Harold Lloyd comedy “Speedy” is coming to the UK Criterion Collection in April
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Loading...More than 30 years after they began to set the bar for film presentation with their lovingly restored and feature packed LaserDisc special edition releases, the US indie The Criterion Collection is finally headed to the UK, thanks to a new deal with Sony Pictures.
The deal will see a selection of past and future titles getting a UK release (rights deals permitting of course), with identical artwork and extra features to those found in the US, and at very reasonable prices, especially when you compare them the cost of getting a US import (and the requirement for multi-region player to watch it on).
The first batch of 6 titles are released on April 18th, and include the Harold Lloyd’s classic Speedy.
Pre-order: Amazon UK | Zavvi | HMV
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 scatter-brained 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 streetcar, 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 climatic 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.
Special Features:
- New 4K digital restoration from elements preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive
- Musical score by composer Carl Davis from 1992, synchronized and restored under his supervision and presented in uncompressed stereo
- New audio commentary featuring Bruce Goldstein, director of repertory programming at New York’s Film Forum, and Turner Classic Movies director of program production Scott McGee
- In the Footsteps of “Speedy” – a new short documentary by Goldstein about the film’s New York shoot
- 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 Centre for the Arts
- New video essay featuring stills of deleted scenes from the film and narrated by Goldstein
- Selection of actor Harold 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
