Newsletter: Harold Lloyd’s silent-film classic ‘Safety Last!’ celebrates 100 years

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, March 27. I’m Gustavo Arellano, writing from Orange County. I’m also a columnist, which means I’m allowed to have opinions like:

Harold Lloyd is cool.

The silent film star was one of the most popular screen comedians in the 1920s, outdrawing even Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. His films almost always had the same plot: a wimpy striver in round horned-rimmed glasses tries to better his lot in life, finds himself in hijinks that lead to outlandish stunts, and gets the girl in the end.

It was a recipe that made Lloyd one of the richest actors in Hollywood — the famously massive Beverly Hills estate Greenacres was where he and his family lived for decades. But his simple story lines and cherubic face fell out of favor with critics, and Lloyd today doesn’t have the same cachet as Chaplin’s Little Tramp or Keaton’s Great Stone Face.

Except for one immortal scene.

“If you tell most people, ‘Harold Lloyd,’ they’ll look at you with a blank face,” said his granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd. She runs Harold Lloyd Entertainment, which manages its namesake’s likeness and films. “You show the photo, they’ll say, ‘I know that guy!’”

That photo, of course, is the one at the top of this newsletter: Lloyd hanging off the arms of a clock 12 stories up, as a mesmerized crowd watches. It’s one of the most famous images of the silent era, and the climax to “Safety Last!,” which Lloyd filmed across downtown L.A. and released on April 1, 1923, making this week the film’s 100th anniversary.

I didn’t see “Safety Last!” until I took a silent movie class at Orange Coast College in the late 1990s. But the image was already part of my Southern California upbringing — did I see it on a car insurance commercial? Parodied in a Bugs Bunny cartoon? In a compilation that I rented from the Anaheim Public Library? Maybe on a matinee on KCAL-TV Channel 9, back when its programming was more creative than wall-to-wall judge shows and “Family Feud”?

I digress.

“Safety Last!” holds up a century later with good gags and Lloyd’s indefatigable optimism. He plays a small-town boy who ends up poor in the big city, working as a lowly clerk in a department store. His sweetheart (played by his wife, Mildred Davis), who’s staying back home until he has enough money to bring her, surprises Lloyd by showing up one day, fully believing in his letters that he’s a company bigwig. Desperate to make quick cash, Lloyd tells his bosses that he’ll climb their store building for $1,000.

Hilarity ensues. Come for the footage of a time when Pacific Electric Red Cars still dominated downtown, stay for the bumbling cop who makes the Keystone lads seem as savvy as Capt. Olivia Benson. It received almost universal praise at the time — Variety wrote, “It will make all of the nation laugh,” while the New York Times stated, “There will be roars of rollicking laughter.” Really, the only major hater was... this paper.

“It is a breathless thrill picture, perfectly made, as [Lloyd’s] pictures always are,” our reviewer wrote, “but lacking the spark of originality he usually [e]ndows his work with.”

Suzanne said her grandfather got the idea one day while walking downtown and seeing Bill Strother — who went by the nickname “The Human Spider” — scale a building. He told Strother the two of them should make a movie together replicating his feat.

“Harold thought, ‘My God, if it could scare me and scare people on the street, I gotta make a film out of this,’” Suzanne said. “He happened to be at the right place at the right time to see him.”

You can and should buy a DVD off Harold Lloyd Entertainment’s website, because the two-disc collection offers all sorts of goodies. But you should also catch “Safety Last!” this Saturday evening at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, where you can see it on the big screen with live music.

Suzanne loves to see new audiences connect with her grandfather, who she argues “goes really well” with modern audiences. “He looks like someone off the street,” she said. “He’d have an iPad and cellphone hanging off of him. He could be your best friend, he could be your cousin.”

She especially loves to screen Lloyd’s movies at schools across Los Angeles (during the pandemic, she did it via Zoom). “The kids go, ‘He’s like Harry Potter’s older brother.’ Another time, the kids said, ‘Well, we just love how he texts us.’”

Suzanne stayed quiet. I was about to ask if she had misspoken, then she went for the punchline.

“What do you think they think the texts are? It’s the title cards.”

That Lloyd funny bone, I’m telling ya.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing.

L.A. STORIES

Bad bets, dysfunction: Inside the collapse of the Skid Row Housing Trust. My colleagues Doug Smith and Benjamin Oreskes — the Bill Mazeroski and Mickey Mantle of The Times’ newsroom — with another must-read on L.A.’s two-steps-forward, 1,000-steps-back approach to helping the unhoused. Los Angeles Times

LAUSD and union workers who led massive strike reach tentative settlement. Next up: The teachers. Los Angeles Times

Protesters listen to speakers as members of the Service Employees International Union Local 99 picket at Los Angeles Historic State Park last week.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Hospitals complain that problems persist a year after L.A. Care was hit with record fines. The Hospital Assn. of Southern California and other healthcare groups have urged the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to call for changes from L.A. Care, a publicly operated health plan that serves more than 2.8 million people, most of them on Medi-Cal. Los Angeles Times

The man who changed the way L.A. eats. Former Times restaurant critic and overall food legend Ruth Reichl’s Substack inevitably swings to SoCal, and the latest edition remembers L’Ermitage founding chef Jean Bertranou and sketches out two days of romantic dining (although, Ruth: You left out a late-night run to Tommy’s or King Taco, the true marker of whether someone is The One). La Briffe

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Gloria Molina’s farewell message to L.A.: Don’t be corrupt. The lioness of L.A. politics offers some thoughts on the passing political crowd as she takes on terminal cancer. Los Angeles Times

Palm Desert voters said they wanted to move to a five-district system—but it’s not clear the City Council will listen. Bring on the lawsuit! Coachella Valley Independent

CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING

Sheriff Robert Luna: ‘I’m going to be recognized as a sheriff who follows the law.’ L.A. County’s top lawman sits down with two of my colleagues on his 99th day in office (although Keri and Connor: ustedes should’ve done it on his 101st day to tie in with our overall 101 branding, you know?) Los Angeles Times

Her $1.4-million San Francisco home got auctioned off for $12,500. What happened? There but for the grace of God go we. San Francisco Chronicle

Modesto will interview candidates for new police review board. What are the backgrounds of the applicants? Just make sure it’s none of the Pharaohs. Modesto Bee

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

‘We’ve lost the aqueduct’: How severe flooding threatens a Los Angeles water lifeline. Somewhere, William Mulholland is stealing more water. Los Angeles Times

Snowpack in the southern Sierra hits all-time record levels. How deep is that? Now, how to freeze all that snow. Los Angeles Times

Community researchers uncover failures of California Department of Toxic Substance Control as lead levels remain high in East and southeast L.A. Another news outlet is on the L.A. scene, and already doing good stuff. Los Angeles Public Press

Tribal nations’ lasting victory in the Mojave Desert. Before Avi Kwa Ame became a national monument, there was the fight for Ward Valley. High Country News

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

At Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, an ambitious art project aims to get students thinking critically about food. Thankfully, there’s no hint of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos whatsoever. Capital & Main

Black community members discuss Sacramento schools’ approach to race-related incidents. The N-word occupies a variety of spaces for the Black community. But when culture and societal guidelines intersect on school campuses in Sacramento, Black students are often more likely to receive punitive actions for using the word. Cap Radio

Escondido could be next to regulate sidewalk vending. The war against street vendors spreads to Pete Wilson country. Voice of San Diego

AND FINALLY

Today’s California landmark comes from Barbara Epstein of Redondo Beach: Moonstone Beach in Cambria, Calif.

The boardwalk at Moonstone Beach in Cambria, Calif.

(Barbara Epstein)

Barbara writes:

What are California’s essential landmarks? Fill out this form to send us your photos of a special spot in California — natural or human-made. Tell us why it’s interesting and what makes it a symbol of life in the Golden State. Please be sure to include only photos taken directly by you. Your submission could be featured in a future edition of the newsletter.

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