Safety Last!
	01 April 1923 Pathé Exchange silent feature 70 minutes

Director: Fred C. Newmeyer  Director/Story: Sam Taylor  Producer/Story: Hal Roach  Story: Tim Whelan Titles: H.M. Walker  Cinematography: Walter Lundin  Editor: Thomas J. Crizer

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY & DVD (click images for Amazon.com)

Harold is at Grand Bend train station about to leave his fiancé (Mildred Davis) and mother behind on the platform, hoping to make good in the city so that he can return to marry his girl.  After a series of errors in which Harold first picks up a black child by mistake and then jumping onto the back of a passing cart, he finally makes the train. Fast forward a few months and Harold is living in the city, sharing accomodation with his pal, "Limpy Bill" (Bill Strother).  Harold proudly shows Bill some jewelry (a la vallier) he has bought for Mildred, but in order to afford it he had to pawn one of his phonograph records, for twelve dollars.  It's at this point his pal shows him an overdue rent notice for $14.  Just then, the landlady knocks on their door.  In what is surely one of the best gags of the film, the two guys quickly put on their coats, climb up onto a footing on the wall and hide from the landlady, who enters the room and doesn't spot them up against the wall hiding under their coats. Harold sends his girl the present along with a long love letter, which she excitedly reads. REVIEW COMPLETE TO 8 MINS

Facts •Lead actress Mildred Davis married Harold Lloyd two months prior to this film's release. Did you notice? •The opening shot of Harold Lloyd behind bars is very clever, as the screen then reveals a hanging noose behind him.  It turns out to be a double-fool because it is in fact a train station.  Quite the co-incidence the film was released on April Fool's Day? •There is a continuity error in the next shot as the group, whilst standing next to the bars, turn their backs and begin walking away from the camera, so that in the very next shot the group are seen walking towards the camera.  The problem is, they had already taken several steps forward in the previous shot yet when the camera cuts to them walking towards the camera (the platform), they seemingly begin their walk from the bars again.  This could not have been possible in theory. •When the black lady brings her child into the train station at the beginning, as she sets the child down it begins to cry.  As the shot cuts to a close up of the two, the child appears to be completely normal. •The train that Harold Lloyd catches at the beginning of the film is number 1229 and has the letters A.T. & S.F. (which was Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) on the side of it.  I do find it odd, even in 1923 that a train would allow passengers to alight into the middle of a road! •There is an intertitle card which reads "one pocketbook between them, usually empty".  A variation of this card was later used in Laurel & Hardy's Laughing Gravy. •The pawn ticket is dated May 5th, 1922.  Just in case anyone is interested - that was a Friday.  It was pawned at Uncle Ike's Pawn Shop, 1110 Hester Street, ticket number 37462, and was for $12. •Here's an interesting observation: the pawn ticket says 1922, yet the intertitle card which refers to Harold writing several letters to his girl has a calendar in the top-left corner which clearly says 1923.

	Harold Lloyd The boy
	Mildred Davis Mildred
	Bill Strother Limpy Bill
	Noah Young The law
	Westcott Clarke Floorwalker
	Roy Brooks Man laughing at window
	Mickey Daniels Newsboy with freckles
	Richard Daniels Worker with Acetylene torch
	Ray Erlenborn Newsboy with cap
	William Gillespie General manager's assistant
	Helen Gilmore Department store customer
	Wallace Howe Man with flowers/ Studio photographer
	James T. Kelley Old driver of delivery truck
	Gus Leonard Office worker
	Sam Lufkin Pawnshop owner
	Earl Mohan Drunk exiting Acme Drug Co.
	Marie Mosquini Salesgirl
	Lyle Tayo [?]
	Fred C. Newmeyer Car driver who receives parking ticket
	Charles Stevenson Ambulance attendant
	Anna Townsend Grandma punched during sale
	Patrick Youch Clock sequence onlooker
	Villie Latimer Woman in background

UNIDENTIFIED Noose man at train station	UNIDENTIFIED Harold's mother	UNIDENTIFIED Harold's father
UNIDENTIFIED Train conductor	UNIDENTIFIED Lady and child	UNIDENTIFIED Postman

Acknowledgements: https://silentlocations.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/how-harold-lloyd-filmed-safety-last/ (John Bengtson) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_Last! (Wikipedia) A History Of The Hal Roach Studios by Richard Lewis Ward (book) Jim Clewer (screenshots: Charles Stevenson, William Gillespie, Villie Latimer) Tom Schober (help and assistance) Steve Wright (identification and screenshot of Lyle Tayo) This page was last updated on: 19 December 2022