Safety Last! (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The Crippled Comic Genius
Harold Lloyd is without question the funniest and most daring filmmaker of his day, if not the entire 20th century. SAFETY LAST is a classic example of Lloyd's films: an average, All-American boy, full of optimism and hope, finds himself in a simple mixup that quickly multiplies with hilarious complexity. When SAFETY LAST first debuted in theaters in 1923, audiences literally fainted while watching the stunts Harold performed, and they are no less powerful today, for they were all filmed without the aid of special effects. He made more films than Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton combined, but has been all but forgotten by late 20th century film lovers. SAFETY LAST is only one of the multitudes of fantastic movies this genius made, and if you're not impressed when you see it, remember this: due to a stunt accident early in his career, Harold Lloyd lost his thumb and index finger on his right hand. All the stunts you see in SAFETY LAST - including the infamous skyscraper climb -...

Harold Lloyd finally gets the Criterion Collection treatment and a magnificent release for "Safety Last!"
Many silent comedy fans consider Harold Lloyd as one of the three silent film comedy kings of the silent era alongside notable names such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Lloyd's comedies were enjoyable and similar to Keaton, Lloyd had the flair of doing his own stuntwork and when one is to watch his films today, there were a few that literally makes people gasp.

But the difference between these three men is that Harold Lloyd is not as well-known because unlike the other two, he wanted complete ownership of his films and if they were to be re-released or shown on television, he set the price high because he did not want TV commercials interrupting his film. While, some appreciate Lloyd's business-sense at the time to have complete ownership but also to be one of the first who looked into preserving his films, the unfortunate aspect is that unlike Chaplin or Keaton, his name would not be as well-known to the general public.

Of course, times have changed as...

Want to see how it was filmed? Check this out....
The LA Conservancy has a great pdf document on how SAFETY LAST was filmed. It was very clever how perspective tricks were used to make it look like Lloyd was actually dangling over a downtown LA street (you knew he wasn't really...). Google "laconservancy.org/tours/HaroldLloyd" and you'll be rewarded with photos of the locations as they look today, plus fascinating information on the filming of this comedy classic. Pages 7 and 8 show specifically how the clock scene was shot. Makes a terrific addition to this film.

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