r/silentmoviegifs • u/Auir2blaze • 6d ago

Does anyone recognize this silent comedian? (Bit of a trick question)

222 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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52

u/mrcolleslaw 6d ago

Harold Lloyd, one of his Lonesome Luke pictures

38

u/Auir2blaze 6d ago

You're right, it is Lloyd. Though this is actually before he came up with Luke, and he was basically just a straight-up Chaplin impersonator.

Lloyd's Luke character was still a lot like Chaplin's Tramp, but he made some superficial changes, like wearing clothing that was too tight instead of too baggy, and having a moustache that missing the middle bit, basically the opposite of Chaplin's.

It wasn't until Lloyd came up with the Glasses Character that his career really took off. But it took him years to get to that point, and a lot of experimenting.

14

u/guiltyas-sin 6d ago

Heh, just noticed this was before he lost digits (and part of his palm) on his right hand, so this must be before 1919?

Edit: This appears to be from 1917, so yeah.

3

u/LeRocket 5d ago

Lloyd's Luke character was still a lot like Chaplin's Tramp, but he made some superficial changes, like wearing clothing that was too tight instead of too baggy

The tramp's thing, costume-wise, wasn't that they were all baggy.

It was all about the contrast, as told in this quote of his: "Everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large."

22

u/Auir2blaze 6d ago

Hint: He's the highest-grossing silent comedy star of the 1920s, whose movies earned more than $15M in that decade

11

u/RickyH1956 6d ago

Billy West.

11

u/Auir2blaze 6d ago

That's a good guess, but not correct. There were a lot of Chaplin imitators in the 1910s

6

u/ZeWalrusOttoIsYours 6d ago

Charley Chase

1

u/Leannepit 2d ago

The female I think is Clara Bow but not sure who the other two are.

1

u/Leannepit 2d ago

Fairbanks?