References in Popular Culture
In 1962, the "dangling from the skyscraper" scene was included in Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy, a compilation movie produced by Harold Lloyd himself. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and created a renewal of interest in the comedian by introducing him to a whole new generation.
The 1972 Dad's Army episode Time on My Hands features men hanging precariously from the hands of a clock tower.
In the 1983 martial arts film Project A, Jackie Chan also played an homage to Lloyd (whom he has frequently cited as an influence on his work) by falling from a clock tower.
The film Back to the Future pays homage to the Harold Lloyd "dangling from the skyscraper" by having one of the film's stars Christopher Lloyd (no relation to Harold) hang from a clock tower as part of the plot. The dangling scene was also referenced earlier in the film during the pan of Doc Brown's (Christopher Lloyd's character) laboratory as a picture is shown featuring Lloyd hanging from a clock tower. In addition, a meta-reference appears in the opening scene of Back to the Future, in the form of a physical table clock which depicts the Safety Last! scene.
The 1991 comedy film Oscar played a direct homage to the scene, recreating it on its poster, where the main character (played by Sylvester Stallone) hangs from a clock.
In Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo, a portion of the scene with Lloyd hanging from the clock is shown when the main characters sneak into a movie theater. Later, the title character Hugo similarly hangs from the hands of a large clock on a clock tower to escape a pursuer.
Read more about this topic: Safety Last!
Famous quotes containing the words popular and/or culture:
“There is a continual exchange of ideas between all minds of a generation. Journalists, popular novelists, illustrators, and cartoonists adapt the truths discovered by the powerful intellects for the multitude. It is like a spiritual flood, like a gush that pours into multiple cascades until it forms the great moving sheet of water that stands for the mentality of a period.”
—Auguste Rodin (1849–1917)
“He was one whose glory was an inner glory, one who placed culture above prosperity, fairness above profit, generosity above possessions, hospitality above comfort, courtesy above triumph, courage above safety, kindness above personal welfare, honor above success.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 1 (1962)