Safety Last

Along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd was a major figure in silent comedies. He's not as well known today as the other two, perhaps because his humor was much more gentle, or because he demanded a huge amount of money for his movies to be shown on television, so they weren't.

He made several comedies in the 1920s, the most famous of which is probably Safety Last, released in 1923. The image at right, of him hanging off the face of a clock, is one of the most iconic of the silent era.

Lloyd stars as "The Boy," who leaves his home town for the big city. Once he was made a success of himself, he will send for his girl, Mildred Daniels. He gets a job at a department store. When Daniels unexpectedly visits, he pretends to be the general manager, with ensuing zaniness.

The last act of the film is Lloyd climbing the department store. His buddy, Bill Strother, gives him the idea  (Strother was the one that gave Lloyd the idea, as he was a steeplejack, a profession that has become obsolete). He has cooked it up as a way to draw attention to the store, so he will win a bonus, but Strother is being chased by a cop, so Lloyd has to do it. It's often been said that Lloyd did this himself, but that's not true. There were stunt men used.

Lloyd's style of humor was mostly sight-gags and neatly pulled off acrobatics. The opening scene of the movie show Lloyd behind bars, his mother, his girl, a cop, and a priest gathered around him. Just when we think he's about to be hanged, the camera pulls back to reveal he's standing behind a gate at the train station. There are also numerous scenes of him maneuvering perilously through the streets, such as jumping from a moving streetcar into a moving automobile.

His persona was similar to Chaplin and Keaton's--an everyman--but Lloyd was more middle class. He wore a pair of glasses (they had no lenses) because he was told he was too good looking for comedy. Those became his trademark, and give him a studious, earnest look.

I put Lloyd squarely third in this trio of comedians, as his films draw smiles more than laughs. I'll take a look at a few more, just to see if I can determine what he's missing. I did enjoy the moment when he's near the top of the building and his foot gets caught in rope, and he swings from it. I've got to believe that the moment the firetruck ladder swings back and forth in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was inspired by it.