best print I have seen anywhere. I just got this a month or so ago. Anyone else here seen this?

Post by **silentfilm** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:11 am

There are quite a few different versions of Intolerance. Griffith was never satisfied with it and was constantly tinkering with it. There was at least an original release, a shortened general release, and several re-issue versions.

misspickford9 · Post by **misspickford9** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:27 pm

silentfilm wrote:There are quite a few different versions of Intolerance. Griffith was never satisfied with it and was constantly tinkering with it. There was at least an original release, a shortened general release, and several re-issue versions.

LOL that reminds me of the story Miles told at the Griffith 100 years screening. Griffith was still trying to cut it well into the 1940s. "It's my film I should be able to cut it if I want..." LOL! For that whole story I wrote it up here (http://forgetthetalkies.com/2008/12/100 ... s-and.html). Miles added that in all irony the MOMA keeps finding clips of Intolerance and inserting them back in, making it even MORE futile.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:37 pm

Bruce, Misspickford,

Yes, but why has the Danish restoration that aired on Arte Network never been shown in the States? I would love to see the Thames version of TCM in a new broadcast master though, because I am very partial to the Carl Davis score. The copy I have on DVD-R from an old VHS release looks very nice, but the audio is really over-saturated and tiny. You can't do anything thing with it. It would be nice to hear Davis magnificent score in all it's glory

misspickford9 · Post by **misspickford9** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:58 pm

Gagman 66 wrote:Bruce, Misspickford,

Yes, but why has the Danish restoration that aired on Arte Network never been shown in the States? I would love to see the Thames version of TCM in a new broadcast master though, because I am very partial to the Carl Davis score. The copy I have on DVD-R from an old VHS release looks very nice, but the audio is really over-saturated and tiny. You can't do anything thing with it. It would be nice to hear Davis magnificent score in all it's glory

I wish I knew why TCM did a lot of things it does. Last year it didnt air anything to commemorate Griffith's entry into film, and it hasnt done anything on his birth/death dates yet it does for Chaplin and it did for Mary last year (but not this year). Boo I say!

Penfold · Post by **Penfold** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:23 pm

misspickford9 wrote:
silentfilm wrote:There are quite a few different versions of Intolerance. Griffith was never satisfied with it and was constantly tinkering with it. There was at least an original release, a shortened general release, and several re-issue versions.
LOL that reminds me of the story Miles told at the Griffith 100 years screening. Griffith was still trying to cut it well into the 1940s. "It's my film I should be able to cut it if I want..." LOL! For that whole story I wrote it up here (http://forgetthetalkies.com/2008/12/100 ... s-and.html). Miles added that in all irony the MOMA keeps finding clips of Intolerance and inserting them back in, making it even MORE futile.

For Griffiths, Intolerance and MoMA, you could substitute Gance, Napoleon, and Kevin Brownlow. Gance was probably more responsible than anyone else, over the years, for the parlous, confused state of the surviving materials of the film, and Mr Brownlow has spent fifty years (and counting) regathering and reassembling it....