The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! (1923) is one of the great icons of film history. Using maps, aerial views, and vintage photographs, my book Silent Visions shows how Harold filmed each of his five stunt-climbing comedies within the downtown Los Angeles Historic Core, while documenting the burgeoning urban skyline as it appears in the background of his films. [Note: I will be introducing Safety Last! on June 25, 2016 at the Orpheum Theater as part of the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats.]
The closing scene from Safety Last! (left) was filmed on the roof of 908 S. Broadway, the same building where the clock stunt climbing set was built. The same roof (right), now supporting the steel girder foundation for a large antennae, appears during the Criterion Collection Locations and Effects mini clip.
The slides…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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