Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, once said there was a “little bit of Harold Lloyd” in his character’s alter-ego, Clark Kent. I can see it. Like Kent, Lloyd’s characters tend to be earnest go-getters; inept at first-glance, but underestimated. They’re unfailingly good men, and though they make bad decisions, it’s usually for the right reasons.
The Boy in Safety Last! is a typical Lloyd character, and as it happens, he also follows a trajectory not so different from Superman’s. Country-raised, he longs to marry the Girl, and so he seeks his fortune in the big city.
Like the red-and-blue hero—and unlike many country types of the silent era—the Boy remains uncorrupted. In fact, he lives city life as cheaply as possible, even going without food so as to afford presents for his Girl, which he mails to her along with letters extolling his success.
