Safety Last! (1923)

Good idea lost in the noise

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Harold climbed a twelve story building as a publicity stunt to attract attention for the business he worked for, and it worked, for this is one of his most renowned films, thanks largely to the image of his dangling by the clock hand over busy city streets below. Harold impresses his girlfriend by pretending to be far more impressive than he really is. Whether spending his last pennies to buy her jewellery, even when he can't afford rent, and impersonating the general manager of his fabric store, even when he is just a salesman, his life is a constant facade, and fittingly (no pun intended), constantly spiralling out of control, in ever so silly a fashion (ok, maybe a small pun). It is not always logical, but it is always entertaining.

A Hal Roach Studios production, released through Pathé. Copyright 25 January 1923 by Pathé Exchange, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 1 April 1923. U.S. release: 1 April 1923. 7 reels. 6,300 feet. 73 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Anxious to impress his girl, a humble department store employee finds himself cast in the role of a human fly. NOTES: Only movie appearance of real "human fly", Bill Strother.A domestic rentals gross of $1.5 million established the movie in third position (with The Hunchback of Notre Dame) as one of the most popular movies of the year. Only The Covered Wagon and The Ten Commandments (both shown at roadshow prices) took more money at U.S./Canadian ticket windows in 1923.Voted number seven in The Film Daily annual poll of more than 300 film critics.Oddly, the movie did not make The New York Times "Ten Best" list for the year at all , or even the supplementary list where the critic preferred Lloyd's next movie, Why Worry? COMMENT: Not Lloyd's best film, nor even his funniest nor most thrilling, but the one everybody remembers and relates to, Safety Last established Lloyd as Chaplin's closest competitor. Meticulously constructed, cleverly directed and handsomely produced on real Los Angeles locations (including the Brockman Building), the movie features Lloyd in almost every single scene—and even in the few clips where Lloyd is not physically present, the other players are either talking about him or establishing "business" for him to use in later scenes. This concentration pays many laugh and thrill dividends throughout, especially in the climactic climb. In fact, Safety Last is that rare commodity, a classic movie that still delivers the same punch, the same thrills, the same triggers to outbursts of laughter that audiences responded to on its original release. AVAILABLE on DVD through New Line. Quality rating: Ten out of ten.

Thanks to Criterion to have made a Blu-Ray for this movie. If not for the Blu-Ray I doubt if I would have ever seen this.I know of Chaplin and of Keaton as the comic geniuses of 1920's but then along with them was another one called the "The Third One" and his name is Harold Lloyd. And finally, I discovered him and I am so very happy now. The hanging from a multi story building from the watch on the wall, seems to be such an iconic thing in 1920's that its referred many a time in so many movies later and as recently as HUGO. I love that shot and it's called "dangling from the skyscraper", and I suppose anybody who watches this shall really fall for such originality. Also, take a note of a title, SAFETY LAST which means that let's through caution to the winds and just do it. It's an antonym of SAFETY FIRST.The premise which comes in the latter part actually that sets up the whole film is so wonderful that for most part, we shall be laughing 90 years after a film is made, if still that tickles your ribs, then it's simply great. That's what these great movies do. And certainly, this stands right up there. If Chaplin was a genius in humane stories and Keaton was so in making us laugh with his extreme stunts, then Lloyd made me laugh with his simplicity, with his histrionics and with his stunts. It was so very refreshing to see all this in an era where films were so pristine. The sound, rather the music was pitch perfect echoing the emotions of the characters and it was deliberately made funny, which I loved it. There was a time, when the protagonist had to fight against the wails set by the society. Expectations are much higher from family and friends and he has do some extraordinary things to make them happy. Directors, Newmeyer and Sam Taylor must be applauded a great deal for they have pulled a nearly impossible act in 1920's. And, yes Harold Lloyd steals it like a champion, salutations for the whole team. This movie is like Serendipity, which I discovered by accident and loved every bit of it.This movie for sure, is going to be a great movie forever and ever. A 5/5 for this.

" . . . 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).