In 1920 Harold Lloyd created no less than five short films (two-reelers) which included An Eastern Westerner and High and Dizzy. His leading lady, Mildred...

In 1920 Harold Lloyd created no less than five short films (two-reelers) which included An Eastern Westerner and High and Dizzy. His leading lady, Mildred Davis, was soon to become Mrs Lloyd. The two films could not be more contrasting: An Eastern Westerner opens in New York with Harold as a dissipated young man enraging his parents who banish him to their ranch in an unnamed outlaw-ridden territory. High and Dizzy couldn't be more urban, moving from a doctor’s office to a very grand hotel but running through this film is a very serious theme. The heroine is a sleep-walker and at the film’s climax, places both herself and Harold in great danger.

Even the orchestrations are different. An Eastern Westerner was composed in 2000 as a curtain-raiser to Harold Lloyd’s thrill feature, Safety Last, for an orchestra resembling the Paul Whiteman Jazz Band. Even when imitating Western themes, I used the orchestra to emphasize Harold’s split personality. High and Dizzy, composed in 2012, has a more classical line-up utilizing a beautiful aria from Bellini’s opera ‘La Sonnambula’ (The Sleepwalker). Following silent film tradition I borrowed copiously from the masters including Rossini’s ‘William Tell Overture’ and Wagner’s ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ as well as the most iconic Western song of all ‘Home on the Range’ which both opens and closes the film. - Carl Davis