Part of Nashville: A City On Film
Sat, Sep 27 at 12:10pm: Introduction by T. Minton, Belcourt’s public historian and archivist | BUY TICKETS
In THE FRESHMAN, silent-era superstar Harold Lloyd delivers his most beloved performance as Harold Lamb, an eager college newcomer who believes popularity is just a matter of mimicry and a well-timed jig. Armed with a naive sense of ambition and an unwavering smile, Harold sets out to become campus royalty — but his attempts to fit in lead to pratfalls, public embarrassment and unexpected heart. When the school’s football team lands in trouble, Harold gets a last-chance shot at redemption in one of the most iconic — and riotously funny — sports finales in film history.
Co-starring Tennessee native Jobyna Ralston, whose chemistry with Lloyd lit up screens in seven films, THE FRESHMAN is a masterclass in physical comedy and is accompanied here by an orchestral score from Paul McCartney collaborator, Carl Davis. Ralston, born in South Pittsburgh, TN, was one of Hollywood’s most prolific actresses during the 1920s, later starring in WINGS (1927) — the first film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
This 1925 hit arrived just as the Belcourt Theatre opened its doors as a silent movie house (then called the Hillsboro Theater). Nearly a century later, THE FRESHMAN remains a hilarious and heartwarming reminder of cinema’s early magic — and Tennessee’s quiet impact on its silent beginnings.
“Flawlessly executed and edited for maximum impact, the gags have timepiece precision, but Lloyd always sells his mishaps as things that just kind of happen to his character. [THE FRESHMAN] works because it keeps viewers rooting for its hero.” —Keith Phipps, The Dissolve “Lloyd can't compete with Chaplin and Keaton, but he perfectly embodied the can-do energy of the 1920s, and few things are quite as funny as his bespectacled, apple-pie face twisted by a panic that was always justified.” —J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader “If laughter really is a panacea or some ills, one might hazard that a host of healthy persons were sent away from the Colony yesterday after regaling themselves in wild and rollicking explosions of mirth over Harold Lloyd's comic antics in his latest hilarious effusion, "The Freshman." Judging from what happened in the packed theatre in the afternoon, when old folks down to youngsters volleyed their hearty approval of the bespectacled comedian, the only possible hindrance to the physical well-being of the throngs was an attack of aching sides.” —Mordaunt Hall, New York Times (Sep 21, 1925)
