Safety Last
Hosted by Nick
Date 15 May
Score 61%
The choice of film was from the categories of "Romantic" or "Silent 1940's" or "Number in the title ". I decided that I needed to do something different and it would need to be a silent movie - a first for the club. However, what silent 1940's movies exist? Hollywood had mastered the art of adding sound over 20 years previously. Good job Safety Last was also a romance! Another first was that of film delivery - all digital. The whole thing was streamed from YouTube no DVD or projectionist involved. It had the added attraction of no money required to be spent on the DVD. However, all savings were diverted towards two excellent wines from Australia.
The two Cabernet Sauvignon's were selected from the same region in Western Australia. The only significant difference was the price (and the vintage 2009 vs 2013). The idea was to see if we could spot the difference and was the Kerrigan Berry worth twice as much as the Book Ends. In general everyone did appreciate the difference and recognised the smoother and older Kerrigan Berry. However, the Book Ends was voted favourite.
Safety Last stars Harold Lloyd as "the Boy" and Mildred Davis as "the Girl". The two married soon after making the film. Harold Lloyd did many of the stunts himself including the iconic scene of hanging by one hand from the clock. This is despite the fact that he lost his thumb and index finger in a stunt a few years earlier! Of course there was a significant risk involved with showing a silent movie. Fortunately, there were enough cultured members of the film club present to give the film a reasonable score!
Acting 74
Directing 62
CInematography 71
Storyline 40
Originality 64
Recommendation 55
Aggregated score of 61%
