Series: Harold Lloydy
Director: Hal Roach, Alfred J. Goulding
Producer: Hal Roach
Titles: H.M. Walker
Photography: Walter Lundin
Editor: 
Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Wallace Howe
Company: Pathé Exchange
Released: 14 March 1920
Length: 2 reels
Production No.: L-5
Filming dates: August 9-23, 1919 & January 5-25, 1920
Rating: -/10
Haunted Spooks
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Available on DVD:
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Some old geezer has kicked the bucket and left his mansion to his granddaughter but there's a stipulation in the will that she must live there for a year after he has passed. Unfortunately for her, her scheming uncle has plans to get his hands on the house if she fails. The lawyer delivers the news and conditions to the girl (Mildred Davis) which states she and her husband will inherit the plantation but she confesses she is not married. 'The other girl' (Marie Mosquini) is at her home when a lustful tennis player tries to woo her but her boyfriend (Harold Lloyd) is having none of it. She tells them both to ask her father if they want to marry her. The two men argue over who will go first and it's the rival who pitches his intentions before Harold intervenes and tells the dad that the other guy is dangerous on account of too many tennis racket hits to his head. The father summons his kitchen staff who all rush to his assistance and take the nuisance suitor away. The father grants Harold his blessing to marry his daughter and Harold goes outside only to see the girl in the arms of another man. Harold finds a gun which has been dropped by a couple of kids messing about but when he contemplates shooting himself with it he discovers it's a water pistol. Determined to kill himself Harold stands in front of a street car but it avoids him, before walking to a local (Lincoln) park and throwing himself off a bridge into a lake with a rock tied around his neck. The water is only a couple of inches deep though so Harold tries a bigger bridge (in a different park, Hollenbeck). As he climbs to the top he is first asked for a match to light another man's cigarette, and then asked the time by a second gentleman. When he does finally make the jump he lands in a canoe with an elderly man. They argue and Harold runs off. |
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Harold continues his quest to kill himself and runs out in front of a car.
REVIEW COMPLETE TO 12 MINUTES |
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Favourite bit FAV SCENE |
| Trivia • Copyrighted March 8, 1920. • Also listed for March 31, 1920. • Dee Lampton died shortly after the first block of filming, in September 1919. This was his last film. • It was during the filming of this film that Harold Lloyd suffered his bomb accident which resulted in him losing some fingers. Filming dates • Sources vary regarding initial filming from August 9-23, 1919, which seems to fit production L-4 instead. However, it's clear that some scenes show Lloyd before his hand was injured. Resumed filming started on January 5, 1920, and continued until either January 17 or 25, 1920, with possibly more filming on February 9, 1920. My opinion • The number of intertitle cards on screen inside the first 3 minutes made this almost impossible to watch! Fans of Harold Lloyd (and I know there are at least three of them) will defend his films, but in reality they suck. |
| CREDITS (click image to enlarge) | INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge) |
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| POSTER (click any image to enlarge) 
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| LOBBY CARDS (click any image to enlarge) 
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| GLASS SLIDE (click any image to enlarge) 
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| SHOT ON LOCATION (click any image to enlarge) 
 
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| SHOT ON LOCATION: HOLLENBECK PARK (click any image to enlarge) 
  
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| SHOT ON LOCATION: LINCOLN PARK (click any image to enlarge) 
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| Acknowledgements: The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia by Annette D'Agostino Lloyd http://www.silentera.com/video/hauntedSpooksHV.html (details on DVD releases) Jesse Brisson (help; ID of Max Hamburger) Craig Calman (trivia) Jorrge Finkielman (glass slide) This page was last updated on: 03 April 2023 |