Safety Last! (1923)

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Desperate to impress his girlfriend back home, an inner city store clerk lies about being promoted to manager, which leads to complications when she pays him a surprise visit in this classic Harold Lloyd comedy. The film is best known for its iconic final sequence in which Lloyd ends up hanging from a clock high up on the building where he works. It is an unexpectedly thrilling sequence with much tension in the air as the ground far below him is clearly visible and as a variety of long and medium shots capture just how high up he winds up climbing. The vast majority of the film though is just typical Harold Lloyd high jinks and hilarity, some of which is excellent (hitching an ambulance ride; hiding under overcoats) and some of which is a little drawn out. Lloyd is charming as ever throughout though, which makes it a very easy movie to warm to. And yet, while Lloyd's best known film, this is hardly his funniest; 'Speedy' has more to offer in the laughs department as well as a more well-rounded love interest, as opposed to Mildred Davis here who seems far more interested in Lloyd having power and money than Lloyd himself. That said, the supporting cast is generally solid, with a special mention to Westcott Clarke as an indignant floor manager and one particularly fussy materials customer. The stunt work is remarkable too, and not just in the final scene.

At times the first hour of Safety Last feels like padding until we get to the climactic set piece. But what a set piece it is. Although Harold Lloyd never made a film quite as masterful as the best of Chaplin or Keaton, the sequence of Lloyd scaling the The International Savings & Exchange Bank Building is as iconic in any in the history of cinema.The plot is fairly straightforward, Lloyd's character gets a job at a department store but wants to impress his girlfriend, so he pretends to be the manager. Unfortunately, he realizes he cannot keep up the illusion without actual money so he stages a stunt, he who climb the building the department store is located in will receive $1,000. Lloyd's character initially intends for his best friend, a human fly, to climb the building but circumstances force him to make the climb himself.The relatively bland setup gives us the usual workplace comedy routine, which plays well enough for the most part but can get a bit tiresome. The final twelve minutes are amazing however. The camera trickery used to convey Harold Lloyd climbing a 12-story building is amazing. While not necessarily laugh out loud funny, the tension is almost unbearable. I found myself transfixed to the screen. It's difficult to rate a movie where one sequence is so clearly superior to the others, but in this case the scene is so iconic that I feel like it elevates the whole movie to greatness.

I'm not an expert on the silent era by any means, but I have to say, this seems like a must-see movie for those who are interested in this period of filmmaking. It includes the iconic moment of Harold Lloyd dangling from a clock face many stories off the ground, and also many wonderful sight gags and a cute story.We see Lloyd accidentally getting on a horse-drawn ice wagon instead of the train in the beginning, as he goes off to the city to earn enough money to get married to his sweetheart. We see him and his buddy putting their coats on, hanging themselves up on hooks, and pulling their legs up out of sight to avoid the landlady who is looking for rent in a brilliant scene. He gets a job as a salesman, and we see him handle a crowd of women all going berserk over a fabric sale in all sorts of inventive ways.The scenes of him climbing perilously up a building wall take place over the final 20 minutes of the film, and has him dodging nuts dumped out by a child, being mobbed by pigeons, being hit with a net from above and a giant wooden beam for the side before reaching the clock face. He then hangs from the clock hands in a scene that is both funny and thrilling, since you know it's real, and the framing of the scene is absolutely perfect. As he ascends he'll also dangle from a rope, have a mouse crawl up his leg, and walk precipitously on the edge of a couple of ledges.You're not going to be laughing out loud, but Lloyd is likable and charming, and you will probably marvel at his inventiveness, as well as the danger in performing the climbing stunt, which he did himself for the most part, with nothing but a mattress a few stories below (off-screen) for safety. It was 'safety last' in the real sense as well! Definitely worth seeing if you get a chance.

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.