First was Safety Last from 1923. Harold leaves his small town and his girl to find a career in the big city. He works for a department store making $15 a week (rent is $14 for 2 weeks) and writes her every day. Of course he exagerates his position and his girl comes to see him. There is a long sequence of many gags in the department store as he pretends to be the general manager to impress her. Through an unlikely situation he's offered $1000 to find a way to promote the store. He asks his friend, a construction worker to scale a 12 story "skyscrapper" as a publicity stunt. The last half hour of the film is this wonderful stunt, during which the audience gasped, applauded and laughed out-loud as he encounters difficulties at each floor. It's made all the better by the fact that he did his own stunts which really involved hanging from ledges. You'll probably recognize the famous clock scene. This films is in the National Film Registry and is absolutely wonderful.The second film was Girl Shy from 1924, it follows a similar formula. This time Harold is a tailors apprentice who writes his first book. On the way to city to get it published he meets "the girl" and they fall for each other. Through a series of mishaps she's to be married and he has to stop the wedding after having found out the groom is already married. The last 20 minutes is a wonderful chase scene of him getting to the wedding by all kinds of vehicles with outstanding stunts.
The Brattle is showing more Harold Lloyd films through Thursday, I think I'll be going again.
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