Safety Last!

Safety Last! (1923)

Runtime: 72 minutes

Directed by: Fred Newmeyer/Sam Taylor

Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Westcott B. Clarke

From: Hal Roach Studios

Last night I saw this great silent again-the first viewing was years ago. I was happy to see it again as it's a classic silent for a reason. I explain it in my Letterboxd review below:

A long time ago I had seen some Harold Lloyd movies-including this one-and as I liked what I saw, I couldn't turn down the chance to see this classic again when it showed on TCM late last night. This was a wise decision on my part.

Of course, everyone knows the famous final act where Lloyd actually hanged from a giant clock in Los Angeles-something that has been homaged even in modern times-but this is a lot more than that; he plays an everyman named Harold Lloyd who goes to the big city and works at a department store. He's a victim of circumstance and bad things happen to him, although part of the problem is on him as he's not only a heel at times but he and his friend LIMPY BILL pretend to be more wealthy than they actually are, which is an issue for Harold as he tells his girl-she's still in a rural area-he is doing well and giving her gifts he can't really afford. Then she comes to the city...

The movie is pretty darn funny from beginning to end. There are sight gags, jokes in the intertitles, and other things to go along with the physical humor, which Lloyd was always great at. There are plenty of memorable moments which I won't spoil here but I have to mention that the final act climb up the building is still impressive today; it's not just the insane feat of an actual building being climbed and he actually did hang from that clock (part of it was film trickery but in long shots you see Bill Strother-the guy who played Limpy Bill-actually scale a tall building, and not in a single bound) but it's the humor sprinkled throughout and the participation of other characters in that act which make it stand out almost 100 years later... and of course a few years prior he lost his thumb and forefinger in an accident so doing those stunts while wearing a glove on one hand which hid this makes the feat all the more impressive.

I definitely want to see more Lloyd and do so at least once in awhile.