Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Bill Slocum It's not Harold Lloyd's best film, nor my personal favorite, nor his snappiest, warmest, or funniest film (different ones, all), but "Safety Last" is the sky's-the-limit icon for Harold Lloyd. You know the shot; now see where it came from.But first, you have to sit through a long introductory section that is by turns inventive and contrived, a taffy pull which drags even as it offers up some inventive gags. Comedy is hard, even sometimes for the audience. But what a payoff.The story is simple: Harold works at a department store and wants to impress his fiancée (Mildred Davis) by buying her fancy things he can't afford as a sign of imaginary wealth. "She's just got to believe that I'm successful – until I am." His campaign works too well: Mildred's mother sends her daughter to snap up Harold before another woman can.I find Mildred Davis the weak link in this film. She plays a thin character, rather unlikable in the way she fixates on status and relishes Harold ordering people around. Another actress might have played her as an amusing gold-digger, or else a zany flapper with suspicions about Harold's game. Davis tended to stick with sweet and simple, and it feels wrong here.There's also the contrivances, another frequent Lloyd qualm of mine. The opening shot is one of those false opens Harold liked to do, in this case a train station set up to look like a gallows. An overhead mail hook resembles a noose and Mildred's father is a minister, so there's a momentary disassociation, except it's the first scene, so it's forgettable immediately. So is a bit where Harold gets stuck in a laundry truck driven by a deaf driver, making him late for work.But amid the whiffs there are hits, like a scene in a crowded trolley and another about dodging a landlady. As the film moves along, it gets much better.To appreciate "Safety Last," I had to realize from the DVD commentary that the film was constructed in reverse. Lloyd and his team (including writer-directors Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor) had their ending all set, and shot it first: Harold on top of that building, hanging on for dear life. The trick for them was figuring out how he gets up there.When I thought of "Safety Last" that way, the contrivances and gags became much more clever and enjoyable, because they are serving a larger end without my realizing it. Why would Harold go up the 12- story Bolton Building? To draw a crowd and impress his girl. Why does he do it himself, when his roommate (Bill Strother) is a high- rise climber? Because Bill is being chased by a cop. Why is Bill being chased by a cop? You get the picture.A real joy of "Safety Last" is seeing members of Lloyd's stock company show up, including Noah Young as the cop, Charles Stevenson and Anna Townsend from "Grandma's Boy" as an ambulance attendant and a customer, and even Roy Brooks, a fixture of many Lloyd shorts, leaning out a window."That's the best one you pulled yet!" Brooks tells Lloyd as he's clinging from the ledge. Is this a call-back to "Never Weaken," a short made two years before where Brooks played Lloyd's pal while Harold climbed another high-rise chasing after Mildred? I can see Harold dotting the i there, even as he also lets his buddy give "Safety Last" its first and most enduring review.Funny how some people talk about Lloyd's genius but then almost sheepishly admit he wasn't quite risking his neck on that building like he appears to, instead of realizing that makes him even more of a genius.

sol- Desperate to impress his girlfriend back home, an inner city store clerk lies about being promoted to manager, which leads to complications when she pays him a surprise visit in this classic Harold Lloyd comedy. The film is best known for its iconic final sequence in which Lloyd ends up hanging from a clock high up on the building where he works. It is an unexpectedly thrilling sequence with much tension in the air as the ground far below him is clearly visible and as a variety of long and medium shots capture just how high up he winds up climbing. The vast majority of the film though is just typical Harold Lloyd high jinks and hilarity, some of which is excellent (hitching an ambulance ride; hiding under overcoats) and some of which is a little drawn out. Lloyd is charming as ever throughout though, which makes it a very easy movie to warm to. And yet, while Lloyd's best known film, this is hardly his funniest; 'Speedy' has more to offer in the laughs department as well as a more well-rounded love interest, as opposed to Mildred Davis here who seems far more interested in Lloyd having power and money than Lloyd himself. That said, the supporting cast is generally solid, with a special mention to Westcott Clarke as an indignant floor manager and one particularly fussy materials customer. The stunt work is remarkable too, and not just in the final scene.

braddugg Thanks to Criterion to have made a Blu-Ray for this movie. If not for the Blu-Ray I doubt if I would have ever seen this.I know of Chaplin and of Keaton as the comic geniuses of 1920's but then along with them was another one called the "The Third One" and his name is Harold Lloyd. And finally, I discovered him and I am so very happy now. The hanging from a multi story building from the watch on the wall, seems to be such an iconic thing in 1920's that its referred many a time in so many movies later and as recently as HUGO. I love that shot and it's called "dangling from the skyscraper", and I suppose anybody who watches this shall really fall for such originality. Also, take a note of a title, SAFETY LAST which means that let's through caution to the winds and just do it. It's an antonym of SAFETY FIRST.The premise which comes in the latter part actually that sets up the whole film is so wonderful that for most part, we shall be laughing 90 years after a film is made, if still that tickles your ribs, then it's simply great. That's what these great movies do. And certainly, this stands right up there. If Chaplin was a genius in humane stories and Keaton was so in making us laugh with his extreme stunts, then Lloyd made me laugh with his simplicity, with his histrionics and with his stunts. It was so very refreshing to see all this in an era where films were so pristine. The sound, rather the music was pitch perfect echoing the emotions of the characters and it was deliberately made funny, which I loved it. There was a time, when the protagonist had to fight against the wails set by the society. Expectations are much higher from family and friends and he has do some extraordinary things to make them happy. Directors, Newmeyer and Sam Taylor must be applauded a great deal for they have pulled a nearly impossible act in 1920's. And, yes Harold Lloyd steals it like a champion, salutations for the whole team. This movie is like Serendipity, which I discovered by accident and loved every bit of it.This movie for sure, is going to be a great movie forever and ever. A 5/5 for this.

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.