It’s a candidate for Hollywood’s first-ever “rom-com,” a silent film comedy that inadvertently pioneered an enduring cinematic genre.
It’s “Girl Shy”, a frenetic, kinetic, get-me-to-the-church-on-time Harold Lloyd silent comedy classic, to be screened at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Jan. 26. The screening will be accompanied with live music by Jeff Rapsis.
“Girl Shy” (1924) stars Harold Lloyd as a timid young man from a small town who pens a book about imaginary female conquests. Trouble begins when bashful Harold falls in love for real, and then must rescue his beloved from marrying the wrong man in the big city.
Harold’s dilemma prompts a climactic race to the altar that stands as one of the great chases in all of cinema. The sequence was so successful that MGM used it as a model for the famous chariot race in the original silent film version of “Ben Hur” (1925).
The film is bursting with visual comedy typical of the silent era, but the romantic story line was strong enough to act as a counterweight, creating a new hybrid genre now known as the romantic comedy.
Co-starring in “Girl Shy” is actress Jobyna Ralston, who often played Lloyd’s leading lady, including in later Lloyd masterpieces “The Freshman” (1925) and “The Kid Brother” (1927).
“Girl Shy”, directed by Lloyd’s colleagues Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, was among the 10 top-grossing films of 1924.
Lloyd, along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, stands today as one of the three masters of silent comedy. Throughout the 1920s, Lloyd’s films enjoyed immense popularity, ranking regularly among the highest-grossing of the era.
Though Lloyd’s reputation later faded due to unavailability of his movies, the recent re-release of most of his major films on DVD and other media has spurred a reawakening of interest in his work and has led to more screenings of his work in theaters, where it was designed to be shown.
“Seeing a Harold Lloyd film in a theater with live music and an audience is one of the great experiences of the cinema of any era,” said Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film musician and the Town Hall Theatre’s resident accompanist.
Rapsis emphasized the value of seeing early cinema as it was originally intended to be shown.
“These films were designed for the big screen, live music, and large audiences. If you can put those conditions together again, you get a sense of why people first fell in love with the movies,” Rapsis said.
“Girl Shy” will be screened with live music on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 4:30 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St. in Wilton. Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses.
For more info, visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.