Last weekend saw the culmination of the Bristol Silent Film Festival, now in it’s fourth year. Four days of silent films and talks by officionados and actors from the period including a gala evening at the Colston Hall at which Paul Merton introduced a restoration of Chaplin’s 1925 The Gold Rush accompanied by a newly commissioned version of the original score, for a 15-piece orchestra. The evening, which included shorts by Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, was a huge success; the auditorium was packed and the atmosphere was electric. If you’ve not seen a silent film in the way it was originally meant to be shown, you’re missing out on a real treat!
Saturday evening saw us catch up with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden at St. George’s Chapel where they discussed and demonstrated how Buster Keaton influenced their comedy as the Goodies. Clips of the trio were interspersed with Keaton Shorts and tales of the man himself.
All in all, a superb weekend, and one we’ll be booking again next year!