JohnHowardReid 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.

Antonius Block 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.

Anthony Mora I believe in magic, if anything in this cold, cruel world can make that happen it's the movies.Known simply as, The Boy, the story goes... A small town store clerk goes to the big city to make it big, set the foundation for a great life for him and his soon-to-be-wife. While there, he gets a depressing job as a customer service associate at a department store. An opportunity arises though, when the general manager of the store offers $1000 to anyone who can come up with an idea to attract more business. So, our Boy thinks up of a spectacle where some poor fool has to scale the face of a building with no climbing gear. This was my first venture into the silent film era, I know right?! Before this, I've only heard of or seen clips of classic films like this. Hearing that this was a great introduction into this era of film, I gladly decided to watch Safety Last!, and wow was I astonished. It takes talent to do great comedy, but this is a 1920's silent comedy. This movie has to rely heavily on physical comedy and imagery to pull off it's comedic moments. There are moments of script and dialog and some of those moments actually did get a chuckle out of me, however it's the physical comedy of the actors in this movie that make this movie a classic.You gotta respect the performances in this movie, Harold Loyd is unprecedented in his work. The building climb surprised me, I was actually flinching at every slip and misstep. That's something special, the movie is almost a century old and I was more thrilled in it's hour long run time than in a hundred thrillers released in the last decade. It's almost hypnotic, the way Mr. Loyd would dance near the edge, his toes barely inching over the skyscraper with the hundred spectators below. Mildred Pierce is also in the movie as, The Girl, hey how convenient. Her character, is grievously the only negative of this movie. I understood her small town character and that she really wants to be with her future husband, but she really came of as annoying to me. "No you can't press the intercom button! Now go wait in the hotel before hubby get's fired." Yeah, that could have helped avoid a LOT of trouble for Mr. Boy. Yet, I can't gripe too much, because it's her annoyance that furthers the story.I loved this little movie, even just calling it little seems like an insult. This is an amazing achievement and deserves all the praise and acknowledgment it's received over the decades. Undoubtedly, I credit this fine motion picture as the gateway to my viewing of other classic silent films.

cricket crockett " . . . 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).