The title for the Harold Lloyd vehicle Speedy (1928) came from the bespectacled comic's own nickname, bestowed upon him by his father. The nickname also was used by Lloyd in The Freshman (1925), in which his character instructed, "Step right up and call me Speedy!" It was a handle that suited the athletic, fast-moving Lloyd, whose character in Speedy is a sports nut whose adventures include a memorably wild trolley ride. In this, his final silent film, Lloyd plays Harold "Speedy" Swift, whose enthusiasm for baseball interferes with his holding a job. Speedy's sweetheart (Ann Christy) is the granddaughter of the owner of the last horse-drawn trolley in New York City, which is stolen by railway magnates that covet its route. The film's climax comes as Speedy recovers the trolley and makes a mad dash to get it back on its route. During filming at the Brooklyn Bridge, the trolley crashed by accident into the steel pillars adjoining the bridge, providing an unexpectedly vivid scene when the smash-up was captured by the camera and left in the movie with little editing. Speedy was a hit both in the U.S. and abroad, earning total grosses of more than $2 million. Director Ted Wilde was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the film. Although Lloyd had some success in talking films, his masterpieces were made for the silent screen. Speedy allowed him to say farewell to an era in great style.