How did they film the clock scene in Safety Last?
How did they film the clock scene in Safety Last?
During the famous clock tower stunt, Harold Lloyd is not as far from the ground as he appears. The building on which he climbs was actually a fake wall constructed on the roof of an actual skyscraper and skillfully photographed to maintain the illusion.
Did Harold Lloyd do all his own stunts?
Like Chaplin and Keaton, Lloyd insisted on doing his own stunts. What made the Clock Stunt more amazing was the fact Lloyd only had eight fingers. He’d lost a thumb and a forefinger on the short film Haunted Spooks four years earlier when a prop bomb exploded in his hand.
What is the theme of safety last?
Safety Last! is a meditation on time and money, on fame and misfortune, that holds up a mirror to the life of its creator. The opening credits dub Lloyd “the Boy,” though he was almost thirty when Safety Last! was made.
Did Buster Keaton really climb the building?
That was not unique for the period. Buster Keaton did virtually all of his own stunts, allowing a building to fall around him in a hurricane, running on the top of a train, dangling over a waterfall. I accept without question that there were times in “Safety Last” when Harold Lloyd could have fallen to his death.
Did Harold Lloyd really hang off a clock?
But from his late 20s onward, Lloyd went through life—and hung from that clock—missing half of his right hand due to an explosion at the movie studio in 1919.
Did Buster Keaton know Charlie Chaplin?
Chaplin and Keaton were also friends offscreen–Keaton once said, “We spoke the same language.” They clearly studied each other’s work, since similar gags would pop up in both their films. Chaplin visits the Comique set in 1918.
What happened to Harold Lloyd’s hand?
It is still a relatively unknown story. But from his late 20s onward, Lloyd went through life—and hung from that clock—missing half of his right hand due to an explosion at the movie studio in 1919.
What is the main character of safety last hanging from on the side of a building?
In “Safety Last” (1923), Harold Lloyd takes one dangerous step after another until his straw hat falls off and he finds himself dangling from the hand of a detached clock face in one of the most famous shots in silent film comedy.