Vintage Film: Driving Around NYC in 1928 from Silent Film “Speedy” with Harold Lloyd

This fun clip that’s being shared around social media lately is from the 1928 silent film Speedy, starring comedian Harold Lloyd and directed by Ted Wilde. It was filmed in New York City, and fans of our vintage photo column may notice some really fun transportation finds, like the 23-foot traffic towers that once graced 5th Avenue across the street from one of the original cast iron subway entrances, double decker public buses, street cars, and elevated trains in Manhattan.

Architecturally, you’ll see Herald Square, with the New York Herald Building designed by Stanford White, with the elevated train running through it, the Macombs Dam Bridge to Yankee Stadium, Washington Square arch (with roads for traffic through the park!), the Customs House (now also the Museum of the American Indian) at Bowling Green with an elevated train station, shots of the Brooklyn Bridge, the now demolished New York Produce Exchange Building, and the statue of Abraham De Peyster, who until the early 1970s resided in Bowling Green Park. Making cameos in the film are Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

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