Safety Last! (1923)

Lloyd moves to the big city and gets a job in a department store. He plans on saving enough money to bring his fiancé to the city and get married. The problem is that he doesn't want to admit to her that he isn't making much money yet, so he lies to her about being successful. She decides to come to the city to see him, and now he has to pretend that he's a bigger deal ... manager of the store in fact. To get himself out of this corner and to get the money he needs to get married, he takes up an offer from his boss of $1000 if he can increase the number of people visiting the store. He enlists his roommate who can scale the sides of buildings to climb the department store for a big prize, but when his friend can't make the climb come the day itself, Lloyd has to scale the building himself. I had never seen a Lloyd film until now, though I was familiar with the famous images from the climax. That did not prepare me for how deliriously wonderful it is. The film itself is funny and I want to see more Lloyd now, but man, the climax is just incredible.

I've seen fair amount of silent comedies starring Charlie Chaplin which any given day will take the top three spots on my favourite silent films & I've seen a handful of Buster Keaton's works as well which are full of technical innovations & exquisite use of dry humour which I admire very much. However, Safety Last is my first stint with features starring Harold Lloyd & I'm kind of kicking myself right now for not having checked out more of his films even when he has been the most prolific of these three iconic figures of cinema.Safety Last tells the story of a young man who is moving to the big city to find success & promises to send for his girlfriend once he is financially stable so that they can get married. But life in the big town is difficult & our boy is feeling the heat until he overhears his boss planning to give $1000 to anyone who can come up with an idea that would bring a crowd in front of their store. Promising to split the reward in half, he asks his roommate to climb to the top of his store building in a publicity stunt but a series of circumstances ultimately force him to make the climb himself.Wonderfully directed, cleverly scripted, crisply photographed, tightly edited & nicely scored, the film also boasts some truly memorable moments of the silent film era & is hilarious from start to finish. Harold Lloyd may not have the unparalleled charisma of Chaplin or the deadpan expressions of Keaton but he manages to make his character work solely on his acting skills & delivers an outstanding performance. On an overall scale, Safety Last is an ingeniously crafted, influential, unforgettable & significant masterpiece of its time that hasn't aged a day and I just can't wait to check out more of Lloyd's works. Highly recommended.

" . . . soon as I ditch this cop." So yells Bill Strother (playing "The Pal") to Harold Lloyd (in the role of "The Boy") amid the latter's precarious exploration of the OUTSIDE facade of a Los Angeles high-rise during a publicity stunt gone awry. At the height of the "Age of Ballyhoo," during which one could become famous by merely sitting atop a flagpole for a few weeks, a chain of events have forced The Boy to promote his experienced wall-climbing friend in a PR event which will set him up for marriage to "The Girl" (Lloyd's eventual real-life wife, Mildred Davis). The mishaps which have endangered The Boy's future naturally continue, compelling him to make his own dare-devil debut before a throng of thousands. At a time when Mount Everest was as yet unconquered, it certainly is refreshing to see a man "win" a woman through what is arguably a skill and certainly a brave act (as opposed to what Dustin Hoffman's character does at the end of THE GRADUATE, cravenly "stealing" another man's bride from the altar).

I've never been a fan of silent films (I think I've only ever watched three), but this one is one of my all time favourite comedies. The humor here is brilliant! Sure, it's simple (it's a silent film after all), but it works and that's what matters. I could never have imagined a 90 year old piece of cinema with little to no dialogue making for a good laugh, but it did!I absolutely enjoyed it from beginning to end and I can't recall the last time I've laughed so much during a film. The climbing scene, though, was fun in a different way - I didn't find myself laughing as much as I was gasping. An amazing fact considering the age of the film.I wouldn't call this entirely a one man's show, but I can't help but highlight Harold Lloyd's commitment in every facial expression and every move of his body - it's quite mesmerizing. There's a hint of something almost poetic about this type of acting and film in general.Surprisingly it's a type of film that's fun to watch with friends. If you haven't seen it, give it a try. I assure you, you won't regret it!