Safety Last! (1923)

August 12, 2022 7:14 PM

A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making it in the big city is harder than it looks. When he hears that a store manager will pay $1,000 to anyone who can draw people to his store, he convinces his friend, the "human fly," (Bill Strother) to climb the building and split the profit with him. But when his pal gets in trouble with the law, he must complete the crazy stunt on his own.

A silent romantic comedy classic.

97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on HBO Max, Criterion, and Kanopy. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (5 comments total)

Oh hey, it's also free on YouTube!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:26 PM on August 12, 2022

Oh man! I saw this on TV when I was a kid. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
posted by SPrintF at 8:10 PM on August 12, 2022

I skimmed through "Safety Last!" last night. Speaking more generally, I've always found the old silent movies to be a little disconcerting. The style of acting to make up for the lack of sound, the extra make-up to show up on early film, the high speed of the film itself, the fact that the movies are clearly of another time, it all lends an other-worldly feel to those movies that I have a hard time enjoying, no matter how good the movie is. And "Safety Last!" was pretty fun.
posted by Stuka at 7:59 AM on August 13, 2022

It's fun movie, definitely a gateway film for silents. Always amazing that Lloyd did all those movies with half his hand blown off.
posted by octothorpe at 11:46 AM on August 13, 2022

it all lends an other-worldly feel to those movies that I have a hard time enjoying, no matter how good the movie is

Buster Keaton - The Art of the Gag
posted by kirkaracha at 6:52 PM on August 13, 2022