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.

ofpsmith Everyone, no matter if they have seen the movie or know even who Harold Lloyd is have probably seen the scene where Lloyd is climbing up the building or at least the still where he's hanging off of the clock. It's mow become part of movie history. Anyway this is Safety Last. Lloyd is a young country boy who goes to the big city to find work and a house for himself and his young wife (Mildred Davis). The problem is though that this is going very slowly because he is a small earning store clerk. But one day he overhears an offer of $1,000 to come up with an advertisement campaign to draw thousands of people to the store. Lloyd employs his friend (Bill Strother) a construction worker to climb the building so they can split the money. But when Stother accidentally pushes over a police officer (Noah Young) Lloyd has to climb the building himself. This movie is very funny. The way that it plays out is very funny. The way that the events play out is very funny. It's not the best Lloyd film but it's one of the best. My rating is 8 stars so go check it out.

FilmCriticLalitRao If one were to name three musketeers of silent film comedy,actor Harold Lloyd's name would easily be listed with those of actors Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin."Safety Last" is one of Harold Lloyd's most successful comedy films as an actor.Although it has been listed as a comedy film,Safety Last does feature high doses of dramatic content.It is also a love story involving two innocent people who experience a happy end. In many ways,"Safety Last" examines how tough is the life for a villager in a big city.It is a comment on difficult working conditions where one is able to lead a decent life solely through one's wits.Harold is able to outsmart his boss at his workplace as he would like to make it big in life in order to make his girl friend happy.For this reason,he is ready to play all kinds of funny tricks including climbing a 12 storey building.Lastly,Harold Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock is an image which is etched in most cinéphiles' minds.However,it continues to inspire many brave people all over the world but mocks those fake action sequences where one can easily detect logical as well as technical loopholes.What makes this film legendary is that it happened in 1923, an era when there we no high tech gadgets to help actors with risky scenes.

SnoopyStyle The Boy (Harold Lloyd) leaves Great Bend for the big city vowing to return to marry Mildred once he makes good. Months later, he is rooming with Limpy Bill (Bill Strother) with a lowly fabric salesman job at the DeVore Department Store. He writes constantly to Mildred but is lying to her about his success. One Saturday after closing at 1pm, he runs into an old friend Jim Taylor from Great Bend who is now a city policeman. He gets Bill to play a trick on Jim but it turns out to be another policeman. Bill has to make a run for it by climbing up the side of a building. (That's one crazy stunt.) Meanwhile back home, the mother thinks that The Boy with so much money in the big city could get up to no good and convinces Mildred to make a surprise visit. The store is wild with a sale as The Boy pretends to be the manager. He is called into the general manager's office following a complaint. Coming out of the office, Mildred assumes that he is the actual general manager. He overhears the general manager offering $1000 to anyone with an original idea to attract a crowd to the store. He offers $500 to Bill to climb the building. The cop suspects it's the same guy who got away from him and stakes out the event. The Boy is forced to start climbing. (There is an even bigger real climb plus a lot of in-camera effects.)Of course, there is the climb up the building with the clock. It is an iconic scene of the silent movie era. The story works well too. The Boy is a guy who does lie and scheme. He is not strictly a nice boy and in that sense, he reminds me of Mr Bean. However it is the climb up the buildings that is so awe inspiring. First off, there is Bill Strother who plays Limpy Bill. He's a human fly who really climbs the buildings. Then Harold Lloyd made the in-camera effects where he is a couple of stories up. The clock climb is so convincing that sometimes one could forget the effects and truly feel the vertigo. That's the genius of Harold Lloyd.