{"id":16076,"date":"2011-10-26T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076"},"modified":"2013-04-07T17:25:11","modified_gmt":"2013-04-07T21:25:11","slug":"guest-review-safety-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076","title":{"rendered":"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Guest blogger Chris Edwards writes:<\/p>\n

Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman<\/a>, once said there was a \u201clittle bit of Harold Lloyd<\/a>\u201d in his character\u2019s alter-ego, Clark Kent. I can see it. Like Kent, Lloyd\u2019s characters tend to be earnest go-getters; inept at first glance, but underestimated. They\u2019re unfailingly good men, and though they make bad decisions, it\u2019s usually for the right reasons.<\/p>\n

The Boy in 1923’s Safety Last<\/a> is a typical Lloyd character, and as it happens, he also follows a trajectory not so different from Superman\u2019s. Country-raised,\u00a0he\u00a0longs to marry\u00a0the Girl, and so he seeks his fortune in the big city.<\/p>\n

Like the red-and-blue hero\u2014and unlike many country\u00a0types of the silent era\u2014the Boy remains uncorrupted. In fact, he lives city life as cheaply as possible, even going without food so as to afford presents for his Girl (Mildred Davis<\/a>), which he mails to her along with letters extolling his success.<\/p>\n

The Boy would be a perfect Man, if the letters were accurate. Instead,\u00a0he describes\u00a0his dream job\u2014president of a department store\u2014as though he already had it. The Boy is actually a retail clerk in the store. But we know he\u2019s only lying to his Girl because he fears losing her, and as long as things aren\u2019t rushed, he\u2019ll do fine.\u00a0Unless the Girl\u00a0pays him a surprise visit.<\/p>\n

People remember Safety Last for its final 20 minutes: a thrilling sequence in which the Boy scales the exterior of the department store building. But the middle of the film, taken up with the Boy\u2019s attempts to hoodwink his Girl into thinking he runs things, are just as well-crafted. Note, for example, Lloyd\u2019s reaction upon seeing her show up in the store: he isn\u2019t paralyzed with fear; he doesn\u2019t even double-take. He\u2019s joyful. He really loves her, and so he rushes to embrace her well before the problem dawns on him. This sort of reaction is crucial, because without it, we would want him to be found out.<\/p>\n

Instead, we laugh as he adopts a managerial attitude toward his co-workers (who, because they like him, do not blow his cover). Then we cringe, as the Girl asks to see Lloyd\u2019s office, which actually belongs to his boss. He makes the dangerous decision to take her inside, while his boss is out for lunch. Several mishaps ensue, and the Boy (barely) maintains the ruse, thanks to his quick thinking, or to put it more honestly, his ability to suddenly, and convincingly, lie his face off. The office scene prefigures future events. The next day, Lloyd will be clinging perilously to the side of the department store building\u201416 floors up\u2014because of another lie his character can\u2019t afford to have revealed.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the film, we were introduced to the Boy\u2019s Pal (Bill Strother), a pool-playing cat with a talent for wall-climbing. The pair devise a scheme,\u00a0in which\u00a0the department store\u2019s boss will pay the Boy $1,000 to climb the side of the building, for\u00a0publicity–unaware that the Pal will be the one\u00a0doing the\u00a0climbing.\u00a0Boy and Pal\u00a0will then split the purse.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Pal has already drawn the attention of a beat cop (Noah Young<\/a>), who begins chasing him\u00a0just before the climb is to begin. With an enormous crowd milling around the base of the building, the Boy has no choice but to begin climbing himself.<\/p>\n

Anything for the Girl. Safety Last\u2019s climbing scene remains Lloyd\u2019s greatest cinematic achievement\u2014a seamless combination of slapstick and camera tricks that have us holding our breaths with every storey. In the course of his terrified crawl up the building, the Boy faces pigeons, netting, belligerent onlookers from the windows, and even a wooden plank, slung out of one room by a pair of painters, that arches Lloyd back and\u00a0away\u00a0from the wall. Only by grabbing the end of the board is he saved. This is the scariest moment of the climb, but not the most famous. That honor, of course, goes to the clock sequence, in which Lloyd finds himself dangling by one end of a giant minute hand. The crowd below is concerned, and so are we.<\/p>\n

Perfect on its own, the climbing scene is also a testament to Lloyd\u2019s mastery of character up to that point (with credit to his writing team, which included Lloyd\u2019s friend, and future Our Gang <\/a>impresario, Hal Roach<\/a>). As the office scene proved, our hero is a natural fibber with an ability to adapt quickly to circumstances. While not brave, he is single-minded, willing to suffer for a cause, and certainly devoted to his fianc\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

We can believe he would make this climb, though he might not be happy to do it. Further, the climb itself scares us, because we want a good person like the Boy to prosper, and because Lloyd, unlike lesser clowns, respected physics and was unwilling to let us believe he could survive the fall. The ledges he teeters on are dangerous spaces\u2014one wrong move could kill his Boy. In this way, the big climb is simply a variant of his boss\u2019 office, which the Boy occupies at his peril, waiting for one of several doors to open and one of several superiors to enter, out him, and destroy his future. Both scenes make us tense on his behalf.<\/p>\n

Because\u00a0I liked him so much,\u00a0I let the Boy get away with being a scoundrel throughout Safety Last But there\u2019s another reason, too\u2014born of a suspicion I\"\"<\/a> have.<\/p>\n

I think that, given time, Lloyd will be the great man he pretends to be right now. Why not?\u00a0He shows up early for work every day, doesn\u2019t fool around and doesn\u2019t overspend, at least on himself. He\u2019s even nice to his co-workers. The Boy has all the makings of a good boss. All he needs is time, then his life-mixture of hard work and half-truths will pay off for him, and for the store.<\/p>\n

I guess I see the big \u2018S\u2019 beneath the Boy\u2019s tweed suit, even if he can\u2019t. And I can appreciate how Clark Kent and Harold Lloyd resemble each other most: not in their mild-manners or the round-rimmed glasses they hide behind, but in their\u00a0strong chins.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Chris Edwards is a Toronto-based freelance writer and blogger, specializing in silent film.\u00a0For more information, visit Silent Volume<\/a> and check him out on <\/strong>Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger Chris Edwards writes: Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, once said there was a \u201clittle bit of Harold Lloyd\u201d in his character\u2019s alter-ego, Clark Kent. I can see it. Like Kent, Lloyd\u2019s characters tend to be earnest go-getters; inept…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":16078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1623,5588,1519],"coauthors":[1710],"class_list":["post-16076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-articles","tag-harold-lloyd","tag-movie-reviews","tag-silent-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nSafety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest blogger Chris Edwards writes: Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, once said there was a \u201clittle bit of Harold Lloyd\u201d in his character\u2019s alter-ego, Clark Kent. I can see it. Like Kent, Lloyd\u2019s characters tend to be earnest go-getters; inept...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MovieFanFare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Movies-Unlimited\/88679322377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-26T10:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-04-07T21:25:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Safety-Last.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"296\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"guest-blogs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"guest-blogs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"guest-blogs\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/89d35a0c267cc6d413a342b69814a2d8\"},\"headline\":\"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-26T10:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-07T21:25:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076\"},\"wordCount\":1097,\"commentCount\":9,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/10\\\/Safety-Last.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Harold Lloyd\",\"Movie Reviews\",\"Silent Movies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Movie Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076\",\"name\":\"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/10\\\/Safety-Last.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-26T10:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-07T21:25:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/89d35a0c267cc6d413a342b69814a2d8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/10\\\/Safety-Last.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/10\\\/Safety-Last.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":296},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=16076#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"MovieFanFare\",\"description\":\"Movie Articles, Movie Reviews, New DVD Releases\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/89d35a0c267cc6d413a342b69814a2d8\",\"name\":\"guest-blogs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99bd099efc61762d4db4576fd62edd7950d55ad80f522b55768c9d0088b62a19?s=96&d=mm&r=g743f36eecdafdcb993559db6426b4239\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99bd099efc61762d4db4576fd62edd7950d55ad80f522b55768c9d0088b62a19?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99bd099efc61762d4db4576fd62edd7950d55ad80f522b55768c9d0088b62a19?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"guest-blogs\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviesunlimited.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?author=28\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review","og_description":"Guest blogger Chris Edwards writes: Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, once said there was a \u201clittle bit of Harold Lloyd\u201d in his character\u2019s alter-ego, Clark Kent. I can see it. Like Kent, Lloyd\u2019s characters tend to be earnest go-getters; inept...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076","og_site_name":"MovieFanFare","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Movies-Unlimited\/88679322377","article_published_time":"2011-10-26T10:00:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-04-07T21:25:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Safety-Last.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"guest-blogs","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"guest-blogs","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076"},"author":{"name":"guest-blogs","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#\/schema\/person\/89d35a0c267cc6d413a342b69814a2d8"},"headline":"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review","datePublished":"2011-10-26T10:00:54+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-07T21:25:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076"},"wordCount":1097,"commentCount":9,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Safety-Last.jpg","keywords":["Harold Lloyd","Movie Reviews","Silent Movies"],"articleSection":["Movie Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076","url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076","name":"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Safety-Last.jpg","datePublished":"2011-10-26T10:00:54+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-07T21:25:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#\/schema\/person\/89d35a0c267cc6d413a342b69814a2d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Safety-Last.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Safety-Last.jpg","width":400,"height":296},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=16076#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Safety Last (1923): Silent Movie Review"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/","name":"MovieFanFare","description":"Movie Articles, Movie Reviews, New DVD Releases","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#\/schema\/person\/89d35a0c267cc6d413a342b69814a2d8","name":"guest-blogs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99bd099efc61762d4db4576fd62edd7950d55ad80f522b55768c9d0088b62a19?s=96&d=mm&r=g743f36eecdafdcb993559db6426b4239","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99bd099efc61762d4db4576fd62edd7950d55ad80f522b55768c9d0088b62a19?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99bd099efc61762d4db4576fd62edd7950d55ad80f522b55768c9d0088b62a19?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"guest-blogs"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.moviesunlimited.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?author=28"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16076"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=16076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}