Harold Lloyd in Safety Last! (1923)

I was inspired to watch this again by episode three of the Prognosis Negative podcast, where Eric and Warren discuss Martin Scorsese's latest movie Hugo, which features clips from silent movies including "Safety Last!".

Harold moves to the big city, where he has sworn to make a successful career so that he can marry his sweetheart Mildred.

So determined is he to make a good impression on her, that he embellishes the letters that he sends home, and she soon believes that he has risen to the lofty status of general manager at the department store where he works (rather than his lowly position of fabric salesman).

When the store owner says that he will give $1,000 to anyone who could come up with an original idea to promote the store, Harold persuades his friend Bill to split the money 50/50 if Bill climbs to the top of the store without any safety harness. Bill has already proved earlier in the film that he is adept at climbing after a run in with a cop.

Their money making scheme seems to have hit a snag when the same policeman shows up to apprehend Bill before he can start his daredevil stunt. Harold agrees to pretend to be the mystery man that featured in all the publicity shots with his face blanked out, as Bill offers to switch places with him on the second floor, but things don't go quite as planned, and Mr Lloyd presents us with one of the most iconic images from the world of cinema.

There are some beautiful visual gags in this movie, the very first shot with Harold behind bars, the scene in Harold's apartment when the landlady turns up to get her overdue rent are fantastic.

This picture was made by Hal Roach studios, Mr Roach was responsible for Laurel & Hardy's greatest films, and he also gets a writing credit.


Harold Lloyd was famous for doing dangerous stunts, he climbed up a facade placed on top of a four storey building for the scenes used in the film, when he is hanging from the clock pictured above he was ten storeys up, by the time he reaches the top he is nearly fourteen storeys high. There were mattresses laid out on one side of the building, if he were to fall off the wrong side of the building he would land on the street below, if he fell straight down he would go through the roof below. Now all this is dangerous enough, but when you learn that he was missing the index finger and thumb from his right hand after a mishap with a bomb used as a prop in a photo shoot three years previously it puts a fresh perspective on things.

This is one of my favourite silent movies, if you haven't seen it, I would urge you to check it out!

AFI 100 Movies #24 Raging Bull (1980)

Martin Scorcese's Raging Bull is a biopic based on the autobiography of middle weight boxer Jake "Raging Bull" La Motta.

The film starts in the 1960s as Jake (Robert De Niro) prepares backstage prior to a stand up comedy show, which leads in to a flashback to 1941, when La Motta was in his prime as one of the major contenders for the middle weight championship of the world.

Jake is in a turbulent marriage, not helped by his misogyny and his uncontrollable jealousy. His brother Joey, played by newcomer Joe Pesci, acts as his manager, and tries to keep Jake from getting in to trouble.

In next to no time Jake meets Vickie, the woman (at 15 more aptly described as a girl) who will become his second wife. His jealousy towards Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) is suffocating. One notable example is when Jake is discussing his next fight against Tony Janiro with his brother, Vickie mentions that the fight would be good for Jake's profile as Janiro is a popular, good looking kid. This sends Jake in to a fury, and when fight night comes around he tears Janiro to pieces.

In order to get a shot at the world title Jake is persuaded by mafia bosses to throw a fight, he reluctantly does this, which causes him considerable anguish and public humiliation.

After his subsequent victory against Marcel Cerdan in 1949, and having achieved his dream, he starts to pile on weight (De Niro put on 60 pounds to play the older Jake) and after a huge bust up with his brother his boxing career goes down the pan.

At the end of the film we find ourselves backstage again where we came in at the start of the movie, and De Niro recounts Marlon Brando's "I could have been a contender" speech from (AFI 100 Movies #8) On The Waterfront.

The film is shot in black and white, which gives it a 1940's aesthetic, and the boxing scenes are visceral and brutal.

Martin Scorsese is one of my favourite directors. It says a lot about his skill as a director, not to mention De Niro's as an actor, that Raging Bull is a very watchable film, considering the main protagonist is a pretty awful person.