History Film / SafetyLast

The shot of Lloyd hanging from the clock is the SignatureScene of his career, and graces the cover of Creator/TheCriterionCollection's Blu-ray/DVD set for the film. Its the TropeMaker of StockClockHandHang, and most of the trope's subsequent examples are direct homages.

The shot of Lloyd hanging from the clock is the SignatureScene of his career, and graces the cover of Creator/TheCriterionCollection's Blu-ray/DVD set for the film. Its the TropeMaker of StockClockHandHang and most of subsequent examples are direct homages.

* ExcitedShowTitle

Harold Lloyd plays, uh, [[TheDanza Harold Lloyd]], who is a clerk in a department store. He's been telling his girlfriend back home (Mildred Davis) that he's a big success and sending her presents he can't really afford, which causes a problem when she comes to the city to visit him. Harold temporarily saves face by pretending to be the manager of the store, but a more permanent solution presents itself when the actual manager says he'll offer $1000[[note]]about $15,700 in 2021[[/note]] to anyone who can come up with a good PublicityStunt to attract attention to the store.

* PunBasedTitle

* GreedyJew: Harold buys a chain for his girlfriend from a shifty jeweler with a hooked nose called Silverstein, who constantly wrings his hands in avarice (the accompanying musician(s) shift into Klezmer-type music here, just so we get the point). Harold, embarrassed, starts imitating the man's hand-wringing. Despite [[ValuesDissonance being more than a tad racist in this day and age]], the joke is still amusing to modern audiences due to the added irony of knowing that [[NWordPrivileges Harold Lloyd was himself Jewish]].

Harold Lloyd plays, uh, [[TheDanza Harold Lloyd]], who is a clerk in a department store. He's been telling his girlfriend back home (Mildred Davis) that he's a big success and sending her presents he can't really afford, which causes a problem when she comes to the city to visit him. Harold temporarily saves face by pretending to be the manager of the store, but a more permanent solution presents itself when the actual manager says he'll offer $1000 to anyone who can come up with a good PublicityStunt to attract attention to the store.

* PaintingTheMedium: When he get the last glimpse of Harold's buddy evading the cop on the rooftops, he's so far away, that when he calls out to Harold, the title card that speaks for him is printed in very tiny, barely readable letters.

Harold Lloyd plays, uh, [[TheDanza Harold Lloyd]], who is a clerk in a department store. He's been telling his girlfriend back home (Mildred Davis) that he's a big success and sending her presents he can't really afford, which causes a problem when she comes to the city to visit him. Harold temporarily saves face by pretending to be the manager of the store, but a more permanent solution presents itself when the actual manager says he'll offer $1000 to anyone who can come up with a good publicity stunt to attract attention to the store.

* StockClockHandHang: Harold Lloyd's character clutches the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper above moving traffic.

The shot of Lloyd hanging from the clock is the SignatureScene of his career, and graces the cover of Creator/TheCriterionCollection's Blu-ray/DVD set for the film.

[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_430.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:275:Looks like Harold's got [[{{Pun}} time on his hands]].]]

* GreedyJew: Harold buys a chain for his girlfriend from a shifty jeweller with a hooked nose called Silverstein, who constantly wrings his hands in avarice (the accompanying musician(s) shift into Klezmer-type music here, just so we get the point). Harold, embarrassed, starts imitating the man's hand-wringing. Despite [[ValuesDissonance being more than a tad racist in this day and age]], the joke is still amusing to modern audiences due to the added irony of knowing that [[NWordPrivileges Harold Lloyd was himself Jewish]].

** After he does this for the fourth or fifth time, a frustrated Harold shouts back at him, "[[PrecisionFStrike Go to hell, Bill!]]" (While you obviously can't ''hear'' this, and there was no way they were putting it on a title card, you can just as obviously read it on his lips.)

Harold concocts a scheme in which his good friend Bill (Bill Strother), a high-rise worker and "human fly" daredevil, will [[WallCrawl climb up the side of the store building]] for half of the winnings. However, when Bill finds himself having to flee an angry cop, poor Harold is left to perform the dangerous stunt himself.

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_430.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:280:Looks like Harold's got [[{{Pun}} time on his hands]].]]

Harold Lloyd plays, uh, [[TheDanza Harold Lloyd]], who is a clerk in a department store. He's been telling his girlfriend back home (Mildred Davis) that he is a big success and sending her presents he can't really afford, which causes a problem when she comes to the city to visit him. Harold temporarily saves face by pretending to be the manager of the store, but a more permanent solution presents itself when the actual manager says he'll offer $1000 to anyone who can come up with a good publicity stunt to attract attention to the store.

Harold concocts a scheme in which his good friend Bill, a high-rise worker and "human fly" daredevil, will [[WallCrawl climb up the side of the store building]] for $500. However, when Bill finds himself having to flee an angry cop, poor Harold is left to perform the dangerous stunt himself.

Harold Lloyd plays, uh, [[TheDanza Harold Lloyd]], who is a clerk in a department store. He's been telling his girlfriend back home (Mildred Davis) that he is a big success and sending her presents he can't really afford, which causes a problem when she comes to the city to visit him. Harold temporarily saves face by pretending to be the manager of the store, but a more permanent solution offers itself when the actual manager says he'll offer $1000 to anyone who can come up with a good publicity stunt to attract attention to the store.

Harold Lloyd plays, uh, [[TheDanza Harold Lloyd]], who is a clerk in a department store. He has been telling his girlfriend back home that he is a big success and sending her presents he can't really afford, which causes a problem when she comes to the city to visit him. Harold temporarily solves this problem by pretending to be the manager of his department store, but a more permanent solution offers itself when the real manager says he'll offer $1000 to anyone who can come up with a good publicity stunt to attract attention to the store.