Safety Last!

Safety Last! is a silent comedy set in 1920s Los Angeles, where a young man has moved from a small town to make his fortune so he can marry his sweetheart. He works as a lowly clerk in a department store, but in the letters he sends her he pretends to be far more successful than he is. When she arrives in the city unexpectedly, he scrambles to keep up the pretence and seize the chance to prove himself at work. After a publicity stunt is proposed to draw customers, he finds himself forced to climb the outside of the tall building himself.

The film was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, both of whom went on to make Girl Shy in 1924 and The Freshman in 1925. Harold Lloyd stars as the boy, with Mildred Davis as the girl, Bill Strother as the pal and Noah Young as the law. Lloyd also co-wrote the screenplay with Jean C. Havez and Tim Whelan, and produced through Hal Roach Studios and Pathé Exchange. Made for a modest budget, it took around two million dollars worldwide, a strong return for a comedy of its era.

Audience response on IMDb and TMDB is warm: on TMDB it holds 7.7 out of 10 from over six hundred votes. Film critics rate it higher at 8.8 out of 10 from seventy-seven reviews, placing the clock-face climb among the most recognised sequences of silent cinema.