Silent Film Daredevil Harold Lloyd Puts 'Safety Last' At Music Box This Weekend

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on May 23, 2013 10:00PM

The Holy Trinity of silent film comedians are Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. All three were physical beasts, but while Chaplin exuded a balletic grace with his movement and Keaton took serious amounts of punishment with his stunts, Lloyd was the daredevil among them, known for meticulously choreographed stunts involving protracted chase scenes and physical feats of dexterity that, 90 years later, are still stunning when viewed on the silver screen.

Lloyd’s 1923 comedy Safety Last is the one most beloved by silent film buffs and Lloyd aficionados. Lloyd plays a young, naïve man who moves to the city to earn enough money to earn the hand of his gal back home. But the reality of life leads Lloyd to embellish certain aspects of his life in the city, leading to a comedy of errors culminating in one of film’s greatest images, Lloyd hanging off the façade of a clocktower after climbing it to escape a policeman.

Safety Last is a better romantic comedy than all of the current rom-com treacle being produced by Hollywood and it is a beautiful movie to watch on a large screen with accompaniment by a pipe organ, which is exactly how you can view it this weekend at the Music Box Theatre. They’ll be screening Safety Last in a new DCP 35mm print from Janus films from May 24 - 27, with live organ accompaniment from Dennis Scott. For showtimes and ticket prices, click here.