Safety Last! (1923)

A boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.

Directors:

Fred C. Newmeyer (as Fred Neymeyer), Sam Taylor

Writers:

Hal Roach (story), Sam Taylor (story)

Stars:

Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Harold Lloyd	...	Harold - The Boy
Mildred Davis	...	Mildred, The Girl
Bill Strother	...	Bill, The Pal
Noah Young	...	The Law
Westcott Clarke	...	The Floorwalker (as Westcott B. Clarke)

Storyline

In 1922, the country boy Harold says goodbye to his mother and his girlfriend Mildred in the train station and leaves Great Bend expecting to be successful in the big city. Harold promises to Mildred to get married with her as soon as he "make good". Harold shares a room with his friend "Limpy" Bill and he finally gets a job as salesman in the De Vore Department Store. However, he pawns Bill's phonograph, buys a lavaliere and writes to Mildred telling that he is a manager of De Vore. One day, Harold sees an old friend from Great Bend that is a policeman and when he meets his friend Bill, he asks Bill to push the policeman over him and make him fall down. However Bill pushes the wrong policeman that chases him, but he escapes climbing up a building. Out of the blue, Mildred is convinced by her mother to visit Harold without previous notice and he pretends to be the manager of De Vore. When Harold overhears the general manager telling that he would give one thousand dollars to to anyone...

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Plot Keywords:

department store | publicity stunt | human fly | national film registry | unemployment | 

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Taglines:

See the Prince of Skylarkers in His Latest Hurricane of Humor Filled With Frills, Spills, Chills and Surprising sensations. (Print Ad- Aurora Daily Star, ((Aurora, Ills.)) 15 October 1923)

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of Anna Townsend. She is the old woman featured both in the chaotic sale scene, and as one of the onlookers while Harold climbs the building. She previously co-starred with Harold Lloyd as the titular grandmother in Grandma's Boy (1922).

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Goofs

"The Boy" purchases a chain from a stereotypically-portrayed Jewish jeweler. He is shown buying it on a Saturday - when the jeweler would be expected to be closed.

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Quotes

Bill, The Pal: I'll be at the next floor up, just as soon as I am through ditching the cop.
Harold - The Boy: [feeling exasperated with Bill for the delay and scared from the height and exhausted from his having to keep climbing up one floor-level after another] You BE THERE - - or I will be THROUGH!

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Alternate Versions

In 1990, The Harold Lloyd Trust and Photoplay Productions presented a 73-minute version of this film in association with Thames Television International, with a musical score written by Carl Davis. The addition of modern credits stretched the time to 74 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Safety Last!: Locations and Effects (2013)

User Reviews

Never before have I heard an audience react so much to a film

Safety Last was funny pretty much throughout its entirety. The scene where Harold and his roommate hide in their coats (you'd have to see it to know what I'm talking about) got an enormous laugh which lasted for a long time, followed by some applause. I remember that there was a slow section, lasting about 5 minutes, after Harold's fiancee arrived in the city, but other than that, this film was consistently hilarious.

And then during the building climbing scene, there were so many laughs and gasps, applause, and shouts ("OH MY GOD!") coming from the audience. It was probably the single most hair-raising scene that I or most of the other people in the theater had ever seen. And the climb, which lasts, I believe, 12 stories, should have gotten old. But it never came close to getting old. Each joke was masterful.

After having seen the film, I was unfairly comparing it to the silent film that I had seen the previous week at a theater with live piano: Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. Well, nothing is really comparable to that film. I consider it the funniest film I've ever seen. I was planning to give Safety Last a 9/10, but after some thought, I realized that I laughed a lot harder and more at this film than 90% of the other comedies I've seen. At least 90%, but probably much more. I have to give this a 10/10. This film really should be on DVD, or at least VHS. Harold Lloyd shouldn't be as forgotten as he is.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

1 April 1923 (USA)

Also Known As:

Safety Last!

Filming Locations:

Atlantic Hotel, Broadway, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$121,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min 74 min (Blu-ray)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1