"The Clock"

 

The clock Harold Lloyd is hanging onto says 2:42 and that's the time that this clip from "Safety Last!" (Hal Roach Studios, 1923) will be on the screen whenever a venue plays Christian Marclay's "The Clock" (2010). The film is 24 hours long, a delicious montage of film clips exploring time in the movies. 

 

This view north on Broadway includes the Majestic Theatre, 845 S. Broadway, and Tally's Broadway Theatre, 833 S. Broadway. Beyond the theatres is the Hamburger Department Store building, later the May Co. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post about "Safety Last."

 

 

 

The clock in the boxoffice at the Mayan Theatre says 4:33 and that's the time that this "Save the Tiger" clip will be on the screen in "The Clock."

 

LACMA booked the film for a July 22 to August 23 run in 2026, including two 24 hour screenings beginning at 7pm July 25 and also August 22. Otherwise you can only see the sections timed to regular museum hours. They commented: 

"Returning to Los Angeles for the first time since 2015, Christian Marclay’s 'The Clock' is a 24-hour single-channel montage constructed from thousands of moments of cinema and television history depicting the passage of time, excerpted and edited together to create a functioning timepiece synchronized to local time wherever it is shown. The result marks the exact time for the viewer for 24 consecutive hours, weaving together Marclay’s interests in collage and found visual and aural artifacts with his roots in live performance."

The venue at LACMA is on the main floor of the Broad Pavilion and uses twenty sofas for seating. See the LACMA page about the booking. It's free for LACMA members.

See the pages about the Mayan Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. Also see our Theatres in Movies post about "Save the Tiger."

 

There's a page about the film on Wikipedia. The Tate Modern has a page about their 2018 booking of "The Clock" and a trailer on YouTube.  

 

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"Get Out and Get Under"

We get this shot on Pico Blvd. looking east across Hoover St. in Harold Lloyd's 25 minute short "Get Out and Get Under" (Rolin Films/Pathé, 1920). That's the Empire Theatre, 2131 W. Pico, in the center of the shot. Hal Roach directed with Mildred Davis and Fred McPherson also starring.

The theatre had opened around 1914. See the page about the Empire Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building.

On IMDb: "Get Out and Get Under" 

"Safety Last!"

This is the most famous shot from "Safety Last!" with Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis (Hal Roach Studios / Pathé, 1923). It was done with a set built on the roof of the building at 908 S. Broadway, now Sparkle Factory. The view north on Broadway includes the Majestic Theatre, 845 S. Broadway, and Tally's Broadway Theatre, 833 S. Broadway. Beyond the theatres is the Hamburger Department Store building, later the May Co.

This image appears in many places including the Harold Lloyd page of the site Film Reference. It's also on the "Safety Last!" page on the site Dr. Macro where they also have other images from the film.

We have a running gag in the film with Bill Strother, playing Lloyd's brother, trying to elude a cop, played by Noah Young. Here, at the top of the frame they're running along the roof of Mott's Hall, 133 S. Main St. The intertitle reads "I'll be right back -- Soon as I ditch this cop." Thanks to John Bengtson for the screenshot. He notes that the camera was on the Higgins Building at the southwest corner of 2nd and Main. The detective work in figuring out the location is chronicled in John's Silent Locations post "The nearly last - Safety Last - joke."

We get a glimpse of the top of the Broadway facade of the Million Dollar Theatre, 3rd & Broadway, in the finale sequence. This part of the sequence was filmed atop the Washington Bldg. at 3rd & Spring.

Thanks to famed silent film detective John Bengtson who has the finale, where we get a look at the Million Dollar Theatre, all analyzed in "How Harold Lloyd Filmed the 'Safety Last!' Finale," a Silent Locations blog post. Also see his other "Safety Last!" posts. John's book "Silent Visions" is available on Amazon.

Annette Lloyd has a piece on YouTube: "Harold Lloyd's LA Locations." Also see "Harold Lloyd 'Safety Last' Documentary" on YouTube. Brent Walker also has a "Safety Last" page analyzing some of the film's locations.

See the pages about the Million Dollar Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of that 1918 vintage movie palace along with many photos. And don't miss the page about the Majestic Theatre as well. This legit house didn't survive. It was demolished in 1933. And poor Tally's Broadway bit the dust in 1929 as its site became a south expansion of the May Co. building. The site also has a page on Mott's Hall.

On IMDb:"Safety Last!"

"Feet First"

In the Harold Lloyd feature "Feet First" (Paramount, 1930) we get a look up Broadway toward the United Artists, between Olympic and 9th St. The trouble began at the Post Office in the now vanished Triangle Building just south of Olympic -- Harold arrived in town in a mailbag, you see.

More chaos with the United Artists in the distance:

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages on the United Artists Theatre for a history of the 1927 vintage theatre along with hundreds of photos.

Although all our high-rise stuff in "Feet First" is supposedly on the same building we also end up looking a bit farther north on Broadway with views of the Majestic Theatre at 845 S. Broadway:

Beyond the set that Harold is climbing on we see the Blackstone Building on the SW corner of 9th & Broadway, the Eastern Columbia Building (with construction just being completed), and the the Majestic Theatre with its vertical sign at 845 S. Broadway. At the extreme right is the 1929 addition to the Hamburger/May Co. Building with the original building beyond.

More shots showing the Majestic -- or a slice of it anyway:

See the page on the Majestic Theatre for more about that legit house, demolished in 1933. 

Somehow, in this same elaborate sequence that started on Broadway we end up in a building at 8th & Spring looking west at the Tower Theatre at 8th and Broadway:

Note the frames on the upper part of the Tower Theatre for signage (here seen empty) along the top of the 8th St. facade.

Another shot looking down on the Tower Theatre. 

 

A shot looking west on 8th taken from down a bit lower. The Tower is out the window with the Hamburger / May Co. Building beyond.

See the pages on the Tower Theatre on the los Angeles theatres site for more information and many photos. It opened in 1927, the first theatre design by the young architect S. Charles Lee.

Annette Lloyd has a short film on YouTube: "Harold Lloyd's LA Locations."

On IMDb: "Feet First"

"Never Weaken"

We get a view of the stagehouse of the Mason Theatre, 127 S. Broadway, in this publicity still for the Harold Lloyd two-reeler "Never Weaken" (Pathe, 1921). We're looking south on Hill St. The top of the Mason over on Broadway is at the left -- look for the three smoke vents on the stagehouse.

This location on top of the Hill St. tunnel was a favorite filming location as it was easy to build a set there to give the appearance of being up on a tall building downtown. See John Bengtson's Silent Locations post "LA's Early Hills, Tunnels Preserved in Noir-Silent Comedies."

While some shots were from 1st and Hill here the action has moved to7th and Hill looking east at the back of the Loew's State building -- then under construction at 7th and Broadway. This is one of many views of Lloyd and the alley side of Loew's State in "Never Weaken." He has some dazzling scenes up on what appears to be an unfinished building.

A view in the other direction of the newly completed Pantages Theatre at 7th & Hill. In 1929 it would become the Warner Downtown. That's the Los Angeles Athletic Club beyond it on 7th.

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages on the Mason Theatre, the State Theatre and the Warner Downtown for more data and many photos of the buildings.

On IMDb: "Never Weaken"

"Girl Shy"

We go all over the place in Harold Lloyd's "Girl Shy" (Harold Lloyd Corp. / Pathé, 1924) including Hollywood, Culver City, Bunker Hill and Downtown. The 80 minute film, directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, also features Jobyna Ralston and Richard Daniels.

Here in this shot we're looking northwest on Van Buren Place toward Washington Blvd. in Culver City. We've got two City Halls featured. Straight ahead is the house left side of the theatre that was in the building at Main St. and Culver Blvd. It had a theatre on the main floor and the City Hall in the 2nd floor offices in the front of the building. Soon after the filming, the building was demolished and the Culver Hotel was built on the site. It opened the same month the film was released -- September 1924.

On the right of the shot we have the 2nd Culver City City Hall including the Police and Fire Departments in the lower structure nearest us.  This location was in use until a new building was constructed in 1928.

Another view a moment later. 

This 1920 aerial view shows the relationship between the buildings. The red rectangle is the building we see straight ahead in the "Girl Shy" shot. It's the house left side of the theatre. If we were to take a right and go around to the front we'd see the theatre downstairs and the City Hall offices on the 2nd floor. The yellow rectangle is the 2nd City Hall location, not yet built at the time of this aerial view. There was no theatre involved at this 2nd location.

Thanks to Japanese film investigator Yasuyasu for his "Girl Shy" research and sending these two images our way. He's involved with a website, Our Gang 1922-28,  working to identify Culver City locations for some of the early silent Our Gang comedies.

The 1920 aerial view above with Yasuyasu's annotations uses a detail from a photo from the Bruce Torrence Hollywood Photographs collection.

 
A c. 1923 aerial view -- again thanks to Yasuyasu for the find. The irregularly shaped building on the triangular lot in the center is our 1st City Hall/Culver City Theatre building --  now the site of the Culver Hotel. Off to the right is the commercial building seen in the 1920 view above. Here we also get the lower building behind that was the 2nd City Hall.

The main street running through the photo is Washington Blvd. as we look east. It no longer is routed this way through Culver city -- it takes a jog over to Culver Blvd. for several blocks.  The angled street heading off to the left is Culver Blvd. The large buildings in the upper right are at the Thomas Ince film studio.

See the page on the Los Angeles Theatres website covering this first Culver City Theatre for larger views of those City Hall / Theatre photos we see as insets in the aerial view above.

Toward the end of the film Harold takes a wild ride using all available means of transportation to get into the city from his small town to prevent a marriage between the woman he loves and a cad who happens to be already secretly married. On the way we're heading west on Sunset Blvd. and we get this side view of the Granada Theatre, 7425 Sunset Blvd. The theatre had opened in 1921. Later it was renamed the Oriental.

See the page about the Oriental Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more photos. The building still exists but has become part of the Guitar Center.

After many great views of Bunker Hill and other neighborhoods we find ourselves downtown, looking north on the 800 block of Broadway. At the left it's Hamburger's Department Store, later becoming the May Co. The marquee on the right is the Garrick Theatre, 802 S. Broadway. The Tower Theatre is now on the site.  Across 8th St. it's the Hulett C. Merritt Building on the left and the Chapman Building on the right. Both survive.

A moment later the marquee and facade of the Rialto Theatre come into view on the far right. The building at 812 S. Broadway is now an Urban Outfitters store.

On the left the two small vertical signs of Tally's Theatre, 833 S. Broadway, come into view.  

On the right we now get a view of the Mission Theatre, 838 S. Broadway. The Orpheum Theatre is now on the site, opening in 1926. 

A bit farther south we see the curving marquee of the Majestic Theatre, 845 S. Broadway. It was demolished in 1933 so the May Co. could have more parking. On the right is a bit more of the Mission Theatre than we saw in the previous shot.

Looking north toward Olympic Blvd., at the time of the film still called 10th St. The building on the left is Western Costume Co.'s prop department. The tall building in the middle is their headquarters. It's now condos. The United Artists Theatre would rise just beyond it in 1927.

The second tall building we see on the left is the Majestic Theatre, with "Majestic" lettering vertically on the edge. The Eastern Columbia Building would rise this side of it in 1930. The streetcar tracks heading to the right go to Broadway Place, a short street cutting over to Main that's no longer in use.

See the pages for the Garrick, Rialto, Tally's Broadway, Majestic and Mission theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for histories of the buildings and many photos.

"Girl Shy" is included in the "Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Volume 1" from New Line Entertainment. For more information on filming locations see John Bengtsoin's see posts "How Harold Lloyd Filmed Girl Shy on Bunker Hill" and "How Harold Lloyd Filmed the Girl Shy Trolley Stunts."  Visit John's blog Silent Locations for reports of his ongoing discoveries. His "Silent Locations" book is available on Amazon.

On IMDb: "Girl Shy"

"Number, Please?"

 Harold Lloyd, trying to capture a missing dog in the two-reeler "Number, Please?" (Hal Roach/Pathé, 1920), crouches down beside a concrete embankment that we see (in another shot) helpfully tells us we're on W. Seaside Way -- which puts us in Long Beach. We're looking east and in the distance on the left is the mansard roof of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium.

A continuation of the scene filmed on Seaside Way -- the dog has found him. See the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about the building.

The film features seaside locations in Long Beach and Ocean Park for a tale of a guy trying to win the heart of a girl who's paying too much attention to a rival. Directed by Hal Roach and Fred Newmeyer, it also features Mildred Davis (as The Girl) and Roy Brooks (as The Rival).

Another Long Beach shot -- on The Pike, again looking east. The dance hall nearest us on the left was originally a roller skating rink. Just beyond is the Strand Theatre. Way in the distance is the side wall of the Jergins Trust / State Theatre Building. Later in the 20s this view would be blocked by construction of the Ocean Center building at the west end of The Pike.

After the dog down The Pike. 

Coming back in the other direction. See the pages about the Strand Theatre and the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about those two now-vanished Long Beach theatres.

A shot on the Abbott Kinney Pier in Venice. We're looking toward the shore with the dance hall just out of the frame to the left.

There had been some great Ocean Park shots earlier in the film -- but not featuring theatres. At the end of the film Harold is on the beach and, looking north, we get a view of the Pickering Pleasure Pier on the south end of the Santa Monica city limits. So, we're actually in Venice. Note the stagehouse of the Rialto Theatre, a venue that was earlier used as the Rosemary Theatre -- the third of their five locations.

Another shot near the end. At the far right note a portion of a dome -- with part of the letter "D" visible. It opened in 1916 as a dance hall --  two years after this film shoot it became the Dome Theatre. It all burned in a 1924 pier fire. See the pages on this third Rosemary Theatre location and the first Dome Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for lots of information on the multiple locations using those two names.

On IMDb: "Number, Please?"

"High And Dizzy"

The facade of the Trinity Auditorium, 855 S. Grand Ave., puts in an appearance in "High and Dizzy" (Rolin Films/Pathé, 1920). Harold Lloyd and his pal Roy Brooks are drunkenly carousing in front of the building. We're about seven minutes into the twenty-four minute film. They've just come out of the building after drinking for an hour and forty minutes in Roy's room.

Spotting a policeman, they try to appear sober.   

Yet, as they pass, Brooks can't resist tripping the policeman.

Thanks to famed silent film detective John Bengtson for spotting the Trinity in the film. These images, appearing in his Silent Locations article "How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Bank," show his analysis. "The Bank" also shot in front of the Trinity.

See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Trinity Auditorium for more details about the 1914 vintage building.

On IMDb: "High and Dizzy"

"Bumping Into Broadway"

 

Harold Lloyd hitches a ride to downtown in the two-reeler "Bumping Into Broadway" (Rolin Films / Pathé, 1919). The car stops across the street from the Trinity Auditorium at 855 S. Grand Ave. Harold was fleeing his rooming house where he couldn't pay the rent because he gave all his money to Bebe Daniels so she could pay hers. The "Broadway" in the title isn't the one in Los Angeles. Although filmed in L.A., the movie is set in New York.

 

Harold puts his feet down after chauffeur #2 has let the passenger out and gets back in. 

 

Playing it cool. 

 

The car drives away.

 

Staring in indignation. 

 

Consulting his data, he realizes the theatre Bebe performs in is nearby. 

 

We cut to a shot of a stage door, filmed elsewhere. After trying a couple of times, he eventually hides in the clock we see on the right and is carried in by two stagehands.

The film's locations are detailed in John Bengtson's fine article "How Harold Lloyd Filmed Bumping Into Broadway." It got a new restoration and appears with the Criterion Blu-Ray edition of a 1928 Lloyd film, "Speedy." Also see John's article "How Charlie Chaplin Filmed 'The Bank'."It's another film with shots of the Trinity Auditorium.

See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Trinity Auditorium for more about this 1914 vintage building.

On IMDb: "Bumping into Broadway"