Safety Last! (1923)
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- Not Rated
- 1h 14min
- Action, Comedy
- 01 Apr 1923 (USA)
- Movie
A boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
Directors:
Writers:
Stars:
Awards:
- 4 wins & 1 nomination.
- See more »
Photos and Videos
Cast verified as complete
| Harold Lloyd | ... |
Harold - The Boy
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| Mildred Davis | ... |
Mildred, The Girl
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| Bill Strother | ... |
Bill, The Pal
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| Noah Young | ... |
The Law
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| Westcott Clarke | ... |
The Floorwalker
(as Westcott B. Clarke)
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Chester A. Bachman | ... |
Friednly Cop (uncredited)
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Ed Brandenburg | ... |
Man in strawboater hat (uncredited)
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| Roy Brooks | ... |
Man Laughing from Window (uncredited)
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| Charley Chase | ... |
Bystander at climbing (uncredited)
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| Monte Collins | ... |
Laundry truck driver (uncredited)
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| Mickey Daniels | ... |
Newsboy with Freckles (uncredited)
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Richard Daniels | ... |
Worker with Acetylene Torch (uncredited)
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| Ray Erlenborn | ... |
Newsboy with Cap (uncredited)
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| William Gillespie | ... |
General manager's assistant (uncredited)
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| Helen Gilmore | ... |
Department Store Customer (uncredited)
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| Katherine Grant | ... |
Blonde woman at window (uncredited)
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| Wally Howe | ... |
Man with Flowers / Studio Photographer (uncredited)
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| George Jeske | ... |
Noose man at Station (uncredited)
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| James T. Kelley | ... |
Old Driver of Delivery Truck (uncredited)
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| Ham Kinsey | ... |
Store employee (uncredited)
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Billie Latimer | ... |
Tall Customer (uncredited)
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Gus Leonard | ... |
Office Worker (uncredited)
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| Sam Lufkin | ... |
Pawnshop Owner (uncredited)
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| Chris Lynton | ... |
Man in crowd (uncredited)
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| Earl Mohan | ... |
Drunk Exiting Acme Drug Co. (uncredited)
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Oscar Morgan | ... |
Man at Station / Painter with mustache (uncredited)
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| Marie Mosquini | ... |
Salesgirl (uncredited)
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Fred C. Newmeyer | ... |
Car Driver Who Gets Parking Ticket (uncredited)
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| John M. O'Brien | ... |
Man in strawberry hat (uncredited)
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| Patsy O'Byrne | ... |
Woman in office with glasses (uncredited)
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| Charles Stevenson | ... |
Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
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| Lyle Tayo | ... |
Woman in Office (uncredited)
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Molly Thompson | ... |
Woman with tonic (uncredited)
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Anna Townsend | ... |
Tiny Old Lady Helped by $50 Ruse (uncredited)
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| Dorothea Wolbert | ... |
Picky fabric customer (uncredited)
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Patrick Youch | ... |
Onlooker - Clock Sequence (uncredited)
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Directed by
| Fred C. Newmeyer | ... | (as Fred Neymeyer) |
| Sam Taylor | ||
Written by
| Hal Roach | ... | (story) & |
| Sam Taylor | ... | (story) and |
| Tim Whelan | ... | (story) |
| H.M. Walker | ... | (titles) |
| Jean C. Havez | ... | () (uncredited) |
| Harold Lloyd | ... | () (uncredited) |
Produced by
| Kevin Brownlow | ... | producer |
| David Gill | ... | producer |
| Suzanne Lloyd Hayes | ... | executive producer (video release) (as Suzanne Lloyd) / executive producer: The Harold Lloyd Trust (as Suzanne Lloyd) |
| Hal Roach | ... | producer (uncredited) |
| Jeffrey Vance | ... | producer (video release) |
Music by
| Carl Davis | ||
| Don Hulette | ... | (1974) |
Cinematography by
| Walter Lundin | ... | (photographed by) |
Editing by
| Thomas J. Crizer | ... | (edited by) (as T.J. Crizer) |
Editorial Department
| Dick Bradford | ... | telecine engineer |
| Bruno Mansi | ... | editor: video tape |
Makeup Department
| Wally Howe | ... | makeup artist (uncredited) |
Production Management
| Liz Sutherland | ... | production manager |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
| Robert A. Golden | ... | assistant director |
Stunts
| Harvey Parry | ... | stunt double: Harold Lloyd (uncredited) |
| Bill Strother | ... | stunts (uncredited) |
Music Department
| Richard Bradford | ... | music recordist |
| Carl Davis | ... | music conductor: The Live Cinema Orchestra |
| Mike Fairbairn | ... | music dubbing |
| Erich Gruenberg | ... | orchestra leader: The Live Cinema Orchestra |
| Don Hulette | ... | conductor / orchestrator |
| Nic Raine | ... | orchestrator |
| Paul Wing | ... | orchestra manager: The Live Cinema Orchestra |
Additional Crew
| Carole Anne Brown | ... | production assistant |
| C.E. Christensen | ... | technical staff |
| Fred Guiol | ... | technical staff (as Fred L. Guiol) |
| John L. Murphy | ... | technical staff (as J.L. Murphy) |
| Hal Roach | ... | presenter |
| Roy Brooks | ... | secretary to the director (uncredited) |
Production Companies
Distributors
- Pathé Exchange (1923) (United States) (theatrical) (as Pathé Distributors)
- Western Import Company (1923) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
- Film AB Liberty (1923) (Sweden) (theatrical)
- Films Fordys (1924) (France) (theatrical)
- Famous-Lasky Film Service (1927) (United Kingdom) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Pathex (1928) (United States) (16mm home movie 1-reel excerpt)
- Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1933) (Sweden) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Time Life Films (1974) (United States) (16mm rental)
- Photoplay Productions (1990) (World-wide) (presents)
- Thames Television International (1990) (World-wide) (in association with) (presents)
- The Harold Lloyd Estate (1990) (World-wide) (as Trustees of the Harold Lloyd Estate for Channel Four) (in association with) (presents)
- The Harold Lloyd Trust (1990) (World-wide) (presents)
- Connoisseur Video (1996) (United Kingdom) (video)
- Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
- New Line Home Video (2005) (United States) (DVD)
- Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2010) (Germany) (DVD) (Harold Lloyd Edition)
- New Star (2012) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
- The Criterion Collection (2013) (United States) (DVD)
- The Criterion Collection (2013) (United States) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
- The Criterion Channel (2019) (United States) (tv) (digital)
- HBO Max (2020) (United States) (video)
- El 9 Besepi S.L. (2021) (Spain)
- Crosly Film (1924) (Belgium) (theatrical)
- Harry Hagström (1929) (Finland) (theatrical)
- Suomen Biografi (1924) (Finland) (theatrical)
- RDM Édition (2011) (Canada) (DVD) (box: four films)
- Universal Pictures Finland (2008) (Finland) (DVD) (10-disc Harold Lloyd: The Definitive Collection)
- Yleisradio (YLE) (1978) (Finland) (tv)
Special Effects
Other Companies
- AVS (french subtitles)
- The Live Cinema Orchestra (music performed by) (1990 alternate version)
Storyline
| Plot Summary |
In 1922, the country boy Harold says goodbye to his mother and his girlfriend Mildred in the train station and leaves Great Bend expecting to be successful in the big city. Harold promises to Mildred to get married with her as soon as he "make good". Harold shares a room with his friend "Limpy" Bill and he finally gets a job as salesman in the De Vore Department Store. However, he pawns Bill's phonograph, buys a lavaliere and writes to Mildred telling that he is a manager of De Vore. One day, Harold sees an old friend from Great Bend that is a policeman and when he meets his friend Bill, he asks Bill to push the policeman over him and make him fall down. However Bill pushes the wrong policeman that chases him, but he escapes climbing up a building. Out of the blue, Mildred is convinced by her mother to visit Harold without previous notice and he pretends to be the manager of De Vore. When Harold overhears the general manager telling that he would give one thousand dollars to to anyone that could promote De Vore attracting people to the department store, he offers five hundred dollars to Bill to climb up the Bolton Building. However things go wrong when the angry policeman decides to check whether the mystery man that will climb up the building is the one who pushed him over on the floor. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Plot Keywords | |
| Taglines | You're Going to Explode With "Safety Laughs" when You see This Fun Bomb. (Print Ad- Buffalo Courier, ((Buffalo NY)) 30 September 1923) See more » |
| Genres | |
| Parents Guide | View content advisory » |
| Certification |
Additional Details
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Box Office
| Budget | $121,000 (estimated) |
| Cumulative Worldwide Gross | $3,270,000 |
Did You Know?
| Trivia | Stuntman Harvey Parry revealed for the first time in the television documentary, Hollywood (1980), that Harold Lloyd actually climbed a fake building facade that was constructed over another building's rooftop, positioned so the camera angle could capture the street scene below. Harvey Parry also revealed that he doubled for Lloyd in the long shots of him climbing the building in the distance. Up until then, even the Time-Life version of Safety Last! (1923) that was aired on PBS contained an opening title declaring that Harold Lloyd climbed the building himself and without the use of a stuntman or trick photography. The stuntman chose to suppress this information until Lloyd's death, and yet, he did not want to detract from the danger of Lloyd's actual stunt work. Lloyd performed the majority of the stunts himself on the rigged facade over a small platform, which was built near the rooftop's edge and still had to be raised a great height to get the proper street perspective for the camera. The size of the platform did not offer much of a safety net, and had Lloyd fallen, there was the risk he could have tumbled off the platform. See more » |
| Goofs | When Harold Lloyd has a mouse up his trouser leg and falls to be hanging on the ledge by his fingertips, he has shifted to a stunt double;: Lloyd parts his hair on the right side, but the stunt double has his part on the left. See more » |
| Movie Connections | Edited into The Clock (2010). See more » |
| Quotes |
Old Lady With Flower Hat:
Young man, don't you know you might fall and get hurt? See more » |