Where is The Freshman?

I saw this film at the Museum of Modern Art a few years ago. Even for those who live in the New York area as I do, this is a movie that is rarely screened anyplace, despite obvious public interest (the MoMA screening was packed).

I've never seen The Freshman offered on video or DVD, but there are occasional rumors that Harold Lloyd's granddaughter Suzanne, who holds the rights to his films, has reached some sort of deal and that Lloyd's movies will be available soon . . . but so far, it appears that the rumors are merely that.

TCM is an excellent channel to check out all of the movies you can't see anywhere else. DON'T go to AMC. Commercial breaks ruin the flow of a money. Silent Sundays showcase all sorts of movies. Just in November or December they had a Harold LLoyd fest where they showed a bunch of his movies and shorts. It's the best channel hands down to watch. Just the other night they showed a Harold LLoyd movie. Go to TCM! Sometimes they do viewer voting and calling-in late at night to watch a favorite movie.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is doing a Harold Lloyd series right now. Supposedly they are restored and digitalized versions of some sort, although this is third-hand information so I don't have any real specifics.

The Freshman is playing Nov 13 2005.
http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/aroundtown/html/9465219.html

Just found this on yahoo.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051115/en_nm/lloyd_dc

I don't know if anyone is still following this thread or not, but since I have something of an answer to the question posed, here I go!

I was strolling through the FYE store at my local mall and what did I see there on the comedic movie rack but 2 volumes of something called "The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection!" Volume 2-a 2 disc set-includes "The Freshman," "The Kid Brother," "Dr. Jack," "Feet First," and "Grandma's Boy," and also 4 shorts starring Lloyd.

I don't recall what the Volume 1 contained other than "Safety Last" (a greatly over-rated flick, in my honest opinion). If you go to FYE.com, the collections can be purchases on-line...they're a bit steep in price, currently running $27.99 from the site; I paid $24.99, marked down from $29.99 (and now that I think about it, that really isn't so much for so many movies).

I quickly snatched up the Volume 2 edition, since "The Freshman" is my favorite silent comedy...and, yes, I've seen quite a few silent movies! I hope this helps ya'all out.

Our city has an old fashion movie theatre, and once a year, they have a silent flim festival, where they play silent films accompanied by a live orchestra and organ. And they played this movie this year. I thought it was hilarious!

Apparently we are lucky that this film still exists at all! According to a January 19, 1932 Associated Press article reprinted HERE:

http://hollywoodheyday.blogspot.com/2008/10/january-19-1932.html

...Lloyd had been sued for plagiarism over The Freshman (from a short story called "The Emancipation of Rodney"), and in December 1930, a court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, ordering "all negatives and positives" to be DESTROYED! Talk about DRACONIAN!

The article stated that Lloyd was still fighting the suit in a higher court. It appears that cooler heads ultimately prevailed!

If anybody's still interested it's now available in The Criterion Collection, you can order it on their website.