Silent movies with live piano music, Friday

The Coastside Film Society proudly presents a family friendly movie night the way it used to be—featuring live piano music.

Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (1923)

It’s arguably the most famous image from the silent film era. Harold Lloyd in horn-rimmed glasses and straw hat hanging precariously from a broken clock face.

The film is hilarious with breathtaking stunts. The story is quite simple. Lloyd’s bespectacled character wants to get married but needs money. So he endeavors to win a prize by climbing a skyscraper. At each ledge Lloyd encounters new difficulties including flapping pigeons, windows opening, and mice running through his clothes, and yes, a clock face hanging precariously.

"Where Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton made their stunts look effortless, Lloyd got laughs by making the things he did look nearly impossible…. And because vertigo-inducing camera angles put audiences in the roughly the same spot he was in, they identified big-time." Bob Mondello, All things Considered

When the silent film era ended Lloyd retired and pulled his films from release with no apparent concern that his legend was gradually fading. Now that his granddaughter has started re-releasing his films that may well change.

The film will be accompanied by live music scored and played by pianist Shauna Pickett-Gordon.

Friday May 21, 2010 at 8:00 pm
$6.00 adult donation, $3.00 children
Community United Methodist Church Sanctuary
77 Miramontes & Johnson, Half Moon Bay

More info: www.HMBFilm.org