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By Raymond Benson

The Criterion Collection has released its fourth entry in a group of Harold Lloyd silent classics, titles considered to be his very best work—and The Kid Brother could very well be at the top of the heap as the definitive Lloyd feature film. While Safety Last! (1923) contains the iconic sequence of Lloyd ascending a skyscraper and hanging on to the arm of a giant clock, there is much to be said about The Kid Brother’s storytelling, the depth of its characters, and Lloyd’s ability to make us laugh at peril. This time, instead of great heights or speeding cars, the threat comes from villains who want nothing more than to break poor Harold’s neck.

The setting is a rural town at the cusp of the changeover between “western times” and the modern age. Cars exist, but most people are still riding horses. Sheriff...

The kid brother of the Kardashian family is turning 30. Rob Kardashian, whom we've watched come of age on Keeping Up With the Kardashians for the past decade, celebrates his 30th birthday today—and we imagine his sprawling family can't believe he's all grown up, either! The past year in particular has been especially momentous and life-changing for Rob, who became a first-time dad in November when daughter Dream Kardashian was born. And thanks to all the lessons that come with fatherhood, both preparing for it and actually living it, the young man whom we've seen till now figuring it all out as he went along is starting a new chapter that focuses on his baby girl. But no man is...

Cinema Retro is pleased to announce the premiere of a new column: Criterion Corner, which will highlight reviews and interviews pertaining to new Criterion video releases. For our debut column, we are honored to have Raymond Benson's exclusive interview with Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of legendary comedy star Harold Lloyd.

By Raymond Benson

On the advent of The Criterion Collection’s upcoming release of Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman on Blu-ray and DVD, it’s high time that the silent film star gain some recognition from at least two generations that missed out on seeing this master comedian in action. Last year’s release of Safety Last! certainly got the ball rolling, and with Lloyd’s granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, working as the trustee to his film library and head of Harold Lloyd Entertainment, Inc., the goal is to bring the pictures of the “third genius” (after Chaplin and Keaton) to a wider audience,...

Since their film opened this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Matt and Tom Berninger have spent two weeks discussing their feelings: about how they’ve grown, what they’ve learned and just how embarrassing Tom acted for eight months. The narrative goes like this: a rockstar invites his semi-estranged 30-year old brother on an international tour, giving him a job as a roadie and allowing him to film behind the scenes of the traveling indie rock circus. The kid brother gets fired from the tour, then moves in with his disappointed brother to try to make something out the video he

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It’s been hard to keep quiet about the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, which kicked off at the Castro Theatre last Friday evening with The Kid Brother (1927), featuring Harold Lloyd and introduced by Leonard Maltin, and wrapped Sunday evening with King Vidor’s The Patsy (1928).

Here at Twitch, Michael Hawley provided an excellent overview and I spoke with Artistic Director Stephen Salmons.

Marking the 112th anniversary of Harold Lloyd's birthday, Sony Pictures Releasing is reissuing Lloyd's classic films, including Safety Last! and The Freshman. Beginning April 20, the films, which have been made available by the Harold Lloyd Trust, will premiere at Film Forum in New York. Bookings in additional cities -- including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago -- will follow. Many of the silent titles will feature newly recorded scores. "My grandfather holds an historic place in cinema history," said Suzanne Lloyd, the actor's granddaughter and president of Harold Lloyd Entertainment. "I'm pleased and proud that Sony has stepped forward to release these films so that a new generation can experience the sheer entertainment of Harold Lloyd on the big screen." Lloyd's film career spanned 34 years and 200 comedies. Among his most famous films are Grandma's Boy (1922), Safety Last! (1923), Girl Shy (1924), The Freshman (1925), The Kid Brother (1927), Speedy (1928) and Movie Crazy (1932).