Safety Last! (1923)

Directors:

Fred C. Newmeyer
Sam Taylor

Writers:

Hal Roach (story)
Sam Taylor (story)

Release Date:

1 April 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Family | Romance

Plot:

When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

Plot Keywords:

Kicked In Butt | Clock Tower | Ambulance | Clock | Construction Worker

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Harold Lloyd	...	The Boy
Mildred Davis	...	The Girl
Bill Strother	...	The Pal
Noah Young	...	The Law
Westcott Clarke	...	The Floorwalker (Mr. Stubbs) (as Westcott B. Clarke)

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Brockman Building - 500 7th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios Inc.

Trivia:

In 1919 Harold Lloyd was handed what he thought was a prop bomb, which he lit with his cigarette. It turned out to be real and exploded, blowing off Lloyd's right thumb and index finger, and putting him in the hospital for months. When he recovered, he went back to making movies, wearing a white glove while on screen to hide his damaged right hand. He did his stunts in this film and Feet First (1930), dangling from ledges, clocks and windows, using only eight fingers.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the climatic scene, Lloyd is climbing the building we can see a side street, where some cars are parked. As the scene is not really shot in real time, there is a noticable mismatch between Lloyd's climbing takes and the positions of the cars.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

A classic silent film!

In the era of silent comedies, the man who was 2nd only to Charlie Chaplin was not Buster Keaton, but Harold Lloyd. Though he has since been mostly forgotten, except by film historians (who reluctantly list him automatically as the third great silent comedian behind Keaton and Chaplin), Lloyd's is still remembered for his clock sequence in Safety Last. More recently, this has been reproduced in "Back to the Future" and "Shanghai Knights".

However, it is not just the skyscraper sequence that makes this film special. Harold portrays his usual go-getter self, as his character moves to the city and tries to become a successful businessman, in order to impress his girlfriend. Along the way, there are many amusing mishaps, which conclude with the aforementioned skyscraper sequence. Quite magical in its silence, as compared to the later remake, also by Lloyd, "Feet First".

Highly recommended for silent film fans, and anyone wanting to get a taste of the genre.