Customer Reviews

Safety Last [VHS]

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Although he is generally considered the equal of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd's films are much less widely available--with the exception of SAFETY LAST, which turns up with great regularity at film festivals and on cable television. Like most of his films, SAFETY LAST finds Lloyd struggling to make good in order to win the girl of his dreams (in this case his actual wife, actress Mildred Davis)--and when the big boss offers a thousand dollars for a promotional idea that will draw hundreds to the store, Lloyd suggests a human fly act... but at the last minute circumstances go awry, leaving Lloyd to make the climb himself.

While the first half of the film abounds in brilliant, hilarious sight gags, it is Lloyd's climb up the skyscraper that is best remembered: attacked by pigeons, entangled in a net, running afoul of a mouse, and ultimately hanging from the hands of a clock face hundreds of feet above a cheering crowd. Filmed without stunt-doubles or such devices as rear-screen projection, the squirm effect of the sequence is still tremendous--and the film is all the funnier for it. Always wearing his signature straw hat and round-frame glasses, Lloyd's eager optimism personified the go-getter mentality of the 1920s, when the sky seemed the limit and progress hadn't yet gone on too long. If you are a fan of silent film but have not yet encountered Harold Lloyd, SAFETY LAST is the perfect introduction--and an essential for your collection.

Harold Lloyd is without question the funniest and most daring filmmaker of his day, if not the entire 20th century. SAFETY LAST is a classic example of Lloyd's films: an average, All-American boy, full of optimism and hope, finds himself in a simple mixup that quickly multiplies with hilarious complexity. When SAFETY LAST first debuted in theaters in 1923, audiences literally fainted while watching the stunts Harold performed, and they are no less powerful today, for they were all filmed without the aid of special effects. He made more films than Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton combined, but has been all but forgotten by late 20th century film lovers. SAFETY LAST is only one of the multitudes of fantastic movies this genius made, and if you're not impressed when you see it, remember this: due to a stunt accident early in his career, Harold Lloyd lost his thumb and index finger on his right hand. All the stunts you see in SAFETY LAST - including the infamous skyscraper climb - were done with the use of only ONE complete hand! If you like SAFETY LAST (and I'm sure you will), I also highly recommend GIRL SHY, SPEEDY and HOT WATER, just to name a few.

Okay, when we think of Harold Lloyd we think of the famous image of him hanging onto the hands of a clock outside a building, right? Well, this is where the shot was taken from. "Safety Last" was one of the few Lloyd comedies I actually saw when I was younger. I mostly saw his short 2 and 3 reelers growing up. But, I happened to see "Safety Last" on tv yesterday. It's been about 15 years since I last saw, and I was still amazed.

"Safety Last" tells the story of a couple in love (Lloyd and Mildred Davis). Lloyd is going to become a big businessman so he can marry the girl of his dreams. As soon as he gets enough money he will send out for her to come. At best Lloyd gets a job as a salesman making $15 a week. In 1923 I'm guessing that was pretty good, but, even by those standards not enough to get married on. So, naturally like any man would do, he lies to his girlfriend pretending that he's doing much better than he actually is. He goes without eating so he can buy her a chain. He writes to her everyday of the week dreaming of the day they can be together.

Feeling she has waited long enough for Lloyd, Davis decides it's time for her to go to him. Thus making things worst for him due to the fact she visits him at work! But, as fate would have it the department store where he is working is looking for a scheme to draw costumers. And Lloyd gets a great idea that will earn him $1,000!

Okay, I feel I have to commet on the building climbing piece. It is one of the most daring scenes I have scene in comedy history. Now, I know that no harm came to Lloyd making shooting that scene. I know he survived the making of that scene and went on to make other movies, but, I became so caught in the moment that my heart was in my throat. I was sitting on the edge of my seat. Everytime it seemed as if Lloyd would fall off the buliding I jumped lol. I kept thinking to myself, "Why did he do this?!" "How did he do this?!" "How did they shoot this scene?!!" You forget that it's only a movie. because most of us know that Lloyd did his own stunts. It really is something everyone has to see.

Would I say this is his "best" movie? No, to be honest I don't think so. Do I think it's one of his funniest? Sure. It's right up there. I also think it's one of the best comedies not only made in it's day, but of all-time. So go out and buy it.

Bottom-line: Probably Lloyd's most famous movie due to the "thrill" scene at the end. One of the best comedies of all time.

Harold Lloyd is "The Boy", the typical character that Harold Lloyd played: spectacled, eager, fresh-faced, and up against the world. Mildred Davis plays his dopey, but utterly loveable girlfriend. SAFETY NOW encompasses much of what I now associate with Harold Lloyd films. The stunt work is exciting and breathtaking, while the storytelling is funny, and sweet without being schmaltzy.

SAFETY LAST is made up of two main segments. The first is a collection of humorous set pieces set in and around a department store. The Boy has gone off to the big city to make his fortune, promising to send for The Girl when he can afford their marriage. Understandably, he has somewhat overstated his position; he only works as a clerk, but in an attempt to keep his girlfriend happy he has managed to make himself a senior manager in his correspondences. The humorous situations that he gets into both trying to survive each day and keeping the truth from The Girl are very entertaining and amusing.

The second major portion of SAFETY LAST is what the film is most famous for -- Harold Lloyd scaling the side of a tall building using no safety ropes, no nets, and no trick photography. It is absolutely breathtaking, and utterly hilarious. We know he isn't going to fall off when he comically teeters towards the edge, but I couldn't help but laugh at his quick footwork.

One of the things that amused me most in retrospect was my own reaction to the building-climbing sequence. Harold Lloyd has been dead for over thirty years now. The film itself is eighty years old. And I know enough about cinema history to realize that Harold Lloyd did not plunge to his death while filming the stunt sequences all that time ago. Yet, I was watching the film with my knuckles turning ever whiter. Whenever Lloyd stumbled, I jumped. When he teeters towards the ledge in a seemingly uncontrolled fashion, I squealed. Amazing that something like this can still have an impact on this member of the modern audience. It's a real testament to Lloyd's talents to be able to pull off something like this. And I don't just mean that the stunt-work is excellent (which it is), but that it can still reach across the years to me sitting in front of my television wondering how on Earth the actor managed to do that.

SAFETY LAST was the first of Harold Lloyd's feature films that I was exposed to, and I really enjoyed the experience. It's really a pity that Lloyd's name has faded from cinema history, as, from what I've seen, his films deserve the sort of treatment now afforded to Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. And they're certainly head and shoulders above much of what has been passed off as comedies in the years since the silent era died.

...since it's the best of Harold Lloyd AND since it's no longer available in VHS, that makes sense (for the studios who are deeply in love with releasing trash by the hundreds, if not the thousands) it is not yet released on DVD. Are they really so few people liking good movies?????????

Anyone who knows anything about cinematic history knows that the payoff in SAFETY LAST is Harold Lloyd's harrowing and comedic exploits hanging from the hands of a clock on the side of a building high above the city streets. As many times as I had seen excerpts from that sequence in various places, I had never seen the movie in its entirety until now.

Harold Lloyd was a comic genius. The story is simple enough--boy goes to the big city; boy lies to girl about how well he is doing; girl comes to the city to surprise boy--but the movie is so rich in site gags that it is truly enjoyable throughout. Because this is a silent film, the comedy is physical and universal and appealing even to the jaded sensibilities of the present day.

Lloyd plays "The Boy," a fresh-faced country lad who bids "The Girl" (Mildred Davis) farewell in order to pursue his dreams of riches in the city. When he arrives, however, he lands a job as a lowly sales clerk, and it is a daily struggle for him to avoid being fired. Bill Strother plays "The Pal," The Boy's roommate and compatriot in misery. The Pal, as a construction worker, has a talent for scaling tall buildings. When The Boy's boss offers $1000 to anyone who can draw shoppers to the department store, The Boy proposes a human fly stunt (by The Pal) to bring in the crowds. Unfortunately, The Boy unintentionally draws the ire of "The Law" (Noah Young) onto The Pal. As the time for the stunt draws near, The Boy needs to start climbing, at least until The Pal is able to shake The Law.

Even after seeing excerpts from this scene hundreds of times, the clock-hanging sequence in SAFETY LAST is utterly breathtaking, more so when you consider that (evidently) no special effects or trick photography was used in the filming. The impact of this scene, therefore, is so much more powerful than any analogous scene in a modern film could ever be.

SAFETY LAST is a classic and important film in the history of cinema, but one that is surprisingly accessible today, considering its age. It should certainly be part of any serious film buff's video library.

Jeremy W. Forstadt

Harold is funny no matter what he does. One of the funniest parts is in the department store where he works, on bargain day, when the customers are practically tearing him apart. Another very funny part is at the first where he is trapped in a delivery truck and ends up getting back to his job by ambulance. Harold means well and tries hard and funny things just happen to him. Very original sight gags and good clean fun, which left me eager to see all the Harold Lloyd films I can.

This film rivals any of the greatest site-gag films from the silent era, placing Lloyd's name right alongside Chaplin and Keaton in this respect. There are many truly amazing feats of timing and movement in this film, even before you get to the famous hair-raising high altitude scenes. Don't miss this incredible display of early film-making genius!

This 1923 silent classic is the one where Harold Lloyd tries to make good in the big city, and winds up climbing the side of a building, with hilarious nail-biting results! Heights don't normally bother me much, but this film still gives me the willies after all these years! An amazing tension-packed comedy. Definitely one to see if you're into classic film, and one of the best of its type... sound or no sound! END

I just watched "Safety Last" for the first time and I have to say -- the building climbing sequence was one of the scariest movie scenes that I (admittedly an acrophobe) have ever seen -- it actually gave me vertigo! Harold Lloyd was such an amazing actor, he was charming, funny and one of the best silent film comedians -- and that building climbing scene just blows me away, I can't believe he did it (and with only one and a half hands, too -- he'd lost part of his right hand in an accident, and yet he could still do a stunt like this). The film is terrific, I really liked it, and wow -- that final scene, my head is still spinning!