Screen/Society--AMI Showcase--SIlent Cinema series: "Safety Last!" [Blu-Ray]

Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Screen/Society--AMI Showcase--SIlent Cinema series: "Safety Last!" [Blu-Ray]

Film Screening:

 

Safety Last
(Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, 1923, 80 min, USA, in English, B/W, Blu-Ray)

-- Introduced by Prof. Michael Morton (German Department)!

After Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the silent film era's "third genius" was Harold Lloyd. Chaplin is the sweet innocent, Keaton the stoic outsider, but Lloyd—the modern guy striving for success—is us. And with its torrent of perfectly executed gags and astonishing stunts, Safety Last! is the perfect introduction to him.

Lloyd stars in this Horatio Alger-style story of an average country boy trying to make good in the big city, who finds employment as a lowly department-store clerk. He comes up with a wild publicity stunt to draw attention to the store, resulting in an incredible feat of derring-do on his part that gets him started on the climb to success. The climax of this silent-era masterpiece is one of the most famous images in cinema: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic.  

After Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the silent film era's "third genius" was Harold Lloyd, who stars in this Horatio Alger-style story of an average country boy trying to make good in the big city. The climax of this silent-era masterpiece is one of the most famous images in cinema: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic. Laugh-out-loud funny and jaw-dropping in equal measure, Safety Last! is a movie experience par excellence, anchored by a genuine legend.

Cost: Free and Open to the Public

Sponsors: The Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI), with support for the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

Bryan Center Griffith Film Theater