Grandma's Boy (Silent)

Harold is a spineless coward who spends most of his time afraid of his own shadow. When the town jewelry store is robbed, he is deputized along with every other able-bodied man to capture the culprit. Petrified by his new responsibility, Harold is given a good luck charm by his grandmother. According to her, it brought the boy's grandfather great success during the Civil War. Emboldened, Harold heads out to nab the robber - not realizing the "good luck charm" is just the handle from an old umbrella!

Grandma's Boy is Harold Lloyd's breakthrough film, the one that cemented his place alongside Chaplin, Keaton, and Langdon on "The Mount Rushmore of Silent Comedy." Originally intended as a two-reeler, it became a feature-length movie when Lloyd didn't want to cut any of the extraneous footage that was shot. It became even longer when Harold and producer Hal Roach clashed over the reaction from preview audiences; Lloyd wanted to emphasis the main character's neuroses to create something akin to a melodrama, while Roach was concerned there weren't enough laughs in the picture. Harold compromised by adding about 20 gags to the finished film. The resulting combination of humor and character development gave the art of silent comedy an added depth it never had before. (Pathe's publicity boasted, "Not only is it one of the most mirth-making pictures ever produced, but it also makes a tremendous appeal to the emotions.") Its influence was not lost upon its star. Decades later, Harold told film historian Kevin Brownlow, "If I had to choose my favorite of all my films, I would choose Grandma's Boy."

• silent