It was Lloyd's last short film, running to three reels, before he moved permanently into feature-length production. It was also one of his trademark 'thrill' comedies, featuring him dangling from a tall building. Lloyd and his crew honed and perfected their "thrill" filming techniques in this film, and put them to use in the 1923 feature Safety Last!
Plot
The full short
Harold works in an office on a tall building next to his girlfriend Mildred (Mildred Davis). He assumes they will be married, but overhears her talking to a man who says to her, "Of course I will marry you."
Distraught, he decides to commit suicide, blindfolding himself and setting up a gun which will fire when he pulls a string attached to the trigger. But after putting on the blindfold he accidentally knocks over a bulb which pops, and he assumes he has shot himself. At that moment, a girder from the next door construction site swings into his office, lifting him and his chair outside. Pulling off the blindfold, the first thing he sees is a sculpture high on his building which he takes to be an angel, and he assumes he is in Heaven. However a jazz band on an adjacent rooftop garden soon disabuses him of that notion, and he realises he is high above the city.
After several perilous escapades high on the construction site, he finally makes it to the ground, only to realise that the man Mildred was talking to was her clergyman brother, who has agreed to officiate at their wedding.
Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent romantic-comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It includes one of the most famous images from the silent-film era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic. The film was highly successful and critically hailed, and it cemented Lloyd's status as a major figure in early motion pictures. It is still popular at revivals, and it is viewed today as one of the great film comedies.
Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.
Mildred Hillary Davis was an American actress who appeared in fifteen of Harold Lloyd's classic silent comedies and eventually married him.
Sam Taylor was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer, most active in the silent film era. Taylor is best known for his comedic directorial work with Harold Lloyd and Mary Pickford, and also later worked with Laurel and Hardy. He was born in New York City.
Clyde Adolf Bruckman was an American writer and director of comedy films during the late silent era as well as the early sound era of cinema. Bruckman collaborated with such comedians as Buster Keaton, Monty Banks, W. C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, and Harold Lloyd.
Dr. Jack is a 1922 American silent comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It was produced by Hal Roach and directed by Fred Newmeyer. The story was by Jean Havez, Hal Roach, and Sam Taylor. The film was released on November 26, 1922.
Grandma's Boy is a 1922 family comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. The film was highly influential, helping to pioneer feature-length comedies which combined gags with character development. This film was immensely popular, commercially successful film in its time.
Haunted Spooks is a 1920 American silent Southern Gothic comedy film produced and co-directed by Hal Roach, starring Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis.
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is a 1947 American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring the silent film comic icon Harold Lloyd, and featuring a supporting cast including female protagonist Frances Ramsden, Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, Rudy Vallee, Arline Judge, Edgar Kennedy, Franklin Pangborn, J. Farrell MacDonald, Robert Dudley, Robert Greig, Lionel Stander and Jackie the Lion. The film's story is a continuation of The Freshman (1925), one of Lloyd's most successful movies.
Pay Your Dues is a 1919 American short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd.
From Hand to Mouth is a 1919 American short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd. This was the first film Lloyd made with frequent co-star Mildred Davis. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the British Film Institute.
An Eastern Westerner is a 1920 American silent Western comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd. A copy of the film exists.
A Sailor-Made Man is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Fred Newmeyer and starring Harold Lloyd.
Number, Please? is a 1920 American short comedy film directed by Hal Roach and Fred C. Newmeyer featuring Harold Lloyd.
High and Dizzy is a 1920 American short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd.
I Do is a 1921 American short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd. This short is notable for having a cartoon wedding in the first scene.
Now or Never is a 1921 American short comedy film starring Harold Lloyd and directed by Hal Roach and Fred C. Newmeyer.
Among Those Present is a 1921 American "three-reeler" silent comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis and Mary Pickford.
Welcome Danger is a 1929 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Clyde Bruckman and starring Harold Lloyd. A sound version and silent version were filmed. Ted Wilde began work on the silent version, but became ill and was replaced by Bruckman.
Harvey Parry was an American stuntman and actor whose career spanned the silent era and the disaster movie genre of the 1970s.
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