Harold Lloyd drives a Pacific Electric trolley in Girl Shy (1924)

In this hilarious movie, Harold Lloyd, who always did his stunts himself, runs from one vehicle to another to make his way to the girl he loves. In this clip from Girl Shy, he attempts to operate a Pacific Electric trolley in the streets of Los Angeles in 1924. This clip is dedicated to Harold as well as the extensive streetcar system of Los Angeles back then.

[@kirkconway]

Robert Israel was an absolute genius to be able to put perfect music to each scene. the style of music and the speed and tenor is totally perfect.

[@primecontents]

www.youtube.com/@youtubecinema7950/videos

[@lloydeby4720]

This is great! I hadn't realized that much of the marriage sequence in "The Graduate" is lifted from Harold Lloyd!

[@BuddyFantastic]

Classic Lloyd this. An amazing madcap silent movie comedy actor. R.I.P Harlod Lloyd, you're still making folk laugh to this day.

[@Master_Blackthorne]

@Fnarge Yeah, it's enough to make you cry when you think how lovely Los Angeles used to look.

[@Cool2BCeltic]

Part of a sequence that anticipates The Graduate by more than 40 years.

[@javimu111]

Author/Film Historian John Bengtson discovered that the sequence was filmed in the city of Hollywood, CA. If you look at 0:18, we're looking EAST on Yucca Ave. towards Argyle Av. (with Argyle Av. going North to the left and South to the right). As Yucca crosses Argyle and recedes into the background it starts going uphill for a bit This same intersection will appear in this clip several times, including with when Lloyd is on top of the runaway trolley.

[@Master_Blackthorne]

@stlgtrace Nope, it's a single unit Pacific Electric passenger car. This car, (there were 4 of them) was for city and suburban use. Don't let the speed in the film fool you; they couldn't go that fast nor were they allowed to. It was the only car on the PE that had wicker sections on both ends. No example of this car survives today, as it was retired (scrapped) early. HO models of this car do exist.

[@nosferatuist]

AMAZING! look the scene at 1:47,this man was EARL MOHAN (1889-1928)..He was really GREAT! :D

[@romanval69]

Actually a lot of trolley tracks are still in the ground; just embedded underneath the asphalt.

[@jstasur]

Roman Val Absolutely true!

[@sneadh1]

Thanks. For the record, one might run or operate a streetcar or train, but never "drive" one! It's a classic "California" car, top speed about 25. It is a PE car, in Hollywood. Both PE and LARY had many of these cars in the early years. LARY kept them much longer, although modernized.

[@7camscdan249]

The world's first Electric Trolley System was introduced in Montgomery in 1886.

[@ruypapaleobianchini395]

HL gênio da comédia .Pura arte do cinema mudo👏👏👍👍👍👍🙏🇺🇸.

[@MrInitialMan]

This was in the opening scenes of The Hollywood Clowns!

[@sneadh1]

He's got it "on the brass" (9 points - full speed)

[@Tephodon]

What this phrase means? Does the engine connected to the power line directly, without intermediate resistors?

[@johndavies9270]

@@Tephodon The handle shown on the control box is like a regulator - the further over it goes, it more power is put through to the motors. If you know how model trains are controlled, it works on a similar principle - a 'mat' or resistor with a sliding contact regulates the amount of current being passed through. Hadn't heard that expression before - in England we'd say she was 'working hard against the collar' - but the regulator slide would be at the limit of its travel - up against the stop block.

[@Master_Blackthorne]

@Jeffbear1 Both LARY and PE (with some exceptions like the 950's) had five window ends (called "California type.") This car is running in places where LARY didn't go. It's a Huntington Standard single unit car. And was owned by the PE

[@parangirinathan3114]

Super comedy

[@lilginger8642010]

Lov Girl Shy :)

[@flyingmerkel6]

Watched the full movie last night. It's a classic. I think it's better than Safety Last. Here's a question: Will today's comedies still be funny in 2104?

[@haroldsgirl5043]

Yes, they are timeless, as is Harold. :)

[@erikwern144]

Slapstick has a timeless quality to them that spoken comedy won't have.

[@vilstef6988]

I doubt it. Silents are their own world and though about 80% of them have been lost they retain an amazing amount of their humor and world. One of the characters in Singin' in the Rain says talkies are vulgar. To an extent, yes, but dialog makes them more a product of their time than the timelessness of the silents, even if the silents are dated by their visuals. Even silent science fiction like Metropolis retains a surprising sense of timelessness.

[@mrgobrien]

2:30 - i think the first ever movie goof i got told about - in the 1970's - when harold disconnects the tram from the overhead electric wire it would just roll to a halt - it isn't on a hill.

[@DNRY122]

Note that the numbers and railway name have been blanked out. It looks more like an LA Railway car than a Pacific Electric, but the fare register is more typical of PE. Also, I can't think of a PE line that has such a roundabout route.

[@goodieprocter]

0:50 "MY CABBAGES"

[@erikwern144]

8 dislikes. How come?

[@DavidBrown-dj7tw]

Back in the day, Henry Ford offered to paint a new car any color for you, as long as it was black.

[@NESherv]

This works GREAT with KZbin 1911!

[@Master_Blackthorne]

@uranian99 Yeah, or the nice way people used to dress. Now it looks like they're practically in their underwear.

[@robertmiles9942]

FAST&FURIOUS ZERO

[@cambridgeh.lutece6658]

Still trying to figure out what class train of the 1924 Pacific Electric that was.

[@Jeff-uj8xi]

I could be wrong, but the car and the trackage looks like LARY to me, not PE. And by the way, one doesn't drive a trolley or streetcar, one operates it.

[@Master_Blackthorne]

@The5150Clown No, I meant that was the maximum speed. They wouldn't take those thurns at that speed, of course. Turns on street trackage were a much sharper radius than on the private right of way. I envy your great grandfather by the way :-)

[@Master_Blackthorne]

@jooshiscrazy I think these cars DID go 40 mph. Any faster wouldn't be practical in suburban areas. Any faster than that would have caused it to jump the track.

[@sneadh1]

This type only went abut 25, and in LA we called them streetcars.

[@imransharif443]

Ha ha ha ha good

[@NONGGOYJAA]

@denny906 do you know anything about the music that was used in the older releases?

[@jeffbear1472]

It looks more like an L A Ry car to me. And Lloyd was "operating" it, not "driving" it.

[@JacobWynnpmrrv]

0:18

[@srimulyaningsih3232]

Ahahahahahahaha 😄😄

[@nlo114]

Was that anywhere near Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg, Russia ?

[@philipperiopel1911]

Keep drinking Vodka.....

[@kirkconway]

@jooshiscrazy noooo thats wrong,,, i have the comedy collection. and the music for gilrl shy was by Robert Israel It say;s it is on the oening credit's on the film. It's no big thing but I just wanted to get the fact's straight.

[@srimulyaningsih3232]

1:07 pantografnya putus

[@basketballspinner]

hollywood predicted the korean war 30 years before it happened hollywood was started in 1920 not far from mountains that could represent south korea mash took advantage of this location so that mike farrell and his wife could be home in hollywood after each filming day thusly hollywood predicted the korean war and set up in a location not far from where mike farrell and his wife could commute to work in the mountains and be home for dinner at 7 pm