Narberth Film Society chose the first weekend of February to mount a three-day festival celebrating the golden era of silent movies together with a rare showing of cinema's first ever full length animated film made in the 1920s.
Friday evening kicked off with canapes and a superb Middle Eastern dinner served in the 'Cafe Ole', followed by a short Laurel and Hardy film prior to the main feature, 'The General', starring Buster Keaton. Hysterical laughter combined with nostalgia as Keaton performed side-splitting stunts on, under, in front of and behind his indestructible iron horse of the title name and fame.
Best of all, especially for the occasion, the Film Society brought in a real live accompanying pianist. John Sweeney, an accomplished musician, provided backing par excellence, rising to crescendos of excitement as our death-defying hero took on the military might of the Confederate Forces single-handed, or as the scene changed to more pastoral or romantic mood, tripped liquid fingers across the ivories with equal aplomb. What a treat!
The obligatory technical fault five minutes before the finale did nothing to dampen the audience's enthusiasm. Cheers added to laughter as the aged cellulose finally succumbed to the heat of the moment, and technicians rushed to the projector room to fix the inevitable melt-down (thus triggering a host of reminiscences from more senior members of the audience relating to 'Saturday morning flicks when we used to stamp our feet and throw our ice-creams up in the air when the film broke down' etc. etc.). Halcyon days!
Saturday offered two showings of animated films for younger viewers, while Sunday finished with a vintage classic tale from the Arabian Nights, which required a mind-boggling 300,000 separate frames of hand-cut articulated figures against delicate hand-coloured backgrounds.
Thanks are extended to Jacquie Palit and her team for the excellent catering, to all committee members, and especially the audience who turned up on the night!
Narberth Film Society meets on alternate Sundays in the Queen's Hall from September to March and extends a warm welcome to new members. As an added attraction, on offer periodically, are Maria Greenwood's mouth-watering pre-film suppers. The next one, and the last one for this season, will be a Spanish meal accompanying 'Ay Carmela' (1990, dir. Carlos Saura) on February 17. Not to be missed.
For further information about Narberth Film Society, please ring (01834) 861047.