Tag Archives: Stunt Climbing

New revelations about Safety Last! and The Kid

Posted on November 12, 2022 by John Bengtson

Two recent YouTube videos revealing new details from Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, are now uploaded to my YouTube Channel. The channel includes a playlist of other video presentations hosted by museums and other groups. Hang … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Safety Last!, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Saving the Best for (Safety) Last!

Posted on June 14, 2016 by John Bengtson

There is no better way to experience Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! than in a giant 1920’s movie palace packed with audience members gasping and shrieking at every turn. The Los Angeles Conservancy screens this classic thrill comedy on Saturday, June … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Solved at Last! – the Safety Last! Mystery Building

Posted on June 25, 2013 by John Bengtson

Harold Lloyd filmed his stunt-climbing “thrill” comedies on the rooftops of eight buildings in the downtown Los Angeles Historic Core.  Remarkably, seven of these eight buildings are still standing.  (In all Lloyd employed 17 buildings in one way or another … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

How Harold Lloyd filmed the Safety Last! finale (at three places)

Posted on June 20, 2013 by John Bengtson

Safe at last, Harold stumbles over a parapet wall into the arms of his fiance Mildred Davis, capping his hair-raising climb up the 13 story “Bolton Building” in Safety Last! Seeking the perfect angle for each shot, Lloyd staged this … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last (the parts on the ground)

Posted on May 22, 2013 by John Bengtson

The alleys at the SE corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga are certainly the most historically significant silent film locations in town.  The yellow arrow above marks the alley entrance from which Buster Keaton grabs a passing car one-handed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Cops, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Cops and Safety Last! – the Cosmo Alley Connection

Posted on March 28, 2013 by John Bengtson

We learn early in Safety Last! (1923) that Harold Lloyd’s roommate Bill Strother can climb tall buildings when we watch him escape from a policeman by scaling a four-story apartment building (left).  [NOTE: “Skip,” a resourceful and eagle-eyed reader, was … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Cops, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!

Posted on February 29, 2012 by John Bengtson

The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! (1923) is one of the greatest icons in all of film history.  Using maps, aerial views, and vintage photographs, my book Silent Visions … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

The Artist Locations Part 4, Bradbury, Chaplin, and Lloyd

Posted on January 20, 2012 by John Bengtson

During a pivotal scene in The Artist (2011), fading silent film star George Valentin and rising ingénue Peppy Miller pass each other on a staircase at the Kinograph Studios where they work, their career trajectories mirrored by their relative positions … Continue reading →

Posted in Angels Flight, Charlie Chaplin, Hal Roach Studios, Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Los Angeles Historic Core, Los Angeles Tunnels, Safety Last!, The Artist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The Artist Locations Part 3, Harold Lloyd, and Safety Last!

Posted on January 14, 2012 by John Bengtson

After first posting about the location and studio connections between The Artist (2011) and Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, and then posting about the connections between The Artist and Roger Rabbit and Buster Keaton, it’s time for Harold Lloyd to … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last!, The Artist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Safety Last! Mr. Epstein’s Writing on the Wall

Posted on June 26, 2011 by John Bengtson

With a can of paint and a cooperative landlord, ladies tailor Jacob Epstein bought himself a bit of movie immortality.  During the iconic skyscraper clock sequence in Harold Lloyd’s 1923 master thrill comedy Safety Last!,  you can clearly see, visible … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Harold Lloyd Safety Last! Downtown Tour

Posted on June 21, 2011 by John Bengtson

In conjunction with the sold-out Los Angeles Conservancy “Last Remaining Seats” screening of Safety Last! on June 29 at the Orpheum Theatre, I am posting here a self-guided walking tour of the downtown Los Angeles locations Harold Lloyd used in … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments