Haunted Spooks.

Happy New Year, folks. To mark our entry into the new (Roaring?) Twenties, I'm uploading a film that turns a century old this year!

Harold Lloyd was one of the top stars of the silent movie era, right up there with Chaplin and Keaton. His career (and life) came close to being ended while this film was being made when he was posing for publicity images, lighting a cigarette with the burning fuse of a fake bomb that turned out to be not so fake. Yeah, apparently folks a century ago had actual bombs laying around to get confused with props. Take that, Snowflakes!

Fortunately, most of the sight returned to his eye, and heavy makeup was the norm for movie making so hiding the facial damage wasn't a problem. He had to devise a glove that replaced some missing digits though.

This two-reeler was produced and directed by Hal Roach, who is also known for the LAUREL & HARDY shorts and creating the OUR GANG (LITTLE RASCALS). It features Lloyd's future wife Mildred Davis and Ernie 'Sunshine Sammy' Morrison, who would be the first member of the Our Gang, predecessor of Farina, Stymie, and Buckwheat.

From 1920, here is HAUNTED SPOOKS.

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