Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent comedy starring Harold Lloyd, best remembered for its climactic sequence in which Lloyd's character, promoting a department store publicity stunt, climbs the exterior of a multi-story building and ends up dangling from the hands of a large clock face partway up its facade. The stunt was achieved through a combination of practical building sets and forced-perspective camera placement rather than genuine altitude, though the resulting image of Lloyd suspended above the street below became one of the most reproduced images in silent film history. Safety Last! is widely regarded as the defining work of Lloyd's thrill comedy style and one of the most enduring achievements of American silent comedy.
Facts
Release Year Classification
Original Language FAQs
Was the famous clock scene in Safety Last! made with trick photography?
No. The Library of Congress essay says it used no mirrors or glass shots; the crew filmed on top of real buildings and used camera angles to build the sense of height.
No, according to the film historian Richard W. Bann, whose essay for the Library of Congress National Film Registry says no trick photography was used, either during shooting or in post-production: no mirrors, animation, glass shots, double exposures or rear-screen projection. The crew instead worked on top of several successively taller buildings, and the camera angles created the illusion of distance and perspective while keeping the street below in full view. Bann adds that a safety platform with thick mattresses sat below the actor, and that most of the time viewers are watching Harold Lloyd perform the feats himself, as high above the street as he appears to be.
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Source Safety Last! (Wikipedia)
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Source Safety Last! (Wikipedia)
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Sources
1. Wikidata: Safety Last!
Wikidata Q778755, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source 2. Safety Last! (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, first sentence
Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent romantic comedy film starring Harold Lloyd.
Lead paragraph, first sentence, original language
Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent romantic comedy film starring Harold Lloyd.
In Medium: Film, Article lead sentence
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
Created By: Sam Taylor, Infobox: director
Fred C. Newmeyer Sam Taylor (director), Sam Taylor
In Group: American Silent Comedies, Lead
Safety Last! is a 1923 American silent romantic comedy film starring Harold Lloyd.
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