You can watch the entire movie on YouTube. I'll start you in the middle of things (and keep going, because it's not just the clock, it's the rat, the gun, the anemometer, etc.):
February 16, 2023
"What makes the clock stunt even more impressive, Ms. Lloyd said, is that her grandfather was hanging on with only eight fingers."
"In 1919 he had lost part of his right index finger, his entire right thumb and part of his palm when he attempted to light a cigarette from the fuse of what he thought was a prop bomb for a publicity photo. But the bomb exploded, temporarily blinding him and putting him in the hospital for about two weeks. For years he wore a prosthetic glove to mask the injury in movies, but not in his personal life."
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16 comments:
Many silent-era comedies hold up well to this day.
My fave is Buster Keaton, with Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin in second and third, but all very close.
CGI was SO MUCH Better, back then!! Most of the stunts; you can't even tell how they did them
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Seriously, he was the Greatest of ALL TIME. It's Amazing he didn't die fifty times over
The first Model T was in 1908. This is just 15 years later and look at the street. Not a horse in sight.
"For filming... a safety net was constructed on a roof about one floor below the action, though the scene was shot to look as though there was a sheer drop to the bustling streets far below. (Reports at the time said many in the audience covered their eyes or even fainted, and ambulances were parked outside some movie theaters.)"
As the Rocket City Rednecks would say, Safety Third…
The auto stunts are what get me- no nets anywhere…
That clip advertises "excellent quality," but I couldn't get the dialogue to play.
Today we have this guy. Scroll down for the short video showing his perspective. Whatever one thinks about his politics, the man is out of his mind.
Alec Baldwin: "Hold my beer."
I think Buster Keaton has won the posterity sweepstakes. There was a time when Charlie Chaplin was the great man of that era, but he has since fallen into disfavor. In Charley's defense, he lived in a simpler time when the rape of twelve year old girls was not frowned upon in Hollywood.....City Lights remains my favorite silent film. The great stunt in that movie is how it is so sentimental and corny and never seems mawkish or manipulative....I think Buster Keaton performed the riskiest stunts. Some looked very dangerous indeed, and he kept a poker face whilst inches from death. Now that's acting.
I wonder if things like this somehow inspired the X games.
Watched a documentary last night on the making of "Die Hard". Several of the stunts in the movie were based on Lloyd's work. Especially the one where Bruce Willis jumps off the top of Naktomi Plaza attached to a fire hose.
Of course it was so dangerous.
The office where the rope was supposed to be tied off was the Acme Bonding Co.
Based on the headline I assumed it was about Back to the Future
The Acme Bonding Co. building held many businesses that supplied a huge variety of goods and services. The bonding function was only on the second floor.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WwIQmsfzaxU/maxresdefault.jpg
Saftey Last = very fun. And its even better in the movie theater where everyone is laughing. Always liked Harold Lloyd and thought he was as good as Keaton or Chaplin if you compare their 20s movies.
Preston Sturges was a big fan of Lloyd. I discovered Sturges first, actually, and then Lloyd.
I love his Safety Last!. But what's super cool is that after the silent era disappeared, and Lloyd's career with it, Sturges tried to do him a solid and give him a starring opportunity in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947).
It's a little uneven but well worth your time if you can find it. (Shitty version on youtube)
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