Safety Last!

Safety Last! 1923 Hal Roach Studios; distributed to DVD by New Line Home Entertainment.
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Westcott Clarke
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
Part of the Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection at Amazon.

Safety Last! includes one of the silent film era's most famous images, Harold Lloyd clutching the hands of a clock on the side of a building, as he hangs above moving traffic. Lloyd himself performed some of the close-ups in his stunts, which is remarkable considering he was missing the thumb and forefinger from his right hand, due to a 1919 accident with a prop bomb (he wore a prosthetic glove after that). Most of the stunts involving the clock were performed on specially constructed sets on the rooftops of buildings, which were then photographed to give the illusion that Lloyd was really hanging a long way up.

The Boy (Lloyd) leaves his sweetheart, The Girl (Davis, who later married Lloyd in real life) in a small town called Great Bend while he seeks out fame and fortune in a faraway metropolis. Instead, he gets a job as a clerk in a department store, but lies in his letters sent home, and says he's the store manager. The Boy is also rooming with The Pal, or Limpy Bill (Strother), a construction worker with a talent of climbing up buildings. After The Boy runs across an old friend who is now a city policeman, he invites Bill to see what his friend in uniform would let him get away with. Bill instead knocks over the wrong cop (Young), and escapes up the side of a building.

Meanwhile, The Boy is now trying to conceal his bad luck by sending his girlfriend expensive gifts that he can't really afford, which prompts her to take a train to visit him, thinking he is already well off enough to support a family. The Boy finds himself posing as the store manager, and getting into an embarrassing situation of incidents or accidents. Overhearing the real boss (Clarke) talking about a plan to pay anybody a thousand dollars to anyone who attracts major attention to the store, The Boy recruits Bill and his policeman friend, and volunteers to help out. The Boy intends to pay Bill $500 to climb the store, while he takes the other half for himself. A chance encounter with the other cop ("The Law") sends Bill running for it, and The Boy must make the climb himself.

Highly, highly recommended film. There's nothing wrong with silent films, kids!