Silent Film – $10 – “Safety Last!” Starring Harold Lloyd
“Safety Last!” is likely the quintessential Harold Lloyd film, the one that seems to define his entire career, and the one that identifies him as chiefly a daredevil comedian. The iconic image of Lloyd dangling from the hand of a giant clock on a tall building has become a part of the American advertising lexicon.
In “Safety Last!” Harold goes off to the big city to make good, with the intention of sending for his girl when he achieves his goal. He has a difficult time doing so, toiling in a department store, but writing home with the impression that he is at management level. When his fiancé takes the train into the big city to visit him, he must quickly make good in order for her to continuing believing in him. Overhearing the actual store management wondering about a publicity stunt to attract customers, Harold suggests they hire his friend Bill (Bill Strother) to climb the building, a spectacle he had seen before when Bill was trying to elude police. The officer from whom Bill escaped reads about the stunt in the paper and shows up at the building. Bill must stay away from the officer, so Harold is forced to climb the building himself.
Live accompaniment provided by Chicagoland’s premiere organist, Jay Warren, on Arcada’s historic 1926 pipe organ!