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CRITERION: Harold Lloyd's Speedy Debuts on Blu This December
Criterion has announced a December 8th street date for both versions of Harold Lloyd's Speedy on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Originally released as part of a long discontinued Harold Lloyd box set put out by New Line in 2005, this marks the debut of the slapstick silent comedy as part of the Criterion Collection as well as on Blu.
Like past Criterion releases, the DVD will be a 2-disc set while the Blu-ray will be a single disc.
Bonus features are planned to accompany each disc (below).
Speedy was the last silent feature to star Harold Lloyd-and one of his very best.
The slapstick legend reprises his 'Glasses Character,' this time as a good-natured but scatterbrained New Yorker who can't keep a job. He finally finds his true calling when he becomes determined to help save the city's last horse-drawn trolley, which is operated by his sweetheart's crusty grandfather.
From its joyous visit to Coney Island to its incredible Babe Ruth cameo to its hair-raising climactic stunts on the city's streets, Speedy is an out-of-control love letter to New York that will have you grinning from ear to ear.
BONUS FEATURES:
- New 4K digital restoration
- Musical score by composer Carl Davis from 1992, synchronized and restored under his supervision and presented in uncompressed stereo on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary featuring Bruce Goldstein, director of repertory programming at New York's Film Forum, and Turner Classic Movies program director Scott McGee
- In the Footsteps of 'Speedy,' a new short documentary by Goldstein about the film's New York locations
- Selection of rare archival footage of baseball legend Babe Ruth, who has a cameo in the film, presented by David Filipi, director of film and video at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio
- New visual essay featuring stills of deleted scenes from the film and narrated by Goldstein
- Selection of Lloyd's home movies, narrated by his granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd
- Bumping into Broadway, a 1919 Lloyd two-reeler, newly restored and with a 2004 score by Robert Israel
- PLUS: An essay by critic Phillip Lopate