Martin West silent movie show.

This month’s meeting included a very entertaining film show kindly provided by Martin West, a silent movie enthusiast. First we watched a 1917 short film, The Adventurer, starring Charlie Chaplin. The story told of a striped suited convict who escaped and spent a happy evening dancing and drinking in an exclusive club. It was lovely to watch the skillful slapstick of the genius of comic timing and to remember how inventive and original it was for the time. This was followed by a Buster Keaton film, One Week, produced in 1920. This film told the amusing story of newly weds building themselves a house. It ended with a spectacular series of moves where the house spun around and Buster Keaton dived in and out of the doors as they spun by. Famous for his dangerous stunts, this was an excellent introduction to his talents. The enjoyable evening left me reflecting upon the advances in technology in the film industry over these 100 years.