The opening credits roll and the first thing you see is the credit for composer. You just know it’s a silent movie. I’ve never seen a silent movie before. It was a great experience and I even met someone while watching it. More on that later.
Safety Last! stars Harold Lloyd, a silent mega star at the top of his game. His physical prowess and comedic ability are apparently amazing and I believe that after watching this movie. The gags are punchy, well timed and exquisitely delivered. We meet a ‘boy’ who sets off to a big town to earn a living in order to support his wife to be. He lives a poor sales mans’ life and sends his girl lavish presents. Thanks to his presents she thinks that he’s well off and decides to visit him early to get their happy life started. Comedy ensues as he tries his hardest to maintain an image of importance which is above him.
As I was watching this movie on my iPod a person next to me curiously glanced at the screen a few times. I pulled out my headphones and struck up a conversation with him. We discussed the movie and the period. He knew a bit about it and seemed generally bright. It was an interesting conversation. I told him all about my project of watching the IMDb top 250 movies and he wished me good luck. Glad I met him.
This one is truly one for film buffs only. I can’t honestly recommend it to just anyone despite my score of 8/10.