| The Freshman | |
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theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Fred C. Newmeyer Sam Taylor |
| Produced by | Harold Lloyd |
| Written by | John Grey Sam Taylor Tim Whelan Ted Wilde |
| Starring | Harold Lloyd Jobyna Ralston |
| Music by | Harold Berg |
| Cinematography | Walter Lundin |
| Editing by | Allen McNeil |
| Distributed by | Pathé Exchange |
| Release date(s) | 20 September 1925 |
| Running time | 76 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Freshman is a 1925 comedy film that tells the story of a college freshman trying to become popular by joining the school football team. It stars Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict and James Anderson. It remains one of Lloyd's most successful and enduring films.
The movie was written by John Grey, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan and Ted Wilde. It was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor.
In 1990, The Freshman was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", going in the second year of voting and being one of the first 50 films to receive such an honor.
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Harold Lamb (Harold Lloyd), a bright-eyed but naïve young man, enrolls at Tate University. On the train there, he meets Peggy (Jobyna Ralston). They are attracted to each other.
Harold decides the best way to ensure his popularity at school is to emulate his movie idol, The College Hero, down to mimicking a little jig he does before greeting anyone, and taking his nickname, "Speedy". However, the College Cad (Brooks Benedict) quickly makes him the butt of an ongoing joke, of which the freshman remains blissfully unaware. Harold thinks he is popular, when in fact he is the laughing stock of the whole school. His only real friend is Peggy, who turns out to be his landlady's daughter, described in one of the film's title cards as "what your mother was like when she was young".
He tries out for the football team. The coach (Pat Harmon) is unimpressed, but as Harold has damaged their only practice tackle dummy, the coach uses him in its place. At the end of practice, though he approves of Harold's enthusiasm (undiminished after repeated tackling), the coach is about to dismiss the freshman when Chet Trask (James Anderson), the captain and star of the team, suggests making him their water boy, while letting him think he has made the squad.
Harold is persuaded to host the annual "Fall Frolic" dance. His tailor is late making his suit; with the dance well underway, it is barely being held together by basting stitches, but Harold puts it on and hopes for the best. During the party, his clothes start to fall apart, despite the efforts of the tailor (hiding in a side room) to effect repairs. When Harold sees the College Cad being too forward with Peggy, working as a hatcheck girl, Harold knocks him down. The incensed Cad then tells him just what everyone really thinks of him. Peggy advises him to stop putting on an act and be himself.
Harold is determined to prove himself by getting into the big football game. His chance comes when the other team proves too tough, injuring so many of Tate College's players that the coach runs out of substitutes. Hounded by Harold and warned that he will forfeit if he cannot come up with another player, the coach reluctantly lets Harold go in. The first few plays are disastrous. Finally, he breaks free and is on his way to winning the game, but, mindful of a referee's prior instruction that he is to stop playing when he hears the whistle, drops the football just outside the end zone when a non-football whistle sounds. The other team recovers the ball with only a minute left to play. His teammates are disheartened, but Harold rouses them to make a final effort. He chases down the opposing ball carrier, knocks the football loose, scoops it up and runs it all the way back for the winning touchdown as time runs out. Tate prevails by a score of 6 to 3, which at last earns him the respect and popularity he was after. To top it off, Peggy passes him a note proclaiming her love for him.
The Freshman was Lloyd's most successful silent film of the 1920s, and was hugely popular at the time of its release. It sparked a craze for college films that lasted well beyond the 1920s. Exteriors were filmed near the USC campus in Los Angeles. The game sequence was shot on the field at the Rose Bowl, and the crowd scenes were shot at halftime at California Memorial Stadium during the November 1924 Big Game between UC Berkeley and Stanford University. The football game sequence was reused by Lloyd and director Preston Sturges in Lloyd's last film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947).
The Freshman is widely considered one of Lloyd's most hilarious, well-constructed films. It was one of Lloyd's few films to remain widely available after the sound era, and Lloyd reissued the film (with cuts) and used extended scenes in compilation films of the 1960s. The DVD release of Lloyd's films in 2004 includes the full, restored version as shown in the 1920s.
Pete the Pup makes a cameo in the movie.
American Film Institute recognition
American humorist and author H. C. Witwer sued Lloyd in April 1929 for $2,300,000 over The Freshman, claiming that it was "pirated" from Witwer's short story "The Emancipation of Rodney", first published in 1915.[1] When Witwer died from liver failure in Los Angeles, California, on 9 August 1929, the lawsuit had not been settled.[2] Witwer's widow pursued the lawsuit and won a judgment against Lloyd in November 1930.[3] On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals overturned the ruling and Witwer's widow received nothing.[4]
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