The Freshman (1925)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Harold Lamb's dream is to go to college and become the most popular student on campus, much like the character Speedy played by actor Lester Laurel in the movie "The College Hero". Accepted into Tate College, Harold plans on emulating Speedy, including giving himself the nickname Speedy, to gain that popularity, not realizing that if he does so, he will be more the buffoon than the hero. To be the most popular student, he will have to outdo the current most popular student, football captain Chet Trask. Unaware Speedy's task is made all the more difficult when one of the upperclassmen, seeing how hard Speedy is trying to impress, does whatever he can to make Speedy look all the more ridiculous, all the while Speedy believing he is achieving his dream. The bully's efforts are made all the more easy as Speedy is able to buy his way to seeming popularity with the small nest egg he was able to accumulate from work. The one thing that Speedy may not be able to buy is his way onto the... - Actors:
- Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict, James Anderson, Hazel Keener, Joseph Harrington, Pat Harmon
- Directors:
- Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor
- Producers:
- Harold Lloyd, Jeffrey Vance
- Writers:
- Sam Taylor, Ted Wilde, John Grey, Tim Whelan, Thomas J. Gray, Harold Lloyd
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Classics, Comedy, Romance, Sports & Sport Films
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Films About American Football, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Yasujiro Ozu, Top 100 AFI Laughs, Top Films
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Reviews (2) of The Freshman
Lloyd’s Engineered Embarrassment - The Freshman review by griggs
Some comedies feel like everyone’s riffing and hoping for the best. The Freshman feels built. It clocks people’s little habits and social blind spots, then quietly sets them up to fail in public. Long before Jacques Tati made a career out of behavioural choreography, Harold Lloyd was already turning awkward manners into timing
That big dance sequence is the proof. Harold just wants to look the part, and instead his outfit starts falling to bits at exactly the worst moments — with a tailor trying to rescue him on the fly. The film doesn’t milk one gag; it keeps changing the problem, beat by beat, so the embarrassment stays fun rather than repetitive.
And Lloyd really is the secret weapon. He’s not a cartoon; he’s a decent, anxious human trying to think his way out of trouble. Those close-ups — the pause, the tiny internal negotiation — make the comedy feel deliberate. Crafted chaos, still fresh.
Silent Comedy. - The Freshman review by Steve
Delightful proto-campus comedy with Harold Lloyd in fine form as the brilliantly naff title character who frantically strives to fit in with the jocks and it-girls of the undergraduate elite but fails worse the harder he tries. When he trials for the college football team they put him on the bench out of pity. Or to humiliate.
Still, when they are losing in the final with time running out, well, what’s going to happen? The freshman is one hell of a dweeb, but this is Hollywood. The comedy of awkwardness gives way to a feelgood triumph, which is satisfying because there is a story arc, rather than just a sequence of visual gags.
The jokes are amusing and imaginative and feed into the redemption narrative. This was a huge box office success and is pretty much flawless. Jobyna Ralston has little to do as the good-girl who believes in the underdog, but that was the usual burden of the female lead in a silent comedy.
One of the more heartening details is how the real college hero (James Anderson) is actually a decent guy and doesn’t join in on the cruel ragging. Harold does his familiar go-getter schtick as the cringingly uncool college kid who learns he should just be himself! This is the silent superstar at about his peak.