Come on! Just one more floor and it's over. Only be there, otherwise I will end myself.
(About the 62nd minute of the film)
Finally safe!
The comedian Harold Lloyd was called the “third genius” after Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. You know, while watching the final twenty minutes of “Safe at Last!” (alternatively titled “Safety Above All!”), you wonder.
Was Harold the third? Maybe it's the first one, a-hee-hee. Seriously, “Safe at last!” gets goosebumps (even now). I remind you, this is the twentieth, the film was released in 1923. Chaplin produced The Gold Rush in 1925, Buster Keaton's The Shipping General in 1926. Yeah, just numbers.
Plot. We show the couple in love, I emphasize fat, immediately. Ie. Harold here is not looking for love, not looking for his soulmate (as often did comedians of those years). On the contrary, Harold leaves her for work in the city, gets a job as a clerk.
And here is where the most interesting thing happens - Harold brazenly lies to his only one (what a nightmare, a-hee-hee). Career's going uphill, don't worry, darling. Here's a nice pendant for your wedding, and I'll send the chain back later. In fact, Harold does not succeed (there is not enough money even for food, lives with a friend).
Why is he cheating on her? For love. After all, the most terrible thing for the hero Lloyd is to disappoint his beloved (Mildred Davis). He is (if I may say so) burying himself. He suffers from his own lies. When the girl decides to please the hero Harold, coming to him in the mall, he impersonates the boss (well, allegedly served). This is where some damn funny moments come from.
Agree, atypical presentation of the character. I think the writers were working on it. Remember the scene with a friend and a cop when a funny mix-up happened. It turns out that Harold accidentally framed a friend in front of a cop. Lloyd’s character is not a perfect hero. He's alive, not plain cardboard. He has flaws.
Of course, I can’t help but mention one of the most famous scenes of silent cinema, Lloyd’s character personally climbs through the building while a friend of a verkholaz runs from a police officer. You have to see it with your own eyes, guys. My heart was shrinking every second. Plus, Harold does not forget about humor (a crowd of crazy women in the store, a drunk onlooker, a dog in one of the rooms).
It was a great pleasure to see what I wish for you. Beautiful movie!
P.S.
There is a documentary called Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius. It details how the legendary clock scene was filmed. I recommend it!
8.5 out of 10
A very rare film is so famous for its one episode, as "Safety Before Everything" (1923) scene climbing Harold Lloyd on the facade of a multi-storey building. To be fair, it lasts more than 15 minutes, which divides the silent comedy into two unequal parts. The first (long) act is a cute, sometimes witty story of a simple guy (whom everyone calls, ????????) fighting for a place under the sun in the form of a fabric store counter. The final quarter is a series of stunning gags with a brilliant climax, an ode to the audacity of the “roaring twenties”, the triumph of the cinematography as a young art form.
So, the "storm" of the skyscraper starts at two o'clock in the afternoon local time. According to the plan, a well-known high-rise installer was supposed to climb, but he is pursued by a police officer, so he asks Lloyd to get to the second floor, where he will replace him. Naturally, the new plan goes to pieces, our subtile hero is forced to climb higher and higher on his own, despite the most inventive obstacles on the way to the top: he is attacked by pigeons, a dog, a mouse, objects falling out of windows and a treacherously crumbled clock dial. All this is filmed, as they say, without fools – no combined shootings and drawn ass! – in real time, which still looks great, and a hundred years ago, probably just beat the audience to death with a dizzying plexus of laughter and empathy. Carry the number of repetitions of the central trick in the subsequent movie: one Jackie Chan hung on the hands of the clock at least twice, but the most classic homage belongs to “Doc” Christopher Lloyd from “Back to the Future” (who else, with such and such a name!).
Of course, over the past century about such a legendary film has been said a lot, but insert your five cents. The meaning of the notorious ascent is in the promotion of the store in which our hero works (located in the same building). The idea was suggested by Lloyd himself and she, if you think about it, is almost insane – rising without insurance is fraught with the death of both the “artist” and the audience below him. To the innovator’s credit, he ultimately fulfilled this deadly number. To all authors of overly original marketing campaigns to note!
P.S. By the way, the very first shots (after the credits) are delightful in their irony: the authors seem to wink at us, they say, laugh for fun, but it is unknown who will laugh last. . .
At the beginning of the film, we see a guy (Harold Lloyd) standing behind bars. Behind him is a gallows, and the hero says goodbye to the girl and her mother. Then the priest comes to him, who shakes the guy's hand, and the policeman takes Lloyd to the gallows. Then there is a change of plan, and the viewer sees that the guy is not behind bars, but at the railway station. And the gallows were actually a special hook on which the mail was hung for the arriving driver. Immediately there is a comic effect, but this episode can be interpreted as follows: the guy goes to the city for success and gets into a kind of bondage (hang), which he voluntarily got into and from which he will have to get out himself to make a career (remember the finale, when Lloyd gets tangled with his foot in a rope, falls and swings, holding onto the roof of the building).
The Americans of the 20s really needed an excuse why they were struggling to stay afloat, to fulfill the American dream, to succeed, to become rich, regardless of the means to achieve the goal.
After all, Harold only takes care of his work, does not pay for the apartment on time, sells a gramophone without asking a friend, even frames him, trying to make a cool joke, refuses to eat, just to save money to buy jewelry for his beloved. And he gives her expensive gifts in order to create the appearance of success.
The famous episode with the clock speaks of every effort of the guy to stay in the existing era, to hold on to the hand of the clock, which he could turn to become a symbol of that time.
To me, this kind of human existence seems inappropriate and vile, both towards others and towards oneself. Probably, the audience of that time willingly went to the cinema to sympathize with the main character, recognizing themselves in it.
However, the success of the film could not have been if not for the skill of the production of two directors - Fred Neumeyer and Sam Taylor. Taylor even co-wrote the script. They filigree set a lot of gags, expressed the aspirations of the people, created a fascinating narrative, and the scene of climbing on the roof of the building is an example of stunning creation of suspense and comedy at the same time.
So the film “Finally safe” remained in the history of cinema as an example of an outstanding comedy, which became a symbol of silent cinema.
9 out of 10
Having a vague idea of the film with a very dubious title “Safe at Last”, it was quite unexpected to encounter a very good romantic comedy and discover such a talented actor as Harold Lloyd. Many, according to the level of quality performance of roles and versatility, put it on a par with Charlie Chaplin. Not being thoroughly familiar with the filmography of the first actor, we can say that in this picture Harold perfectly played his clumsy and constantly getting into difficulties of the hero, while being in the frame also a stuntman (the famous broken watch), for which only respect can be expressed.
Two chic scenes with a sale and climb to the high-rise are already worth watching this iconic picture for the 20s.
It is impossible not to mention the work of the writers led by Hal Roach, who founded, in fact, the eternal plot, where the character is cute, funny, but constantly haunted by some life difficulties. A beautiful personification of humor, coupled with excitement and, to some extent, selfish love.
9 out of 10
This is a famous movie with a clock. This episode, regardless of its citation or parodies, was seen by every viewer with the most minimal outlook. Yes, it was this tape of Fred Newmeier and Sam Taylor that flaunted one of the most famous scenes in cinematography history. And helped them in this, of course, Harold Lloyd - the third of the great actors of silent cinema, after Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
"Finally Safe" is a classic sitcom. It is ugly to classicity - its citation has been tried for almost a century, and thoughts are not going to be belittle. You need to build on the great, as well as be inspired.
Surprisingly, this film in the concentration of gag moments for a period of time ahead of the tapes and Keaton and Chaplin, deeper figuratively. Lloyd is just as beautiful, there can be no doubt about it, but it cannot be categorically stated that the tape tightened its belt around him and also hung on an avid stuntman as he dangled on clockwise. This is the key to success.
Harold Lloyd himself personified a certain romantic who plunged into worldly indifference at every sensual looseness, as a result of which he fell into infinitely stupid positions, from which he could only be led by a position of stupidity higher in rank. Before the tape in 1923, Lloyd, or as he was called – “glasses”, starred in almost a hundred sketch shorts and full meters, and was optimistic about creating a new work with his usual colleagues-directors, which was destined to go down in history, as perhaps the funniest film in the comedy history of silent cinema.
For the most part, it can be argued that Lloyd's play did not become the defining one for the tape. Also, the film does not charm the development of the script and in no way captures the plane of the plot part. Its advantage is in the associated system of comic scenes, which was commonly called the sitcom. It is Safety Last! that idealizes the system of this kind of film, bringing the number of deceptions, traps and setups to an absurdist maximum, sacrificing script distribution to achieve maximum comedic effect.
Of course, this tape cannot be categorically recognized as the first mechanism of the city-forming enterprise, and before it all mechanisms worked, but only with one assumption - they were not ideal for their system. The film of Newmeier and Taylor earned at maximum speed - and served as one of the starting points for numerous followers. Not otherwise, but "comedy suspense" - the invention of this tape. It is impossible to characterize the scene of the final ascent to the building as an ordinary manifestation of bold and comic characteristics - on the last floors, the spirit is already breathtaking for the viewer, who, with all his hysterical laughs, suddenly begins to worry about the hero, and remains in dissonance with his own feelings - he just laughed at the lunatic, and now you privatize his fear and pity.
It is necessary to remain in solidarity with the opinion that the creators of this film initially did not imagine how their film would be a win-win and significant for cinema, they hardly considered the scene of the ascent to the building, except as “unusual and non-repeatable”. Rather, they just loved what they were doing. Perhaps that is what is missing right now.
A mind-blowing comedy, famous and known to the whole world, which has been watching it for many years. Still live a little, 10 years and will be exactly a century of this wonderful film with elements of horror. Yes, it is horror, because impressionable people should be taken aside and not show the scene when Lloyd climbs onto the roof of a high-rise building. By this point, the viewer is unwittingly already worried about the hero, because he managed to endure so many trials that you want him to get his, earned by spent nerves.
The picture itself is built on solid irony, it emphasizes many shortcomings and advantages of the American layman. For example, the psychology of Lloyd’s character is quite clear to everyone – he wants to grab his jackpot in order to marry a provincial beauty. He is a mischievous and balagur, which is characteristic of all the heroes of films of that era.
But let’s move on to the painting itself. The plot of the film is incredibly simple and it wins, conquers the viewer for many years. It would seem that the guy leaves a small town in the hope of a prosperous future, and promises his beloved that he will return on horseback. So he does, his ephemeral hopes of being rich and successful are taken by his fiancée for fact and reality. The originality and enthusiasm of the hero Lloyd clearly do not occupy. He got out even in the most seemingly hopeless situations. The acting of actor Lloyd was amazing and was the main key element of the film. In fact, in those years I went only to the actors to see, nothing more and nothing less. It’s amazing to see that nothing has changed since that day.
"100 Best Films of All Time and People." "Safety Last!" (United States, 1923)
Risk is a noble business. Especially when you are ready for it.
Hello...
Risk... Hmm. What a word... By the way, what does it mean?
“Risk is a combination of the probability and consequences of adverse events” (Wikipedia).
Right. But only this general concept... Well, if you limit yourself to cinema, and even mute, and add the word "trick"... “This is a spectacular skillful maneuver, or technique, usually dangerous or impossible for an untrained person.”
That's what we need... Dangerous technique, maneuver... Difficult or completely impossible for us, ordinary viewers.
It is associated with direct risk and serious consequences. No matter how you count, you can not be 100% sure of anything.
But it doesn’t mean that talented and charismatic actors stop at such things. Oh, they don't stop...
The age of silent cinema is the age of the birth of cinema. Everything is new, everything for the first time. There is so much to show the audience...
Buster Keaton (1895-1966), Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin (1889-1977), Roscoe Conkling "Fat Man" Arbuckle (1887-1933), Harold Clayton Lloyd (1893-1971)... Many people have entered the history of cinema.
And their work? Only the film "Finally safe!" (USA, 1923) which is worth it.
A simple guy (Harold Lloyd) comes to the big city to start a new life. With hopes for the future, he gets a job as a salesman in a fabric store. However, to his fiancée (Mildred Davis), who remains in his hometown, he writes that he occupies a high post in this very store. Like, raise by raise, and soon they can get married. A happy miss, on the instruction of her mother, decides to visit her beloved and, without warning him about this, comes to the big city. The young man is in shock! And then the head wants to attract more customers to the store with the help of new ideas.
Torn between two fires, the guy tries to maneuver as much as he can. And one day, he comes up with an idea...
What will come out of this, you will know, watching this comedy.
"Safe at last!" (USA, 1923)
The picture is relevant today.
* With interesting and resourceful plot twists (script: Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan). First comedy, at the end intense action. And all with fiction! .
* Explanatory (directed by Fred S. Neumeyer, Sam Taylor).
* Harold Lloyd is a handsome, sweet and charismatic young man. And also the fact that this actor is a real stuntman and the main performer of his own tricks ... (which can be discussed until late in the evening).
A tape with melodic musical design (composers: Carl Davis, Don Hewlitt). It was nice to see that the music is very well suited to a particular event.
* Well, the main point... A phenomenal trick with climbing on the building (a scene with a clock, workers and a board, a grip with only hands, a rope tangled in the leg, a “walk” along the roof eaves).
It was something... I don’t know about you, but my heart was a little choking when he walked along the eave of the roof (and after all, there was so much!!).
Don't try that again! Unless you have prior training. Harold had it. And a lot of... (this was not his first movie). I had experience..
Of course, this trick has become a kind of classic of cinema. But, no matter how later it was shown (Jackie Chan in Project A, Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future) always referred to the original.
You know, I was reminded of my childhood. Like, boys, fences, construction sites, trees ...
Speaking of trees. As Lloyd approached the building, I noticed ledges that looked so beckoning as branches of tall birches in the village, near the school stadium where I was climbing.
Just imagine: tall, thick birches growing behind the stadium, along the football gate (and the school was high on the hill). Branches, every 30-50 centimeters (as on which side of the tree). You climb in and get to the top! It's breathtaking! The panorama is huge. Closer to the top - branches are found more and more often, so that you can arrange a couch there and are not afraid to fall. You lie down, you rest. If you want, look at football, if you want, at the river, the road, the village. You can take seeds with you, crawl... Beauty ...
And here's the building. Strong Mr. Lloyd, strong... As for the protrusions, I would overcome, but here are the eaves... And the watch... Board... Rope... No, no. I would rather see how the professional works! So that he makes all this interesting, resourceful and coherent!
So, no matter how much I want to try, I will do with trees. And I do not advise you (unless, of course, I repeat, you do not have the appropriate training).
In conclusion, I will say that I am watching an old, good movie! It's not that bad. And you can always find an interesting story, which, even in non-colored form and mute form, will not yield to modern, understandable paintings.
10 out of 10
