Film / News
Slapstick Gala feature revealed
Summer’s here. It’s warm. It’s sunny, kind of. But project yourself forward, if you will, to next January, when we can be reasonably confident it’ll be cold and miserable. You’ll be in need of some serious cheering up. Fortunately, those industrious folks at Slapstick, Bristol’s ace annual festival of classic and silent comedy, have been beavering away on plans for their Colston Hall Gala event. As usual, this will be hosted by a bigshot celeb, who’s yet to be confirmed. But we can reveal that their big film will be the 1921 Charlie Chaplin classic, The Kid. Chaplin’s semi-autobiographical first feature as writer, director and star was a watershed moment in his career, as he broadened his palette from pure slapstick. Set in hostile Victorian London, it has Chaplin’s Little Tramp struggling to look after an illegitimate urchin (Jackie Coogan). Slapstick’s screening is accompanied by the 15-piece Bristol Ensemble Orchestra performing the UK premiere of Chaplin’s own original score.
Also included is the Buster Keaton short, Cops, in which hapless Old Stoneface finds himself pursued by LA’s entire police force as the result of a string of misunderstandings. This one’s got musical accompaniment from the European Silent Screen Virtuosi. The triple bill concludes with Charley Chase’s Slapstick Gala debut. Careful if you Google this prolific silent comedian, mind, as there’s also an equally prolific, ahem, ‘adult film star’ of the same name. Chase’s topical 1926 short Mighty Like a Moose explores what happens when a husband and wife both book in for cosmetic surgery without telling the other. Alas, neither recognises their partner’s new face.
The Slapstick Silent Comedy Film Gala 2016 takes place on Friday January 22, 2016. Advance tickets cost £25 (£10 for children aged 12 or under), and are bookable through the festival’s website or at the Colston Hall from Friday July 17. The 12th annual Slapstick festival takes place at venues in and around Bristol’s Harbourside from 21-24 January 2016. Watch this space for more info as we get it.
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