"Safety Last!" (1923)

One of silent cinema's most iconic images is Harold Lloyd precariously hanging from the minute hand of a building clock in Safety Last!. The moment comes at the end of a lengthy, exciting sequence involving Lloyd climbing up the side of a twelve-story building. Since this was made in an era before almost any kind of special effects, it all actually happens. Lloyd is actually climbing the building and doing exceptional, highly dangerous physical comedy and slapstick. It's simultaneously one of cinema's most thrilling and funniest scenes, but it comes as the cherry on top in a film that continually shows off Lloyd's genuine comedic talent. Lloyd plays his Glasses character as a constantly beleaguered indvidual who has no idea how he's managed to stay afloat one incident to the next. We're not quite sure how he does it but neither does Lloyd. Lloyd moves constantly from a squirming, baffled facial expression to a can-do attitude covering for a lack of confidence or any clear idea what he's doing, including climbing up a building for a PR stunt.

Grade: ★★★★